INCLUSIVE EDUCATION FOR CHILDREN WITH SPECIAL NEEDS IN UZBEKISTAN

Author: Madrimova Manzura, mother of Abdullayev Islombek

I am the mother of Abdullayev Islombek. On 14 August 2011, my son was diagnosed with Down Syndrome. Our family reacted to that news from the specialists with a great doubt, and did not believe them. I did not want to believe it either. However, from day to day I noticed that the child is lagging behind in development. We came to Tashkent to make screening examination. After the confirmation that the diagnosis is correct, it became clear to everyone that Islombek needs special attention.

With the support of my mother, we took my son to experts, and based on their advice and instructions, every three months, and then every 6 months took a massage course in order to improve the child health. Together with my mother, we taught my son to talk, crawl, walk. When Islombek turned 2 years old, he began to walk. In order to help my child to speak clearly and distinctly, we decided to visit a speech therapist. Then, my neighbor – Shura opa, recommended us to visit Latofat Ruzmetova, a speech therapist from the kindergarten No. 27 of Urgench.

I met Latofat at a conference held by the Project «Inclusive Education for Children with Special Needs in Uzbekistan», where I told her about my son. Thus, my son and I were accepted to the pilot pre-school education institution (kindergarten) No. 27. Now, as a result of the constant exercises with a speech therapist, my son learned to say separate words; together with all children, he participates in classes and celebrations, he can draw and make applications. This would seem to be elementary things, but for our family it is a great progress.

All of this happened thanks to the fact that the head of the kindergarten and the staff were not afraid to accept my Islambek, but, on the contrary, they accepted him with love. Attending the sessions at the «Umid» Parents’ Club, which is lead by Muyassar Ibragimova and coordinated by the Regional Expert Ilmira Kabulova, we realized that parents are a great power, and we should not sit and wait, but we should rather act in the interests of the child and raise him as a full-fledged member of society. And we should believe that EVERYTHING WILL BE ALL RIGHT!