Tuesday, June 15, 2010

XLIII Meeting of Siblings

The 43rd Meeting of Siblings was held successfully on June 12, 2010 at the Centro Ann Sullivan del Perú (CASP). Students whose ages are in the range of 2-13 years - from the regular program (2, 4 and 5 classrooms), total school inclusion, partial school inclusion and intensive school, participated in this event.

Sibling education is a special training that CASP provides twice a year for siblings of our students.

It is an opportunity to meet with other siblings of people with different abilities and share their experiences with them, and to take part in a question and answer session between specialists of CASP and them.

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Thursday, June 10, 2010

Student with autism from the Centro Ann Sullivan del Perú (CASP) speaks about his in life in the United States

Juan Carlos Machaca, a 15-year old boy with autism, represented the Centro Ann Sullivan del Peru (CASP) at the University of Illinois and El Valor center in Chicago during a training session where gave his life’s testimony and showed how he had became an independent, productive and happy person.

Juan Carlos banged his head, cried a lot, didn’t eat, and didn’t walk or speak when he was three years old. Now, in his adolescence, he is fluent in conversation and he has won 48 medals in swimming.

At age 7, he learned to take public buses to go from Carabayllo (district where he lived) to the Ann Sullivan Center in San Miguel. At present, he keeps himself clean, does his daily routine like any person, and is being taught to perform job tasks in Friday’s restaurant and Repsol to get a job someday.

Juan Carlos’ mother, Ynes Mendieta, was also trained in the School of Families of the Centro Ann Sullivan del Perú, where she learned to concentrate on his strong points, persist in her efforts to achieve his son’s objectives, and give him opportunities to get involved with family and society.

During his stay in Chicago, Juan Carlos explained how he had become an independent, productive and happy person. Besides he shared with young people and adults of El Valor, those whom he has inspired, things he had learned in his life.

On the other hand, his mother and the training area director, Carmen Aranda, trained directors and coordinators of the El Valor center in a program for families of children with different abilities by following the CASP model.

CASP participated in this event that took place on Thursday, May 27, in Chicago as part of the MAP-C (Metropolitan Again in Pleases with Cognitive Disabilities) project, which is funded by The Great Cities Institute and supervised by Dr. Jay Hammel of the University of Illinois at Chicago (UIC), with which CASP has an international student exchange program since three years ago.

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