Three young adults from the small group homes “Love” and “Hope” managed by EQ have completed 8th –grade in the school for students with special needs and will start the new academic year as students in the school of fashion and design “Nedka Ivan Lazarova”.
A specialized programme will enable students with special needs to develop vocational skills.
This is a challenging new experience for youngsters whose childhoods were spent in residential institutions in remote villages but – with the requisite support – they can build the social confidence to prosper from mainstream schooling and to learn professional skills that can provide opportunities for employment in the future.
This is a component of a larger programme in which the EQ team at the Ruse complex collaborates with the care teams at the small group homes to provide educational and recreational opportunities that are varied and stimulating.
It is easy and convenient to characterize these young adults on the basis of their medical diagnoses and obvious disabilities made worse by institutionalization. We focus on incremental personal growth – one day at a time. Achievement follows achievement.