Network
of excellence to improve services for children, youth with complex mental
health needs
A
The Educational and Psychological
Counselling in Jihlava cooperates with regional
schools to improve services for children and youth with complex educational and
behavioral needs. It focuses on diagnostic, therapeutic, reeducation,
counselling and methodological activities for children and youths from 3 years
to the end of secondary school, eventually higher professional schools, their
parents and teachers.
B
“We focus on assessing the prerequisites of children, pupils
and students, not only when there appears to be a problem in the development of
the child’s dispositions, but also when a certain acceleration in the
development of skills or inequality can be expected,” the social worker
Iveta Vrbková said. “We advise on how to work with children, how to develop
them, what to offer. All this is not only in connection with schools, but with
the whole development period and health of the children and adolescents.” The
goal is to enable these children and youth to reach all possible services they
need, and enable the services available in the community. “The objective is to
engage youth, families and communities in working together to boost children’s
educational abilities,” Vrbková explained.
C
“Under the agreement with the parents, we also agree on individual
steps with pupil’s teachers. We help solving difficulties also in other areas,
as upbringing problems, starting school, connection with some diseases, family
situation, selection of suitable employment, etc.,” Jarmila Prošková, director
of the Educational and Psychological Counselling in Jihlava, said. “The aim of
our institution is to help children, youth, and families develop strategies
to improve prevention and early intervention, as well as treatment and
services. To truly transform kids’ problems in educational area, we need to all
be rowing in the same direction – children, families, and schools.”
D
Meanwhile, the centre is issuing a request for enlarging the
centre for children and youth with educational needs. Our centre helps
assess and develop educational plans so that education delivered within all
schools in our Region is as effective as possible. “We also offer further
professional psychological or special pedagogical guidance, therapies and
reeducation, individually or in a group, or in cooperation with the family. We
provide full-consultations and advice. We offer one-off and repeated meetings,
again as needed,” Vrbková said. “We organize consultations, lectures,
discussions, seminars in schools, we work with classes focusing on the
development of children’s social skills.”
E
The centre works with a wide scale of groups. They have
programs of individual reeducation, programs for preschoolers, preschoolers
with the need for increased care, children with learning difficulties, groups
where children can develop social skills and graphomotor development groups. Vrbková
said: “Further, we provide relaxation programmes for children, family and individual
therapies, we want to provide a continuum of educational and counselling
services that best responds to children and youth with educational needs.”
Adjusted to (1)
1) Read the article and match each
of the headings to a paragraph.
1 Prevention and early
intervention are important
2 Introduction
3 Cooperation with families and schools
4 Target groups and programs
5 Offered activities
2) Read the article and answer the
questions.
1 What is the Educational
and Psychological Counselling?
2 Who is Iveta Vrbková?
3 Who is Jarmila Prošková? What does she say?
4 What does the centre offer?
5 What groups do they work with?
3) Explain the following words and
phrases.
1 Educational and Psychological
Counselling
2 acceleration in the development of
skills
3 develop strategies to improve
prevention and early intervention
4 children and youth with educational
needs
5 individual therapies
Source:
(1)
Network
of excellence to improve services for children, youth with complex mental
health needs. New Nouveau Brunswick Canada [online]. 2013
[cit. 2019-04-14]. Available at:
http://www2.gnb.ca/content/gnb/en/news/news_release.2013.12.1280.html
