The two-story
building contains four self-contained suites of rooms, two suites on each
floor. Each suite is designed to accommodate eight to ten youngsters with
comparable needs, but the school opened with only nine children in the fall of
2010 as Ms. Struchek, a local woman with some foreign training in working with
autistic children, prefers to gain experience in the facility and with other
teachers before expanding to full capacity. The intent is to open the school
to a broad range of autistic youngsters, not just Jewish children. Jewish
content is available for Jewish families, but the Jewish atmosphere is
discreet.
A
portion of the Markovich school for autistic children is seen at right. The
school grounds are expansive and most of its territory is enclosed by a fence.
Photo: http://www.childfuture.kiev.ua/photo.html.
Retrieved July 25, 2011.
Ms. Struchek said that the
nine enrolled children range in age from three to ten. The school day begins
at 8:00 a.m. and concludes at 6:00 p.m. Additionally, said Ms. Struchek, the
school has accepted a small number of children under three years of age who
receive individualized attention for several hours every day. The primary aim
of the school is the acquisition of social skills that will permit children to
engage in formal education, separate from their parents, and, if possible,
integrate into a regular school. The program employs specialists in
psychology, child development, speech, and other fields. Certified teachers in
conventional school subjects teach those youngsters who are ready for such
instruction. Atten-dants are employed in order to provide each youngster with
individual super-vision when he or she is not receiving therapy or personalized
instruction.
Each
child was accompanied by an atten-dant during a school program.
Photo:http://www.cwf.com.ua/. Retrieved July 26,
2011.
One of the critical
problems in Ukraine regarding autism, stated Ms. Struchek, is that the condition
often is diagnosed very late, sometimes only when a youngster has been
expelled from a conventional school for misconduct. Pediatricians have not
been trained to recognize symptoms in early childhood. Sometimes parents who
approach pediatricians or other medical specialists upon observing that their
child is not developing normally are treated in a crude manner. Not all
families are sufficiently sophisticated or have enough resources as Mrs.
Sergienko, who took her child to Israel for evaluation at the age of two. Ms.
Struchek observed that most families with autistic children become isolated
because their children require constant attention and cannot be taken anywhere
due to their odd behavior and an unsympathetic public.
As
soon as an attendant stepped away, the child kneeling at a window at left
seemed to become obsessed with some small toys and would not respond to a
request from a teacher that he engage in other activities.
Photo: the writer.
Most
children at the Markovich school did not speak at all when they entered the
program. Some would not respond to others and recoiled when touched by a
teacher or another person. Several could not feed themselves and/or had
extraordinary food preferences. The school developed a special diet for each
child. All food is kosher and, for now, is prepared at the mainstream Perlina
school, which is located in the same neighborhood, and brought to the special
school. Ms. Struchek noted that the special school is not now charged for the
food brought from Perlina, but, obviously, standard accounting procedures
require that all food be included in the special school budget; it is likely
that this “new” expense will be charged to their own statement in the near
future. It also is likely, Ms. Struchek continued, that the special school
will have to develop its own food preparation system as its enrollment grows.
(The building includes a suitable kitchen, which is not currently used.)
The
school also will need to create an indoor fitness and physical education center
in available space and improve the fence that already encloses most of the
school yard. Additionally, they need to obtain more sensory toys, which, Ms.
Struchek observed, are available in Israel.
Although the school had
not yet been open for a full academic year, some children already have made remarkable
progress. Some now speak in full sentences, express preferences for
certain activities, and even say ‘thank you’ at appropriate times. The
progress is visible to teachers and parents alike. Parents can observe their
children at almost any time through a password-protected website that
monitors children in most activities. Ms. Struchek said that she hoped parents
would mimic teacher interaction with the children so that parental behavior is
both constructive and consistent with that encountered by their children in the
school.
An
autistic child, assisted by an aide, presents flowers to Mrs. Markovich. Rabbi
Markovich is seated behind his wife. The man to the right of Rabbi Markovich
appears to be taking a photo with a cell phone.
Photo: http://www.cwf.com.ua/. Retrieved July 26,
2011.
Ms.
Struchek and Mrs. Sergienko said that tuition for each child enrolled at
the school is $2,000 monthly; however, they said, very few families pay the
full fee. The school is actively seeking sponsors. Their major expenses, Ms.
Struchek continued, are $5,000 weekly for 12 teachers (some of whom trained
abroad) and $10,000 monthly in facilities charges (rent paid to the city for
the building) and utilities. Completion of the fence that partially encloses
the school yard will cost $25,000.
Ms.
Struchek and Mrs. Segienko stated that all concerned with the school are
committed to establishing and maintaining an institution of excellence,
one that will become a national center for the teaching of autistic children.
They already are advising families from out of town, most of whom bring their
children to the school periodically. The school develops work plans for the
parents to use in working with their youngsters at home; communication with
out-of-town families is maintained through password-protected web conferences.
It also offers parent education for both local and out-of-town families. The
school intends to teach master classes to other professionals.
In
the meantime, the two women continued, they openly acknowledge their own need
for professional development. An expert in the field from San Francisco
was scheduled to come to Kyiv in the near future for a week of lectures and
evaluation at the school. The school paid for her transportation and hotel
accommodations, but she had agreed to provide her consulting services without
charge. They are eager to receive training and guidance from other sources as
well.
A
probably distant dream, added Mrs. Sergienko, is development of a camp/resort
for autistic children and their families. She is aware of a suitable site
near Kyiv, she said.
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