Italy. Down Syndrome. Almaty

Guido Trezzani, an ONLUS member of the ACIK, told about the support program for children with Down Syndrome in cooperation with Samruk Kazyna in Almaty:

“Try to find a connection: Italy, Down Syndrome, Almaty.

It all started with a friendship with Prof. Sangalli, lecturer in inclusive education at the University of Verona and consultant to countless rehabilitation centers throughout Italy. The collaboration with Prof. Sangalli and with a small group of his colleagues from different disciplines goes back 10 years. Initially, everything was limited to one-time consultations for parents of children with various forms of disability.

Later, the collaboration focused more and more on children and adolescents with Down Syndrome, mainly due to the frequent requests we received from parents. The lack of specialists and centers locally capable of meeting the basic needs of children and their families gradually led us to the idea of ​​​​creating a project dedicated to this syndrome, able to cover all age groups and all the problems that families face on a daily basis.

This is how the first seminars were created, the foundations of a day center where individual consultations and events were held, as well as the first missions in various cities of Kazakhstan.

Now, 6 years after the official launch of the first center in Almaty, the project has more than 1,000 children and adolescents in care across the country, with a significant presence on social networks and the Internet, which allows us to have stable contact with families even at a distance.

We hope that the start of cooperation with Samruk Kazyna Trust, in addition to strengthening our presence in Almaty, will facilitate the process of interaction with the world of education in order to make the adaptation of children to school and the entry into force of the obligation in accordance with the Italian model a reality.”