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Submitted for the Yearly General Assembly
June 2009
The past year was characterized by the development of new ideas and the continuation of existing activities. The scope of existing activities was broadened and they were implemented in additional branches throughout Israel. During the year, partnerships were formed with different agencies and seeds were planted for new initiatives, while maintaining a close connection with the branches and deepening their cooperation and mutual growth.
This year different projects were conducted in Nitzan branches throughout the country that were intended to aid struggling students who are coping with learning disabilities, to improve their academic functioning, to narrow learning gaps, and to integrate them into classroom activities. The most prevalent among these projects was "Locate, Assess, Treat", run this year, with the help of the Weinberg Foundation and additional funds, in a large number of settlements in Israel, such as: Dimona, Yeruchom, Ofakim, Sederot, Ashkelon, Ashdod, Naharia, and Carmiel.
In this program, the students are identified by school staff that has received training for this task from the professionals of Nitzan. After identifying the areas of difficulty, a personally designed study program is built and the students are included in group-tutoring sessions. After approximately three months, the students' progress is reevaluated and the nature of the continued activity with the student is decided accordingly.
With the goal of disseminating up-to-date professional information in order to maintain a high, uniform level of professionalism for those working with the learning disabled, continuing education classes and training sessions were run throughout the year for counselors, evaluators, and therapists from all of the branches.
Nitzan Baby - Center for Coaching, Guidance, and Empowerment of Parents with Learning Disabilities and Functional/Adaptive Difficulties
We focused this past year on increasing the number of families aided by the center's services. As such, we identified the possible sources of referrals for the center's activities in the community, we conducted orientation days and open house evenings, and we created a forum for those potentially interested in our services. Similarly, we worked to advertise the center among the area's residents by means of distributing brochures in active community centers and placing ads in the media (television, radio, newspapers).
We continued to run a wide variety of activities to strengthen the connections within the family unit and to encourage broadening social spheres and creating friendships. The scope of the center's activities was extended to four days of activities (3 weekday afternoons and Friday) and new areas of activity were added as well. Among the activities that were conducted this year were: parent coaching and personal training, guided activities in pairs (parent-child), a mother's group (women's circle), a movement class for women, and recreational activities for parents.
According to Nitzan Baby's vision of being a leading center of knowledge in the field of parents with learning disabilities and adaptive and functioning difficulties, we began (in cooperation with the Master's program in Educational Counseling at Tel-Aviv University) gathering relevant academic information, building practical, measurable models for work with the target population, and had the inception of the first working model for servicing parents with learning disabilities. In addition, since Nitzan Baby is a knowledge center that deals with parental empowerment and universal topics that aren't exclusive to the narrow target population, professional lectures will be given at the center that will be open to a wide audience.
The "Parents University", a series of lectures under the title "Learning Disabilities in the Cycle of Life", in cooperation with Tel-Aviv University took place this year for the fourth time, where 51 parents took part. Similarly, the "Parent School" took place three times throughout Israel and in each of them the activities will be continued this coming year.
This year a parents' convention took place at Tel-Aviv University on the topic "A Look into the Emotional World of Parents of Children with Learning Disabilities and/or ADHD". At the convention, which took place for the first time this year, some 500 parents and professionals took part. As a result of the positive responses, and according to the report of the Learning Disabilities Measure in Israel (Smith-Kalka), an additional parents' convention is being planned for September, which will deal with the emotional and social aspects of children with learning disabilities, and/or ADHD.
This year, as part of the expansion of our association's activities, specifically in the area of treatment, we began running different services within the framework of the "Nitzan +" Center. The center is intended to give support and guidance to adults above the age of 21 with learning disabilities and/or ADHD who feel that their difficulties are affecting different aspects of their personal lives. In the coming year we will continue to develop the topic, as we build a diverse services basket and market it amongst the target population.
Summary
This year we continued to advance our present activities, update them, widen their scope, and implement them in additional branches throughout the country, as part of the goal to deepen the involvement of Nitzan in the community. We also created partnerships and planted seeds for new initiatives, and developed new directions. This is all a part of our goal of continuing to provide a wide and professional response to needs of the population to which Nitzan Israel is obligated, and similarly to preserve its relevance despite the changing reality. This is made possible thanks to strengthening the connections and partnerships between the different fields. Similarly, cooperation was deepened between different organizations, in addition to the Ministry of Education, colleges and universities, with the goal of placing Nitzan Israel as the leading professional body in Israel on the field of learning disabilities. |
