Special people need special help: what should it be?

Sardana Avksentieva and Yulia Baranovskaya visited Voronezh and discussed the problems of special children. The choice of the meeting place is not accidental – the first in Russia sewing production of clothes for children with disabilities was opened here.

It was organized by Anna Gurskaya, candidate for the State Duma, mother of a special child, winner of the contest “Marathon of ideas” and project participant “DebateCandidates”. Sardana Avksentieva and Yulia Baranovskaya attended the show of the collection and appreciated the results of her long work.

Clothes for special children are equipped with special fasteners and elements that help to wear prostheses without any problems. And part of the proceeds from the sale of clothing will be used to purchase high-tech prostheses and equipment for the rehabilitation of children with disabilities.

How to help?

Adults with disabilities and parents of special needs children often experience pity and a desire to help. What should we keep in mind when we want to make their lives easier?

1. Don’t stress the unusualness of the situation and don’t treat such people like fragile vases. They themselves understand their uniqueness, so you should not remind about it.
2. Do not reproach them or give unsolicited advice. Believe me, they themselves have studied all the available information and are ready to turn to any non-traditional methods.
3. Parents of special children are often lonely. You can help find like-minded people, foundations and parents who have already gone through a similar path and can share their experience.

“A child with special needs is not easy to raise doubly”

“Special children, most of them, need constant care: 24 hours a day, seven days a week. Naturally, when a child cannot serve himself in any way, then his mother, the closest person, does everything for him. Question: Mom can’t go to work, but what to live on? asks Yulia Baranovskaya.

This is exactly what happened to Tatyana. Her one-year-old daughter, Kira, was diagnosed with cerebral palsy and was in desperate need of treatment and expensive doctors. Dad left the family and did not bother with alimony.

As a result, the situation was resolved thanks to friends: they persuaded the young mother to turn to fellow countrymen for help. With the help of doctors and expensive therapy, Kira lives without seizures. Representatives of the Special Purpose Moms community learned about the situation, and this became the impetus for the creation of a petition, which they proposed to sign for the New People.

“Moms and I talked about the fact that families in which children with special needs grow up need support like no other. They should not be left alone with their problems. Every mother knows how difficult it is in principle to raise a child, and a child with special needs is doubly so, she emphasizes.

— I want to thank all the parents of special children who found the strength to get out of their personal pain, unite, help each other and share experiences. Together they are a great force. And they raise important questions for the state and society.”

petition: benefits for parents raising children with disabilities

Party “New People” considers it important to pay additional benefits to parents who are raising children with severe disabilities and for this reason cannot find a job. Payments, according to the party, should exceed the regional minimum wages.

Now benefits are available only in Moscow and St. Petersburg, but in the regions there are also such families with disabled children, and salaries are much lower. In addition, often children are raised by grandparents, and they are not entitled to any payments.

Help for special people should be sensitive and purposeful. Instead of sympathy, it is better to provide real assistance and share with a person his problems. Foundations, volunteer movements and various political organizations help with this.