Student Documentary-Disability Awareness in Abidjan, Cote d’ivoire

Students at ICSA through the Service Learning Program created a documentary to raise awareness about disabilities in Abidjan. They began this process by researching about the laws that impact people with disabilities, interviewed specialists in the field and community members, then embarked on a field trip to spend time with the students at our partner special institution AIM. They feel privileged to be embraced by the AIM community and our school is proud of them for being leaders and advocates of inclusion.

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1xoXc1BurUkjNCnocKWXeEhihbmk3SctM/view?usp=sharing

 

Student visit to partner special school in Abidjan

Through our Service Learning program our students visited our local partner special school, Imagine Le Monde. They planned this visit to spend time with the students with various needs. They performed a play about the Rainbow Fish which was interpreted for our hearing impaired audience. We all joined in on the fun and made friendship bracelets and got creative with face painting, with our friends. The students interviewed students and teachers as part of their documentary project. The documentary will inform the community about the experiences of people with disabilities in Cote d’Ivoire. They also interviewed a sign language trainer who will visit our school for a teacher training session in Sign Language.

Empowering local Teachers in Abidjan

This month we held a teacher training workshop for our local partner school Luke International School with a focus on Understanding Special Needs. This was also an effort to empower educators on how to make learning and the classroom environment more accessible for students with needs. During the discussion a look at the local laws which advocate for people with disabilities’ and the cultural influences that affect how disabilities are viewed were explored.

Lebanon

Meet our 21-22 SENIA Ecuador Board Members

Emilia Velásquez is an Educational Therapist from Quito, Ecuador. She graduated from Universidad de los Hemisferios in 2021. She has had experience working in multiple social organizations related to disabilities and low income families. She has worked as an Instructional Assistant for three years and now she is part of the Learning Support Department at Academia Cotopaxi.

She is passionate about finding and creating new pedagogies and connecting or collaborating with teacher nerds. She has her own podcast about educational strategies to promote equity focusing on topics related to Disability, Migration, Ethnicity and Gender.

Rwanda

January 2023 Networking Event

On January 27, we hosted a wonderful networking event in Sofia to connect educators and service providers in our community.

We are excited to see our organisation growing to include all types of educators, therapists, and educational psychologists. It was a wonderful opportunity for guests to learn more about SENIA as well as share their experiences, resources, and vision for the future of inclusive education.

Thank you to everyone who joined us, we can’t wait for the next one!

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Visit from Dr. Stephen Shore

Lat December, we had the incredible pleasure to host Dr. Stephen Shore in Sofia, Bulgaria!
 
Dr. Stephen Shore is an autistic professor of special education at Adelphi University in the United States. He is also an author and speaker, and was recently a keynote speaker at the 2022 SENIA Europe Conference in Bonn.
 
The Anglo-American School of Sofia hosted Dr. Shore, where he was able to speak with educators, students, and parents in the community. Dr. Shore presented on topics including the 4 A’s of Autism, Bullying, and Sensory Diets. Our team of educators were especially engaged when they had to step into the place of an individual experiencing sensory overload – a unique and challenging experience for many!
 
We are so grateful to Dr. Shore for sharing his knowledge and experiences to help our community grow.

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Emily Simbaña