Tiberias and Afula Community programs
Providing Diagnosis and Intervention to Learning Disabled Children in Afula and Tiberias
It is estimated that among the general population, 10-15% have some form of learning disability. Early identification and intervention can make a life-changing difference in children's ability to succeed in school at the same level as their peers and in the future, to integrate into society as productive individuals.
This is especially important in peripheral towns, such as Afula and Tiberias, cities with high percentage of new immigrants and economically disadvantaged families. Children from these families are faced with many absorption related difficulties, in school and in their daily life, and when compounded by a learning disability, they are in many instances unable to surmount all of these barriers.
In underprivileged populations, such as those targeted by the program, the percentage of children diagnosed with learning disabilities is very small. This derives from very little knowledge among parents concerning this condition, together with the parents' inhibitions to diagnose and treat their child due to the high costs that this entails of them. They rather perceive their child's low achievements as expression of his or her poor capabilities.
This Program aims to assess as early as possible the learning disabilities of the neediest children residing in Tiberias and Afula and provide treatment for them in the form of individually tailored remedial education programs. The program targets those students who have scholastic difficulties, and behavioral and emotional problems. These children have language difficulties and fail to express themselves either verbally or in writing, they have reading difficulties, poor general knowledge, have very low self esteem, poor social skills and tend to act impulsively.
The purpose of the Program is to improve their basic reading and writing skills, and if deemed necessary, they may receive additional treatment from Nitzan through the course of this program, which may include professional therapy and/or Para-medical therapy.
The program will take place at Nitzan's Afula and Tiberias branches and will include the treatment of 80 3rd grade children who are in most need of support and cannot afford to pay for Nitzan's services.
This project specifically targets children in the 3rd grade, an age level at which a child’s reading, writing and math skills are supposed to be fairly well developed. This is a critical age at which children who are thought to be learning disabled should be properly diagnosed so that professional treatment can commence.
As a result of this project, we anticipate the following:
- Participants will bridge their educational gaps in reading and writing and meet the standard scholastic norm for their age.
- Participants will exhibit improved academic performance, motivation, and behavior.
- Participants' self image will improve; they will demonstrate greater self-confidence and improved social interaction with their peers.