"Little Lions" at School

Normally, Ania is a relatively shy girl, although at school she is much more lively. In winter, reaching the school can be an adventure. With her grandmother, she walks through cold, snow, and ice to the next city in the neighbouring district. There, a day school for children with visual impairments is located, called Lewenia, or “Little Lion”.

Ania can’t see or hear well. During the week, she lives at her grandmother’s home, within walking distance to school. Her mother’s home is further away from school, and she would have to take the bus—but Ania is afraid to do this.

The CBM-supported day school for children with visual impairments is the only one in Lviv—and in the whole of the Ukraine. Before Dr. Vira Remazhewska, a committed special education teacher, founded the school in 1996, no other day school for children with visual impairments existed in the country. They had to attend either a boarding school for the blind, or, in the case that they had multiple impairments, a home. As a result, these children were separated from their families at the early age of 6 years.

Ania likes to be in the “Little Lion” centre. This hasn’t always been the case. The beginning of her school career was difficult. When her mother gave birth to Ania via Caesarean section, unexpected complications caused visual and hearing impairments, and Ania’s development is delayed. However, already in the centre’s preschool, she has made great progress.

The individual and physiotherapeutic therapy has promoted Ania’s development a great deal. She has become much more independent and can move in a much more coordinated way. She can concentrate better and is more articulate. Today, her speech therapist, Halyna Domoradzka, explains geometrical figures to her. Ania takes triangles, squares, and circles into her hands and close to her eyes, so that she can recognize them. In this way, she learns to use two senses and thus is able to compensate for her visual impairment.

During an art therapy lesson, Ania works together with the 10-year-old Stanislav. After several active games, dances, and songs, he and Ania paint creative pictures, showing the sun and the sea using the colours of the Ukrainian flag: blue and yellow. The children are happy to experiment with colours. The children love to work with colours, and the advice of their teachers is well-received.

Oksana Kozytska, the teacher, shows Ania how to hold the paintbrush in the most convenient way. Stanislav, who has low vision, needs individual support in terms of physiotherapy and speech therapy. His twin brother, Sviatoslav, attends the other class for normally sighted children. During breaks, playtime, and lunchtime, the brothers can be together, which they like very much.

Stanislav has low vision. He has a severe eye damage, which cannot be corrected using glasses. Therefore, he needs special reading glasses and a workspace that is especially fitted to his needs with adequate light. With a reading magnifier, he can make something out of letters and photos.

His teacher assigned him the task to thread beads in a particular sequence on a piece of string. Stanislav has to hold the beads directly in front of his eyes to be able to tell the colour correctly. Through this activity, not only Stanislav’s visual ability, but also his fine motor skills are being trained.

The children have a tight schedule—lessons with their class, single lessons, physiotherapy, playground activities, occasional doctor appointments, and meals—so they don’t get bored easily.

With a comprehensive educational programme, the children are being prepared for primary school, whether or not they have a disability. Perhaps eventually, Stanislav may be able to attend a regular school, and Ania is being prepared for a logopedic special school.

When founding the school, Dr. Remazhewska paid particular attention to providing a learning environment in which children with visual and multiple impairments from Lviv can attend classes during the day, without being separated from their families. Ania is glad to go home after a long day at school and walk back with her grandma. Stanislav and Sviatoslav can hardly wait for their father to take them home with him.