By Amy M Baty-Herbert | Project Coordinator
Dear Project Supporters,
Your support is continuing to make an impact for Autism therapy in Senegal. Below is the update submitted from the Dakar Team.
Hello to all supporters,
We would like to share with you this month how proud we are of our first therapy student, M, who began integration into a mainstream school in November! He has been placed in our host school's 4th-grade classroom and is supported by an aide who helps implement a modified academic curriculum. His teacher and school staff have been supportive of our new method here in Senegal, where children with special needs are usually educated in separate facilities away from all other children. Our integration model is based on the American ideal of a "least restrictive environment" which recognizes that isolating a child from other typical children also isolates them from innumerable good examples of social and communication skills that their peers are constantly modeling, as well as from participating in social opportunities like making friends and practicing their language skills. M has already made some new friends in his school who are all eager to play with him during a "recess club" that we have set up during break times. They have so far proven open and curious and love to help him navigate the school during lunch and transitions. With the help of his aide, he is learning everyone's names, proper greetings, asking questions and other social initiations, as well as practicing self-advocacy such as asking for a break or saying "excuse me" in the hallways.
His personal transformation from his previous special-needs school to our host school has been phenomenal. Nearly all behavior issues have disappeared, thanks to this newly-enriching and flexible environment that meets M at his developmental level. We are extremely grateful for the flexibility of school staff as we navigated M's needs during these past weeks and took the time to train his aide to a high level, using ABA techniques such as data-taking and following a behavior intervention plan. We even trained his peers a little bit! We are also grateful for the team's patience as my colleague and I navigated between our two cultures - It is a constant learning process for us.
This is the first case of integration that we know of in Senegal. The success of M in his new environment is a sign that this model can be modified to a Senegalese environment and can be successful. So far, he has completed two months of schooling - We are extremely optimistic for the rest of the year.
As always, we appreciate your continued support for this program. We hope to use the system we created for M as a model for other children and to add school support to our list of services as we grow.
Sincerely,
-The Dakar ABA team (Faces of students have been covered for confidentiality reasons)
Your support has made a difference for students with autism in the Dakar region of Senegal. We encourage you to start a monthly recurring donation here to continue helping students with Autism in the Dakar region of Senegal. Even a few dollars a month will go a long way. Please also share this with your contacts and invite them to consider supporting this ongoing project.
If you have any questions, please feel free to email us at GlobalGiving@developafrica.org.
Warm Regards,
The Dakar Team & Develop Africa Team
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