The Counseling Center expanded its activities on the initiative of Małgorzata Matejewicz, a speech therapist working with children. “Małgorzata Matejewicz decided herself that she wanted to try this form of therapy for children with disabilities and invested in training,” says Teresa Rudzińska, deputy director of the County Center for Education and Staff Training, praising the idea. “She completed the appropriate course and, together with the Labrador, a female dog named Wega, works with five children.”
Dog-assisted therapy is based on direct contact between a child with a disability and a dog. This contact makes it possible to create an important relationship between the patient and the therapy dog. During a therapy session, the young patient is provided with a sense of security and unconditional acceptance of their person.
A dog does not express surprise, judge or criticize, nor does it look at a person with a disability with unhealthy curiosity. A dog does not become upset when something goes wrong. It accepts awkward movements and overly sudden reactions. A dog is patient, tolerant, warm and calm. The dog completely adapts to the activity of the person with a disability. It allows them to experience pleasure and satisfaction from the tasks they undertake. It also lets them experience a sense of success after completing a task. Above all, the dog encourages activity and motivates the patient to perform the exercise proposed by the therapist. The desire to establish close contact with the animal makes the person with a disability try to perform the exercises without help or support. This helps them achieve independence.
Anyone can take part in activities with the dog. The only clear contraindication to participating in contact therapy involving a dog is an allergy to fur or saliva.
As of this year, the Adjudication Team of the Psychological and Pedagogical Counseling Center in Bolesławiec is also authorized to issue decisions and opinions on the need for special education for children with disabilities—children who are blind or visually impaired, deaf or hard of hearing, as well as children with autism. This is a major convenience for parents, as decisions will be made locally, without the need to contact the Adjudication Team operating at the counseling center in Lubań, which until now had such authority for Bolesławiec County. This will shorten the waiting time for a decision to be issued.
More information and contact: pppboleslawiec.pl.
(information from PPP Bolesławiec/Grażyna Hanaf)