"Everyone is unique and special" in the Carmel Castle
The "Each unique and special" program of the accessible park, rehabilitation team - the social services department at Carmel Castle, is an outreach program that deals with shaping positive attitudes towards people with disabilities in compulsory kindergartens at Carmel Castle, in cooperation with the education department.
The program is delivered by a facilitator who is a person with a disability, who attends a process of about ten meetings in the kindergartens.
One of the kindergartens participating in the program is the "Eshel" kindergarten, led by kindergarten teacher Inbar Palencia and assistant Ruhama Meir, who introduced the activity to the kindergarten with professionalism and a big hug. The program's host, Mahmoud Hamuda, who is a teacher and educational consultant every day, comes to the kindergarten every week. Mahmoud has been dealing with blindness since he was 15 years old.
The children look forward to the meetings
The meetings deal with getting to know myself and the other, prejudices, getting to know physical and sensory limitations and different means of accessibility. Beyond the content of knowledge that the children receive in the meetings, the children have formed a special and benevolent relationship with Mahmoud and they look forward and are excited to meet him every time.
This week, host Eleanor Suisa, a girl dealing with a hearing disability (deafness) from birth, was also a guest on the show. Liron Saban, a sign language interpreter, joined the meeting with her.
Turn on the light
Eleanor shared with the children in the kindergarten about her dealings with deafness and her conduct in her daily life using the aids that help her and taught the children words and a song in sign language. The kindergarten children prepared a surprise for Eleanor and sang to her in sign language the song "Turn on the Light".
Get to know each other and get closer
The weekly meeting in the kindergarten was a particularly successful and exciting meeting, with special people who collaborate to make a fundamental change in the perceptions of a person with a disability. The encounter with the different is one of the ways that serves as a significant lever for examining and changing labels and prejudices while creating a close acquaintance with a different reality of life.
It's just a shame that there are no after-school and special children's clubs in our city. My son returns every day at 12:40 from the school in Haifa for the hearing impaired and I am of course looking for employment for him. I receive 50% disability, out of which I pay 800 NIS per day. that these children have no employment and no schools that are adapted for special education and we are forced to send them to Haifa. It's nice to learn to accept the different but what about worrying about the different?????? For your care, I live in the Carmel Castle