They take care of severely disabled children, now they need help<

They take care of severely disabled children, now they need help

She wants to double her capacity to help parents who are forced to consider placing their severely disabled children in week-long institutions because they can no longer take care of them themselves. "We rejected twenty children this year, we are full. According to my information, this is the case for all special schools, "describes the director Milan Černý.

From fifty to a hundred

"During the covid pandemic, we saw how desperate parents were without our help. They managed it very hard, thinking of placing the children in a weekly hospital. Caring for these children is very demanding, "recalls Černý.

"We currently have about fifty children in six classes. The school is only partially barrier-free, "says the director of the special school. "We want to double the capacity, widen the corridors so that two wheelchair students can meet each other, and even children with a walker can go upstairs. We also need relaxation classrooms to have a place to calm down, for example, an autistic person in a seizure, ”explains Černý.

They will not accept them elsewhere

"We have two severe autistic people who are self-destructive during the attack, banging their heads on the wall or heating, and I myself often think about how to protect other children, but also teachers at such a time. These are already thirteen-fourteen-year-old children with 60 kilograms. That is why I perceive it as a necessity to have a corner, or rather a room, where we can take them and calm them down at that moment, without there being anything that could hurt them, "Černý described.

Twenty-two cantors teach children from kindergarten and primary school every day as much as possible, the basics of reading and writing, and hygienic and social habits. The parents bring the children to the morning as in a regular school and pick them up in the afternoon. In addition, they take care of 12 children at the local boarding school from Monday to Friday.

"We also have children here that other special schools do not want. Siblings are no exception. One very nice and caring family from the Central Bohemian Region brings our eldest son to us, who has been with us for five years, and now his sister also goes to kindergarten. He suffers from moderate mental retardation, autism and physical signs of facial deformities. This is due to a subsequently detected genetic defect, even though their middle sister is healthy. We know how a daily relief and the fact that siblings can be here together is a fundamental relief for this family, which lives in a block of flats, ”says Deputy Director Květa Pekařová, one of the stories of her children.

The reconstruction of the school and kindergarten for 40 million crowns is scheduled for next summer. It should be done in December 2022.

"We are working hard to find resources for reconstruction. We were supported by the municipality, but we will pay a large part ourselves. The donors of the Diaconate of the Czech Brethren Evangelical Church, which is our founder and investor in the reconstruction, help us with this. Thanks to them, we are closer to our goal every month. Now we are missing about seven million crowns. But I already believe that we can do it, "adds Milan Černý optimistically.

Donors are involved in the reconstruction of the school through the website www.skolapraha.diakonie.cz.