President Milanović Meets with Representatives of Associations Helping Persons with Disabilities and Children with Developmental Disabilities
The President of the Republic Zoran Milanović met today with representatives from two associations dedicated to caring for, promoting, and implementing activities to enhance the quality of life for individuals with the most severe physical disabilities, as well as for children with developmental disabilities and their families in the City of Zagreb and Zagreb County.
At the meeting in the Office of the President, Jasna Primorac, the President of the Association SPIK – Sve pod istim krovom [Everything under the same roof], and Lina Daxini, the President of the Center for Integration of Development ILAB, presented their respective associations and the challenges they are encountering to President Milanović. They emphasized the shortage of suitable workspace as the biggest problem. In this regard, they presented President Milanović with a completed project for the construction of a public facility that would be dedicated to social activities, i.e. a center for the provision of services in the community. This facility could be established in Odranski Obrež, but the associations lack the necessary financial resources. Ms. Primorac stated that associations step in where the system has failed, yet the system does not offer the needed support.
The Association SPIK – Sve pod istim krovom comprises parents of children facing the most severe physical and developmental disabilities, and the Center for Integration of Development ILAB consists of experts dedicated to rehabilitating children with developmental disabilities and offering comprehensive support to their families. Both organizations assist children dealing with profound disabilities, offering guidance to parents on social and legal care rights, as well as options for the treatment and rehabilitation of children.
The representatives of the SPIK Association and the ILAB Center explained that, due to the impracticality of conducting therapy in their current inadequate premises, rehabilitation programmes are conducted in the homes of association members. Within the association’s facilities, training sessions are organized for parents, students of the Faculty of Education and Rehabilitation Sciences, and various sessions for experts working with individuals and children facing the most severe disabilities and developmental challenges.
President Milanović was accompanied at the meeting by Jadranka Žarković, Adviser to the President of the Republic for Education.
PHOTO: Office of the President of the Republic of Croatia / Dario Andrišek