On Monday, November 1, a week of internships on "Social aspects in special and inclusive education" from Swiss specialists started. On the first day, they talked about the definitions, principles, and concepts of special education, combining theory and practical tasks, which were presented to the students of the Faculty of Health and Physical Education of Uzhhorod National University by a member of the presidium of the Parasolka Association, special teacher Henny Graf.

In her presentation, the lecturer outlined the rights and needs of persons with disabilities, and also spoke about the responsibility that a specialist must take on to ensure that these important aspects of human life are not violated or limited. This is a condition for a comfortable life for this segment of society, as well as for the entire human community, the openness, and democracy of which, as we know, is determined by the attitude towards the minority. Today, the key document on the protection of the rights of persons with disabilities is the relevant UN Convention, the provisions of which have been implemented into national legislations, including the Ukrainian one.

The first practical block on Monday involved group work. An interesting exercise was offered to students - they had to form round contours from plates. Eight teams performed the tasks separately and in their own way, without clear instructions and tips, so that all aspects of the quest were discussed and agreed upon by mini-groups. When it was clear that the collected objects had to be lifted from the floor, it turned out that only two teams coped with the task. One of the participants told the audience that at first, the group went the wrong way, and only after talking about all the options, listening to each other's arguments, the result of the joint work became satisfactory.

"Yes, it was not enough to pile up the elements, the object created still has to be viable. Through trial and error, long discussions, you have chosen the right way and coped with the task. This is very good. But! When working with people, especially people with disabilities, the specialist does not have many options, there is no room for error. Therefore, you need to have experience, strategy, vision, ability to calculate the consequences of your actions. This is worth learning and should be learned. And one more lesson is the importance of communication, the value of being able to hear and be heard, that is why we use group forms and practical tasks,” said Henny Graf.

Subsequently, students performed individual work, analysing lecture material, determining their own priorities in the development of future professional skills. It is important for the fixation of new knowledge, understanding of the chosen specialty.

Also, within the framework of the first day of training, students took part in a master class, where they gained experience of interaction with various developmental disorders. Here they used wheelchairs, sticks for the blind, exercises in spasticity and hearing loss. In the end, the participants received the home task, which will be checked at the beginning of the second training day.

It has to be reminded, that during the summer meeting in Uzhhorod, representatives of the Medical Aid Committee in Zakarpattia and the Faculty of Health and Physical Education of Uzhhorod National University with the support of the Parasolka Association (Switzerland) agreed to organise a number of theoretical and practical training cycles and lectures of Swiss experts for students of the faculty who are trained in specialties "Special Education" and "Physical Therapy. Occupational therapy". And a week ago, more than 20 students of these specialties together with their teachers visited the Vilshansky Orphanage and the Social Abilitation and Rehabilitation Centre "Parasolka", which will become the basis of industrial practice for students of the highest educational institution.