My autism and me

Watch the video about autism.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ejpWWP1HNGQ

Jedlička Institute and Schools (JÚŠ) for Physically Disabled Young People in Prague - Text 4

Jedlička Institute and Schools (JÚŠ) for Physically Disabled Young People in Prague

A Jedlička Institute and Schools is a non-profit organisation operated by Prague City Council. It is a specialist educational establishment for children and young people primarily with a physical disability.

B It was founded in 1913 and has been based in central Prague at Vyšehrad since that time. During the past 90 years it has undergone many changes but with a continuing emphasis on education and training for further application in employment even for those young people whose disability is severe. Since 1991 it has been operated by Prague City Council which provides financial support. The Jedlička Foundation raises funds to cover costs for specific individual needs of physically disabled students. It has also provided significant support for JÚŠ building improvements over the past 10 years.

C JÚŠ currently serves to 180 students for whom a great amount of services are provided. 90 students are accommodated during the week and go home for weekends and holidays. In the late 1990s, thanks to the UK Crown Foundation, we made contact with Treloar College in Alton, Hampshire. Several projects were undertaken that involved the sharing of experiences between staff and exchange visits for students. Work methods and student needs in both places are very similar. We can offer training opportunities for students from the UK together with full board onsite.

D Our schools provide elementary and middle-school education, both mainstream and specialist, for children and young people primarily with physical disabilities. The students are provided with therapeutic rehabilitation – physiotherapy, occupational therapy (ergotherapy), hydrotherapy, speech therapy. Moreover, computer assistance, social skills for the workplace, a flat in which they can develop independent domestic skills, a transition programme and employment support are made accessible for all of the students. Children with physical disabilities in mainstream schools are offered mobility consultancy services or assistance with the selection of schools, they can exploit diagnostics, psychological, and therapy short-term stays.

E There are extracurricular activities as accommodation in modern dormitories for children and young people available. The students can create and support social contacts in hobby groups, sports clubs, and an alumni club. They can take part in weekend stays, summer holiday camps, and cooperate with schools overseas.

alumni – absolventský

onsite – na místě

1) Read the article and match each of the headings to a paragraph.

1 Extracurricular activities

2 History and Jedlička Foundation

3 Therapies and skills provided to students

4 Contacts with abroad

5 Introduction

2) Read the article and answer the questions.

1 What is the article about?

2 What is Jedlička Institute and Schools?

3 Who does it cooperate with?

4 What are the students offered in JÚŠ?

5 Where can they meet friends and set up new contacts?

3) Explain the following words.

1 disability

2 physically disabled

3 foundation

4 ergotherapy

5 domestic skills

4) Answer the following questions.

What are types of handicaps? What are reasons for being handicapped? What types of therapies do you know? How can they help the handicapped?

Adjusted to:

http://www.jus.cz/english

Progress Made But More Needs to Be Done, Say Handicapped Rights Advocates - Text 5

Progress Made But More Needs to Be Done, Say Handicapped Rights Advocates

A December 3 is the International Day of Persons with Disabilities. Here in the Czech Republic, things have changed a lot since the communist era, when an independent lifestyle was virtually impossible for the handicapped. However, advocates say there is still a lot of work to be done.

B Zdeněk Škaroupka is the director of Liga vozíčkářů, the Czech association of wheelchair users. It was established in 1990, soon after the fall of communism, to address the problems of people with disabilities. Mr. Škaroupka describes what conditions handicapped people were living under the previous system. “The situation was that most disabled people lived in institutions. Children and teenagers were living in social services housing for disabled youths. The situation was intolerable to me, because the children had very few opportunities to freely move on their own, for example to go into town; they were sort of locked up in their accommodation, and their life was, well, the way life was in those institutions at the time.”

C One huge difference between then and now is definitely the accessibility of public spaces. Eva Kučerová, a Prague resident who relies on a wheelchair to get around, says the situation has gotten a lot better in the past 20 years. “As far as my personal experience goes, the changes have been radical. When I was young, for example, right after my accident, when I was studying, there were no ramps for wheelchairs in the city’s public transportation system. So as a disabled person, you were always depending on your family and your own resources.”

D Advocates say despite some advances, much more needs to be done to help the country’s handicapped. Zdeněk Škaroupka says: “None of the areas that are problematic for disabled people have been addressed in a systematic, clear and definite way. Take wheelchair ramps for example: we have a construction law that states what a wheelchair accessible place should look like. But the problem is that there are no effective sanctions or fines in case the construction firm doesn’t adhere to the law.”

E Mr. Škaroupka added that even though the International Day for Persons with Disabilities does offer a great opportunity to organize events and conferences, not enough is done in the Czech Republic to celebrate it. “It would be good if we could take advantage of the day to spread the news that there are problems that disabled people have to face and that plenty of people that surround us have to deal with those problems. For instance, they could not take a parking spot that is designated to be used by disabled people only.”

construction law – stavební zákon

designated – určený

to adhere – držet se

1) Read the article and match each of the headings to a paragraph.

1 The situation of people with disabilities in the past

2 Difference between then and now

3 Škaroupka thinks we should do more for the handicapped

4 A lot has to be done to help the handicapped

5 Things have changed a lot in the Czech Republic

2) Read the article and answer the questions.

1 What is the article about?

2 Who is Zdeněk Škaroupka? What are his opinions?

3 Who is Eva Kučerová? What are her opinions?

4 What does Zdeněk Škaroupka say about wheelchair ramps?

5 How could the International Day for Persons with Disabilities help?

3) Explain the following words.

1 independent lifestyle

2 housing for disabled youths

3 intolerable

4 accessibility of public spaces

5 wheelchair ramp

4) Answer the following questions.

What was life of the handicapped like in the past? Has their situation improved? What are typical problems of handicapped people? What are problems of the blind, deaf, physically disabled?

Adjusted to:

http://www.radio.cz/en/section/curraffrs/progress-made-but-more-needs-to-be-done-say-handicapped-rights-advocates

Young Czech Artist Helps Dyslexic Children - Text 3

Young Czech Artist Helps Dyslexic Children

A Around five percent of Czech school-goers are diagnosed with dyslexia. Although it has been proven that there is no direct link between dyslexia and IQ dyslexic children are often labelled slow and problematic, hampering them from making full use of their potential. A new learning aid aims to change that.

B Children who are in any way different generally suffer for it in the classroom. It took years for the Czech education system to accept left-handers for what they were and not force them to write with their right hand. Now, teachers are being made to recognize that a dyslexic child can be as intelligent – or more intelligent – than a child without learning disabilities. Last week a young Czech artist – herself a dyslexia sufferer – presented the public with an audio-visual primer she produced in cooperation with experts from Charles University.

C Alena Kupčíková explains what the new learning technique is based on. “Children suffering from dyslexia tend to use the right hemisphere of the brain more than the left which influences their perception of things. They tend to think in pictures, which makes it hard for them to work with letters and written words. So our learning aid is based on using pictures to help them recognize letters in what appears to be a foreign and confusing environment. But it is possible that our primer will help all children learn to read because our first perception of new things tends to be visual.”

D Alena Kupčíková spent six years working with pre-school children and first graders in order to get as much information as possible for the primer. In the learning process children are encouraged to play with the shapes of letters and look for them in a given environment. You have pictures in motion on screen which children have to spot or move elsewhere. The combination of work with colour, sound, shape and movement has produced excellent results and dyslexia experts in other countries have shown interest in the idea.

E “The first to contact were experts from Slovakia – who want a Slovak version of what we are offering Czech children, and because my work is known abroad other countries have expressed interest as well. We are cooperating with education specialists in Great Britain, Canada, France and Germany to produce different language versions. It is a lot of work but now that the Czech version is done we hope to move on and have the English and German versions ready by the end of the year.”

hampering – brzdící

perception – vnímání

primer – slabikář

to tend – mít sklon

1) Read the article and match each of the headings to a paragraph.

1 A new learning aid

2 International interest

3 Work with colour, sound, shape and movement

4 Teachers have to find out dyslexic children can be intelligent

5 Alena Kupčíková explains the principle of the new learning technique

2) Read the article and answer the questions.

1 What is the article about?

2 Who is Alena Kupčíková?

3 What and who did she cooperate in her primer with?

4 What are problems of Czech teachers in connection with the disabled students?

5 What do the foreign experts say about the primer?

3) Explain the following words.

1 dyslexia

2 learning aid

3 different

4 left-hander

5 pre-school children

4) Answer the following questions.

What are types of learning handicaps? What are learning aids used by the handicapped children? What is IQ? What are its levels?

Adjusted to:

http://www.radio.cz/en/section/curraffrs/young-czech-artist-helps-dyslexic-children

Karlovy Vary Film Festival: Enjoying a Cup of Tea at the Unusual Pitch Black Café - Text 2

Karlovy Vary Film Festival: Enjoying a Cup of Tea at the Unusual Pitch Black Café

A The Czech Pop Idol Aneta Langerová has been enjoying quite a bit of success here in the Czech Republic and she’s been using it for a good cause. She staged an open air concert during the Karlovy Vary film festival to which she invited a number of special guests – young and talented singers, who have not been able to make it in the music scene because they are blind. The concert was in support of a Czech Radio project called Světluška, which organized a number of events at the festival to bring people who do not have visual disabilities closer to the world of the blind.

B Dita Asideu spoke to Martina Kaderková, one of the coordinators of the events: “The Czech Radio Foundation has a special project, which is called Světluška or fire-fly. We finance various special aids for the blind such as speaking computers, optical aids, guiding dogs, and different courses, and we support young and talented musicians.”

C “We are standing next to a café that is actually quite unique here. Could you explain to us what it is?” Dita asked. “It is the first café in the dark that has been opened in the Czech Republic. There is absolute darkness inside the café and we have ten blind staff members, who make espresso in complete darkness and who guide the visitors to their tables, and who serve them too. We also have “movie screenings” two times a day but they are only in audio with very detailed commentary,” Martina answered.

D “The main aim is to understand what it is like to be blind. It is actually about an exchange of roles. Inside the café it is the blind guide who you have to rely on. Outside, the blind often have to rely on us. We help them to cross the street or other things. The interior differs from regular cafes. Each letter in Braille has six dots and you use different combinations to form a word. So, we have six tables in our café. There is one main path that only the waiters and waitresses move along, so you cannot really get in their way. We would like to bring this project to Prague and Brno and open a permanent Café in the Dark in Prague. This would bring employment opportunities because the unemployment rate among the visually impaired is 75 percent,” Martina Kaderková explains to Dita.

E Dita visits the café: I have been asked to put my watch and cell phone into my bag just to be sure that there is absolutely no light in the café and Markéta is just about to show me to my table. We’re inside and my guide is holding my hand and telling me where to go. It’s pitch black in here and I have no clue what’s around me. And here is my table. Markéta has just said goodbye and I shall wait for my waiter. There’s music playing in the background but it still seems to me like people are extremely loud in here and I wonder whether it’s just my sense of hearing making up for the fact that I can’t see…

pitch black – černý jako uhel

1) Read the article and match each of the headings to a paragraph.

1 The first café in the dark

2 Světluška finances special aids for the blind

3 Dita’s visit of the café

4 Café in the dark – opportunity for the blind

5 Aneta Langerová supports project Světluška

2) Read the article again and answer the questions.

1 What is the text about?

2 What is Světluška? Who and how does it help? Who does it cooperate with?

3 What is the café in the dark? Describe the place.

4 How does Dita feel in the café?

3) Explain the following words.

1 the blind

2 speaking computer

3 guiding dog

4 Braille

5 employment opportunity

4) Answer the following questions.

What type of impairment is blindness? What are special aids for the blind? What are they used for? Who helps the blind?

Adjusted to:

http://www.radio.cz/en/section/curraffrs/karlovy-vary-film-festival-enjoying-a-cup-of-tea-at-the-unusual-pitch-black-cafe

APLA-Prague – Association in Aid of Persons with Autism - Text 1

APLA-Prague – Association in Aid of Persons with Autism

A According to international statistics, approximately 50 000 persons in the Czech Republic suffer from autistic spectrum disorders. The aim of the civil association APLA-Prague (Association in aid of persons with autism) is to provide individuals with autism the kind of support that will enable them to live, work and educate themselves in the common world.

B Children come to the centre for a specialised examination at the recommendation of a paediatrician, children’s psychiatrist, neurologist or pedagogue. Children are also examined at the request of their parents. The goal of the examination is to confirm or disprove the diagnosis of autism and its related disorders. Another step is to familiarise the parents with the characteristics of the disorder. The specialists also make visits to the household, where they suggest how to modify the environment and regime of the household, or solutions to other problems, which the family may be encountering.

C We offer therapy for problematic behaviour (aggression, auto-aggression, stereotypical movement without a purpose, undressing in public, screaming, verbal abuse, obscenities and more). Within the scope of therapy, we offer group role-play of situations on social behaviour. The groups are held once a week for one hour and are intended for persons from 7 years of age and up. With regards to older participants, cognitive therapy is focussed on possible depression or anxiety. In addition, we offer individual role-play of situations.

D Personal assistance (expert trained University students) provide accompaniment to children to and from school, to extracurricular activities, sports or leisure time activities. Once or twice a month we organise relax weekends for parents of children and adults with autism. From 5.00 pm Friday to 5.00 pm Sunday we take over their care. All children and adults with autism may take part in this service without any restrictions in age and the degree of their problematic behaviour. We organize the summer camp for people with autism and problematic behaviour as well. It runs in two various locations in several terms for the months of July and August.

E When visiting families, we show them, which parts of their home they can modify, the best way they can organise a daily routine for the child, where they should adjust the regime, how they can use communication tables or books. We visit facilities, which the child attends and suggest suitable educational procedures.

disprove – vyvrátit

extracurricular – mimoškolní

familiarise – obeznámit

intended – zamýšlený

1) Read the article and match each of the headings to a paragraph.

1 Leisure-time activities

2 Activities of the centre

3 Therapies provided 

4 Work with families

5 Introduction

2) Read the article and answer the questions.

1 What is the article about?

2 What is APLA-Prague? How does it help its clients?

3 What are examples of problematic behaviour?

4 What extracurricular activities does it offer?

5 How does it help and cooperate with clients’ families?

3) Explain the following words.

1 autism

2 children’s psychiatrist

3 aggression

4 stereotypical movement

5 anxiety

4) Answer the following questions.

What are examples of mental handicaps? What are examples of physical handicaps? What is the origin of these handicaps? What types of therapies and activities are offered to the autistic clients of Apla?

Adjusted to:

http://www.praha.apla.cz/o-nas-cizojazycne/about-us.html

The Disabled – Vocabulary 2

accessibility of public spaces – přístupnost veřejných prostor

aggression – agrese

anxiety – strach, obavy

autism – autismus

balance disorder – porucha rovnováhy

blindness – slepota

Braille – slepecké písmo

children’s psychiatrist – dětský psychiatr

cognitive deficit – kognitivní porucha

cognitive/mental – kognitivní/duševní

deafness – hluchota

developmental difference – vývojový rozdíl

developmental disability – vývojová porucha

different – jiný, odlišný

disability – porucha

disability benefit – peněžní dávky pro postižené

disability insurance – invalidní pojištění

disability pension – invalidní důchod

disabled – postižený

disturbance – porucha

domestic skills – domácí dovednosti

dyslexia – dyslexie

emotional – citový

employment opportunity – příležitost najít zaměstnání

ergotherapy – pracovní terapie

foundation – nadace

guiding dog – slepecký pes

gustatory impairment – chuťová porucha

hearing impairment – porucha sluchu

impairment – porucha

independent lifestyle – nezávislý životní styl

intellectual disability – porucha intelektu

intolerable – netolerantní

learning aid – učební pomůcka

learning disability – učební porucha

left-hander – levák

mental disorder – mentální porucha

mental retardation – mentální retardace

non-profit organisation – neziskovka

olfactory impairment – čichová porucha

physical – tělesný

physically disabled – tělesně postižený

pre-school children – předškolní děti

sensory – smyslový

housing for disabled youths – ubytování pro postižené mladistvé

somatosensory impairment – somatosenzorická porucha

speaking computer – mluvící počítač

stereotypical movement – stereotypní pohyb

the blind – slepec

wheelchair ramp – rampa pro kolečkové křeslo

The Disabled – Vocabulary 1

accessibility of public spaces

autism

blindness

Brail

children’s psychiatrist

deafness

different

disability pension

disabled

dyslexia

emotional

employment opportunity

ergotherapy

foundation

guiding dog

independent lifestyle

intellectual disability

learning aid

learning disability

left-hander

mental disorder

non-profit organisation

physically disabled

housing for disabled youths

speaking computer

stereotypical movement

the blind

wheelchair ramp

Questions - Disability

What was life of the handicapped like in the past?
Has their situation improved?
What are typical problems of handicapped people?
What are problems of the blind, deaf, physically disabled?
What are types of handicaps?
What are reasons for being handicapped?
What types of therapies do you know?
How can they help the handicapped?
What are types of learning handicaps?
What are learning aids used by the handicapped children?
What is IQ?
What are its levels?
What type of impairment is blindness?
What are special aids for the blind?
What are they used for?
Who helps the blind?
What are examples of mental handicaps?
What are examples of physical handicaps?
What is the origin of these handicaps?
What types of therapies and activities are offered to the autistic clients of Apla?
 

The Disabled – Study Material

A disability in humans may be physical, cognitive/mental, sensory, emotional, and developmental or some combination of these.

An impairment is a problem in body function or structure; an activity limitation is a difficulty encountered by an individual in executing a task or action.

An individual may also qualify as disabled if he/she has had impairment in the past or is seen as disabled based on a personal or group standard or norm. Such impairments may include physical, sensory, and cognitive or developmental disabilities. Mental disorders (also known as psychiatric or psychosocial disability) and various types of chronic disease may also qualify as disabilities.

Some advocates object to describing certain conditions (notably deafness and autism) as “disabilities”, arguing that it is more appropriate to consider them developmental differences that have been unfairly stigmatized by society.

A disability may occur during a person’s lifetime or may be present from birth.

Types of disability

Disability is caused by impairments to various subsystems of the body.

These can be broadly sorted into the following categories:

·         Any impairment which limits the physical function of limbs or fine or gross motor ability is a physical disability. Other physical disabilities include impairments which limit other facets of daily living, such as severe sleep apnoea.

·         Sensory disabilities relate mainly to sight and hearing. The inability to smell or taste is relatively rarer and is not always considered to be a disability. Other sensory impairments such as of the skin senses, the sensing of touch, heat, cold or pain also exist and are commonly associated with physical disabilities involving paralysis.

·         Visual impairment (or vision impairment) is vision loss (of a person) to such a degree as to qualify as an additional support need through a significant limitation of visual capability resulting from either disease, trauma, or congenital or degenerative conditions that cannot be corrected by conventional means, such as refractive correction, medication, or surgery. This functional loss of vision is typically defined to manifest with

·         Hearing impairment or hard of hearing or deafness refers to conditions in which individuals are fully or partially unable to detect or perceive at least some frequencies of sound which can typically be heard by most people.

·         Impairment of the sense of smell and taste are commonly associated with aging but can also occur in younger people due to a wide variety of causes. It is called olfactory impairment. There are a wide variety of olfactory disorders:

·         Gustatory impairment: complete loss of the sense of taste is known as ageusia, while dysgeusia is persistent abnormal sense of taste.

·         Somatosensory impairment: Insensitivity to stimuli such as touch, heat, cold, and pain are often an adjunct to a more general physical impairment involving neural pathways and is very commonly associated with paralysis (in which the motor neural circuits are also affected).

·         A balance disorder is a disturbance that causes an individual to feel unsteady, for example when standing or walking. It may be accompanied by symptoms of being giddy, woozy, or have a sensation of movement, spinning, or floating. Balance is the result of several body systems working together.

·         Intellectual disability is a broad concept that ranges from mental retardation to cognitive deficits too mild or too specific (as in specific learning disability) to qualify as mental retardation. Intellectual disabilities may appear at any age.

·         A mental disorder or mental illness is a psychological or behavioural pattern generally associated with subjective distress or disability that occurs in an individual, and which are not a part of normal development or culture.

·         Developmental disability is any disability that results in problems with growth and development. Although the term is often used as a synonym or euphemism for intellectual disability, the term also encompasses many congenital medical conditions that have no mental or intellectual components.

Disability benefit, or disability pension, is a major kind of disability insurance, and is provided by government agencies to people who are temporarily or permanently unable to work due to a disability.

Adjusted to:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Handicapped