At the World Conference on Early Childhood Care and Education (WCECCE), the Department Chief at the Ministry of Preschool Education of the Republic of Uzbekistan Shakhnoza Mirziyoyeva spoke about the “Imkon” Center and the importance of this institution in the lives of children with disabilities.

She spoke about the services provided in the center to children and the results achieved using the example of six-year-old Dina Kanibekova.

– When we met this girl, she was deprived of the happiness of moving, running, jumping on a par with her peers and other children”, – Shakhnoza Mirziyoyeva says. Dina’s speech is poor and she can hardly hear. Just imagine, she couldn’t hear her mother’s voice. Dina’s life was spent in sadness, anxiety and darkness. For more than four years, this girl saw only the walls of her room and the ceiling.

Indeed, in many cases, children who need special attention are left without attention at all, because their parents do not have the opportunity for this. Dina was also out of sight. Her diagnosis is infantile cerebral palsy, bilateral sensorineural hearing loss of 3-4 degrees. But about a year ago, a cardinal change took place in Dina’s life. Dina was taken to the “Imkon” Center.

“Imkon” is an institution that combines education and rehabilitation. “Imkon” is a hope for children with disabilities to return to normal life. Here you can run, play, conquer new frontiers. “Imkon” is our attitude toward what education should be like in the future for children with disabilities.

Thanks to the joint efforts of special teachers, educators, physical therapy instructors and doctors, Dina has achieved excellent results here. She learned to eat by holding a spoon, to crawl, to sit. The girl took her first independent steps. She began to hear with implanted hearing aids, and speech therapy helps her understand and speak.

When we started working on the concept of the “Imkon” centers four years ago, we dreamed of just such results. There are a lot of kids like Dina. Now we can share the success of our little heroes. Taking this opportunity, I would like to draw the attention of the whole world to the fact that supporting and raising children with disabilities is not only a need. This should become a common occurrence. As you can see, we have combined education and rehabilitation to create a prosperous future for children. A great work of a united team lies behind every success.

All this is completely free. The right to receive such assistance is guaranteed by the state. We reveal the talent of children, develop their abilities and prepare them for future life. We hold their hand tightly, allow them to take their first steps, play with friends for the first time, memorize the first verses and feel the happiness of just being a child. I believe that today’s opportunity will one day be the source of the stories of hundreds and thousands of children who are fighting for a happy childhood.

Mokhigul Qosimova, photos by Nosirjon Khaydarov, UzA