New initiative brings hope for parents of children with special needs

A SPECIAL programme for children with mental illnesses will be presented in Cyprus next week.

The Vice-president of American non-profit organisation Institutes for the Achievement of Human Potential, Douglas Doman, will hold a series of educational workshops this Wednesday and Thursday at the European University of Cyprus (former Cyprus College).

Parents of children who suffer cerebral palsy, mental disabilities, epilepsy, autism, attention deficit disorder (ADD) and Down’s syndrome, will have the opportunity to learn new ways in which they can help their children have a better life.

The programme, which has been successfully implemented for the past few years in the US, Italy, Japan and Mexico, offers advice to parents on how to help their children improve their mobility, thinking, communication skills, social development and dietary habits.

The Institute’s educational programmes help parents understand the ways in which their children’s brains are developing. They are also taught how to speed up the brain’s development.

The workshops, which are free to the public, will take place in English from 4 pm until 6 pm on Wednesday and on Thursday, from 10 am until 12 noon and 4 pm until 6 pm.

For more information and to apply to participate, contact Victor Papadopoulos on 99-660403.

The Cyprus Mail is the only English-language daily newspaper published in Cyprus. It was established in 1945 and today, with its popular and widely-read website, the Cyprus Mail is among the most trusted news sites in Cyprus. The newspaper is not affiliated with any political parties and has always striven to maintain its independence. Over the past 70-plus years, the Cyprus Mail, with a small dedicated team, has covered momentous events in Cyprus’ modern history, chronicling the last gasps of British colonial rule, Cyprus’ truncated independence, the coup and Turkish invasion, and the decades of negotiations to stitch the divided island back together, plus a myriad of scandals, murders, and human interests stories that capture the island and its -people. Observers describe it as politically conservative.