We at Kesher work to promote the quality of life and rights of families with children and adults with special needs, believing that motivated, empowered, and involved parents and families are a source of strength and hope for their children. Our vision is to promote a society that ensures that families with children with special needs will be given the conditions necessary to raise their child with dignity and self-respect, from a place of power and involvement, that will provide the opportunity for a full being in all walks of life.
To this end, we operate a variety of services for families, including dozens of workshops, lectures, courses and guidance for all members of the special family: parents, siblings, grandparents.
A study we conducted in 2015 in collaboration with the Research Administration at the Ministry of Economy shows that 77% of special parents are forced to retire from the workplace in order to care for the special child. Unfortunately over the past “Corona” year, this trend has only intensified. Following the Corona crisis special parents were laid off from their jobs, forced to close the business they owned, obliged to leave their jobs to devote themselves to caring for their special child as a substitute for special education frameworks that did not function – or only partially operated – thus the family suffered significant economic harm and many barriers to return to the changing workplace during the crisis.
In order to help special parents return to the circle of employment, whether after years of caring for a child or following the corona crisis, we offer a course “back to the workplace” from the position of personal empowerment.
Special parental entitlements in employment: unpaid leave, utilization of vacation days and the child’s sick leave, prohibition of discrimination at work for children with disabilities: implications during and after the Corona period.
Education: Special education – a scheme detailing back to a full routine? – Distance learning, helping children at risk at home, transportation and everything you need to know in this dynamic topic.
Welfare: Dormitories and frameworks
Social and medical model
Child development + rehabilitation accessory and mobility adjustments (health)
Social security (Bituach Leumi): disabled child allowance, mobility, additional allowances and benefits for those on respirators.
Transition to adulthood (ages 17-18 +), focus on the rights of adults – housing, leisure, employment, guardianship and decision making.
One of the main goals of a “Kesher” is to develop a strong civic society, which will motivate and be a partner in improving the quality of life of families of children and young people with special needs. To this end, a prototype of a training course for a local parent leadership group has been developed, in which the group receives tools for leading change, building partnerships and managing projects. The Parent’s Group for Children with Special Needs will lead and work to improve the quality of life of families, strengthen the status of special families, develop local initiatives and work to build a supportive and integrative community. All this while building a partnership with the municipal authority.
The leadership group will be allied to a network of Kesher communities leading change – a country-wide network of local leadership groups and group members will enjoy support, sharing and enrichment within the network.
Parenting a child with special needs is characterized by ups and downs during life’s stages. Creating a parent-to-parent support network allows any parent to enlist the help of a supportive parent during periods when he or she needs a listening ear, guidance, or support. The course is based on the principles of accompaniment developed in a Kesher and emphasizes the meaning of accompaniment, which is not counseling or treatment, but support and friendship, walking hand in hand within the struggles and transitions during life’s stages. In the course, the parents will be trained to accompany special parents and create a pool of volunteer parents who can support and accompany parents both at the start of the way and later on as needed.
Many parents are preoccupied with the issue of their involvement in the relationship between the children in the family. This issue is especially complex in a family where a child with special needs is growing up.
The session will discuss the implications for the family atmosphere and parenting style, the influence of the child with special needs on his siblings, the relationship between siblings and the effect of age on this relationship, feelings arising in siblings (such as shame, embarrassment and anger), characteristics of sibling roles and the nature and extent of involvement The extent of parental involvement in the relationships between the siblings. We will, of course, also talk about the positive aspect of growing up next to a Special Person, about the strengths, maturity and development that can accompany handling the challenges.
Additional information: The childhood and adolescence of siblings of children with special needs are different from and more complex than that of children with regular siblings. A child with special needs involves the whole family, at different levels, and the siblings deal with different family situations and emotional complexities towards their special siblings and their parents. In addition, they need to cope with the society around them that does not always accept, understand and listen to their unique needs. The group allows these siblings to be first be “children of” and and only then “brothers of”.
The corona period intensified these challenges as the home became a ‘pressure cooker’ and family attention was often directed to the special siblings, as opposed to ‘normal’ (non-corona) times. The group allows the brothers space to receive exclusive attention in an experiential way that gives them the opportunity for self-expression, and group support within the peer group.
Course / Module content: Writing texts in the wake of experiences or following other texts, joint reading and sharing of written materials, together with experienced and professional group counselors in their field.
Additional details: Do you occasionally feel that if you had a little time you would sit down and write and write and write? Do you know that this will not happen at home? If so – our workshop will fit you like a glove! Once a week, a we will ‘tread the path’ of writing. Together – a group of special parents/grandparents/siblings – will learn to release words from the heart to the paper. What will happen in the workshop? We will write, we will read what we have written, we will listen to texts written by other special relations, and of course we will be amazed at how the texts of others touched us. In one word – an experience! In two words – a special experience !! (Literally)
* The text is written in female language but a mixed group can be held
1. Sexual development versus developmental delay in various areas – the challenge of the special parent.
2. Sexual behavior and difficulties in reading the social map in the marital-sexual context – how to accompany the child in the various challenges.
3. Difficulties in communication and sexual behavior – the difficulty between parents and children in the field of conveying sexual issues.
4. Family coping with the child’s independence and creating a married life in the face of the challenge of developing relationships outside the family.
5. Summary, questions and parting.
Parenting in a special family involves endless struggles in many walks of life. We seek to direct the parents’ gaze inward – to themselves and their personal experience, to allow them to pause for a moment in their daily, task-oriented activities and to reflect on their needs, challenges, difficulties and victories, not just in the parental context. In a small and intimate group of people, with similar parenting experience, we will observe and share the personal, marital and family journey that each participant has undergone and still goes through, illuminating the moments of weakness and identify the sources of power, discuss concerns but also expectations and hopes. We believe that listening and support from others can alleviate, if only slightly, the feeling of loneliness.
We want to practice with the workshop participants various tools and techniques from the field of phototherapy – a contemporary approach that uses actual photography and studying photographs to help a person to express himself. Beyond the enjoyment of photography itself – of doing and creating – photography is a reassuring way of communication that can suit even those who have difficulty expressing themselves and their feelings in words.
Raise awareness and meet memories, feelings and thoughts that are not always directly accessible.
To freshly appraise his/her life – past and present – about his/herself, his/her environment and the relationships he/she has had over the years
Gain insights into the things that helped the participant’s development and formation, and what he/she wants to achieve in the future
Be exposed to different points of view
The creative and experiential activity will be performed in a small and intimate group and will encourage active coping. It will include dialogue and work with photographs from various sources, including the personal or family photo album in addition to photos that the participants will take during sessions or between them, with reference to relevant topics and issues. The photographs will not only assist us in discussing the challenges, concerns and difficulties, but will also identify needs, achievements, strengths and resources. We will define personal goals and desired changes, we will open a plan to achieve them and faith and optimism regarding the ability to do so. The joint work will allow each participant to look through a new lens at the journey he and his family went through and tell his story. He will also be able to consider how he would like “his/her future photo album to look like”.
