Project News

"How about using a finger to draw a circle, moving on to using a crayon, and then, a pencil?"
"Children with palsy may prefer a pencil with soft lead to the hard one."
During a group work session of Seminar to Train Instructors of Portage Guide to Early Education held in Ulaanbaatar on August 28-30, participants discussed actively how to support children with developmental delay.

The Portage Program originated from Portage, Wisconsin, USA. This program was developed in 1972. It is designed as a tool for early intervention for children with special needs at home by assistance of instructors, visiting each household, assessing children's abilities and identifying assignments to cope with. The program does not require special equipment, and intervention can be done with items found in every family. The program was translated and modified in more than 35 languages, and utilized all over the world.

The Project introduced the program developed and adopted in Japan by Japan Portage Association which has more than 20 years clinical experience in Japan. Prior to the seminar, the Project translated the program into Mongolian, and put it into practice as a pilot activity from September 2016 to May 2017, in collaboration with 9 families of Autism Association of Mongolia, and Down Syndrome Association of Mongolia.

About 40 participants attended the seminar, including representatives from "Commission of Health, Education and Social Protection for Children with Disability", its Local Commission in Bayangol District and Khuvsgul aimag, Mongolia State University of Education, Special Kindergarten No. 10 and No. 186, a regular kindergarten affiliated with Mongolia State University of Education, Center for Rehabilitation, Education and Vocation, Health Center in Bayangol District, Association of Parents with Child with Disability, Autism Association of Mongolia, and Down Syndrome Association of Mongolia.

Theoretical backgrounds of the program, its composition, and teaching methods were explained through lectures. After the lectures, a group work session was conducted. During the session, each group choose a target child and developed a program for the specific child. In the last session of the seminar, participants presented their implementation plan of the program.
"We would like to start the program implementation for a target child in the first month of the new school year (September)."
"The program will be regularly conducted by kindergarten teachers. However, during weekends, we would like to ask parents to handle it. Once a month, we will organize a reflection meeting among teachers and parents."

The Project Team proposed "Sharing Seminar" every 3 months to discuss about good practices, problems which practitioners face, and their solutions. The sharing seminar will contribute to enhance instructors' knowledge and skills and to find out strategies to disseminate the program as a tool of early intervention for children with special needs in Mongolia.

Lecture by Chairperson and Managing Director of Japan Portage Association

Group work to identify assignments to cope with

Closing remark by Director of Population Development Department, Ministry of Labour and Social Protection