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Dana is 18 years old - he is unusually shy, although he loves and appreciates communication. It is sometimes difficult for Dana to express his thoughts and feelings, and often he seems to close himself in his inner world.

Dani has autism, a developmental disorder that affects communication and relationships with other people, as well as perception and understanding of the world around her.

Last summer, Danya went to the summer camp of the Anton Is Near Center, a project of the Coming Out in St. Petersburg Foundation, which helps people with autism.

Danya went somewhere without his mother for the first time, spent a whole week in a new environment, among peers. Of course, a week is a short period of time, but new impressions and emotions had their effect, and during this time Danya became more open, began to communicate more easily, and began to concentrate longer on one activity.

This year, the Anton Is Near Center is again organizing summer holidays for teenagers with autism spectrum disorders (ASD). It is difficult for such children to communicate, build relationships with peers and adults, make friends, and participate in joint activities. Most of them spend all their time only with their parents.

The teenage period is already very difficult, and especially for children with ASD. At this age, big changes occur in a person, which are difficult for a teenager with ASD to cope with and understand.

One of the important goals of the camp is to make the children more flexible, teach them to react to changes and surprises. This is helped by individual schedules, daily routines, as well as many positive experiences.

At the camp, children attend music, art and other group classes, communicate a lot with each other, and learn new things.

In addition, while the children spend time at the camp, their parents have free time, and they can feel that their child is able to be independent:

“This camp is a place where everyone understands and accepts our children for who they are. Where they can see other guys, they can self-actualize and open up.”

“While my son was in camp, these were the first 5 days of vacation for me in 16 years.” “My son began to ask for help more and generally began to talk more. In another place we visit, he began to communicate with peers, although he had not noticed them before.”

The Center’s camp “Anton Is Near” is conducted according to a special model - children with ASD relax together with their brothers and sisters, as well as with peers who do not have developmental disabilities.

The “Coming Out in St. Petersburg” charity foundation is collecting 386,900 rubles to hold a 6-day inclusive camp this summer for 12 children with autism spectrum disorder and 6 teenagers without special needs. The guys will be accompanied by 9 employees, 3 invited specialists and a team of 13 volunteers.

HTo conduct a summer integration camp, you must:

• Accommodation(18 teenagers, 25 adults, 6 days) – 151,200 rubles (based on 586 rubles per day per person).
• Three meals a day, including dietary, taking into account the individual characteristics of the children (18 teenagers, 25 adults, 6 days) - 148,800 rubles (at the rate of 576 rubles per day per person).
• Transport– 20,000 rubles:
  • a bus for 30 people and a bus for 25 people (distance to the base and back – 180 km);
  • cargo gazelle for transporting inventory and equipment (bean bags, musical instruments, balls, rollers, mats, weighted blankets and vests, mats, etc.).
• Daily activities, in which all teenagers will participate (archery, rope course) - 28,000 rubles.
• Office expenses(felt pens, paper, paints, pens, pencils, glue, etc. for creative master classes and animation studio classes) – 8,900 rubles.
• First aid kit– 3,000 rubles
• Three invited specialists– 27,000 rubles:
  • a behavioral specialist who will supervise the work of accompanying persons and help in case of difficult behavioral situations;
  • a teacher who runs an animation studio at the Center as part of a teenage project and will go to the camp to teach animation to the kids;
  • nurse.

As always, in mid-June, we invite you to a correctional camp for children with autism! The organizer of the camp is the Autonomous Non-Profit Organization “Center for Early Development of Children with Autism “Sunflowers”, Zhukovsky. The camp is traditionally held on the shores of the Azov Sea in the resort village of Kuchugury in the Krasnodar Territory. We guarantee a fun summer!

Attention! Dates in 2019. June 9th is the arrival date. On this day at 19:00 there is a grand opening of the camp, introduction and parent meeting. June 10 is the first working day. June 16 is a day off (excursion). June 22 is the last working day, closing of the shift in the evening, farewell. June 23 – departure. You can arrive earlier/leave later, the main thing is to write to the organizer about this as soon as you buy your tickets. All negotiations are conducted by mail: This email address is being protected from spambots. You must have JavaScript enabled to view it.
Since I always write this announcement in winter (and now we are experiencing Epiphany frosts!), it is difficult to describe how nice it is in Kuchugury in June! This is the very first month of summer, the holiday season has not yet begun, but it is already warm, because the Sea of ​​Azov warms up very quickly, and by the middle of the month the sea temperature almost becomes equal to the air. When we arrive at the camp, there are no tourists yet, beaches, shops, cafes - everywhere is free, there are not many people. At this time of year on the Azov coast, rain is a rarity; usually the weather is clear. Since this is the very beginning of summer, the sea is still clean and there are no infections typical for the hot south! download the camp application form

Our address in Kuchugury: Krasnoflotskaya street, building 40. The territory for the camp was selected very carefully, and we are not going to change it, despite the fact that proposals are regularly received to hold the camp in another place. Just imagine! In the guest yard there are only 24 rooms with all amenities: toilet, shower, air conditioning, TV, refrigerator. During the camp period we reserve all the houses, that is, only we will occupy the territory. This is very important, because on vacation there are often conflicts between families with children with autism and other vacationers. We have tried to create a comfortable welcoming environment for our guests. The owners of the guest yard are elderly people, pensioners, they have been hosting our camp for several years now, during this time they have seen everything, they understand everything.
The yard is shady, there is a lot of greenery, each family has its own separate entrance. On the territory there is a sandbox, a swing, a trampoline, a green lawn for games, a fountain, a dining room and a kitchen where you can cook and have organized meals (imported meals 3 times a day). You don’t have to order food, but cook it yourself. There are all conditions for this. The shared kitchen is very good, you can cook for the whole family: there are 2 refrigerators, 3 stoves, a microwave, 2 sinks, and a lot of utensils for cooking. Almost every room (except two) has a small outdoor terrace with a table and chairs. The territory of the guest yard is closed, there is video surveillance, a combination lock. 5-10 minutes to the sea.
Since the village is small, all shops and pharmacies are within walking distance, there is a Sberbank with an ATM nearby, and there is also a large grocery and clothing market.

The correctional program involves intensive work not only with children, but with all family members. Below is a sample daily routine.
8:00 Wake up
8:15 Charging
8:30 Breakfast
9:30-11:30 Morning groups
9:30-11:30 Parent group 1
12:00-13:00 Individual lessons
13:00 Lunch
13:30 Brainstorming before the performance
14:00 Parent group 2
14:00-18:00 Activities/sea/sleep to choose from
18:00 Preparation for the evening performance.
19:00 Dinner
20:00 Performance or fun evening (jam, disco, theater, party, filmstrip or something else)
The morning block consists of 4 half-hour sessions: play, music, art therapy, kinesiotherapy. The number of children in the group is 5-7. Each child is provided with an accompanying person. For older children, “adult” classes are provided. For sibling children there is a speech therapy play group. For older siblings – a teenage group (led by a psychologist). For parents: a parent group, which is very advisable to attend, because... children whose parents take care of themselves have a better correctional process). IMPORTANT. Parents act as accompanying persons.
The daily block of classes from 12 to 13 and from 14 to 18 hours are classes of your choice. For an additional fee, you can take classes in ABA therapy, speech therapy, Tomatis therapy, and neurocorrection. This is not a required part of the program.

Did you know that every 68th child in the world is born with some degree of autistic disorder? Have you heard that autism is not a disease, but a developmental feature? That is, it cannot be acquired, it has no flow, children are born with it, and that’s all. Are you aware that the intelligence of these children and adolescents in 55 percent of cases is no different from ours, but without special help they cannot establish contact with the world and spend their lives in psychoneurological boarding schools? But help is in no hurry: in the USSR there were simply no diagnoses of “autism” and “autism spectrum disorder”, and even now not much has changed. Of the eight medical specialties focused on working with autism, in Russia it is very rare to find specialists in three. There are no support routes that would ensure the socialization and adaptation of a person with autism: early diagnosis, inclusive kindergartens and schools, even well-translated educational programs. The problem is not being solved at the state level. But this is done by the “Exit in St. Petersburg” foundation, created to help people with this feature. Our report is about them, or rather, from a summer camp where specialists from the foundation took 12 teenagers with autism. A drop in the ocean, you say? Let's hope that this drop will start a river.

Shoot like that, shoot

At the Losevo station, 80 kilometers from St. Petersburg, it turned out to be crowded: dachas, cottages, shops, tire service... It was drizzling, cars were rushing along the St. Petersburg - Priozersk highway, foreign equipment was laying asphalt, Sukhodolskoe Lake receded into the distance, and the wall of a small boat station was decorated the inventive title "Sink Down."

The noise and bustle ended at the barrier of the Yunost forest base, giving way to thick pine trees, silence, soft grass and forest paths. It was on this base that the “Exit in St. Petersburg” foundation rented several houses for a children’s camp. Approaching one of them, I met a group of teenagers walking somewhere in pairs. At first glance, they are completely normal children, maybe I confused the house? But here a tall young man with pleasant features put everything in its place. Looking straight at me and at the same time completely not noticing me, he announced or simply comprehended out loud the goal of the entire detachment’s campaign: “Shoot, shoot, shoot, shoot...”

Well, shoot like that - I went with the detachment, wherever they were going. On the way, I noticed that not everyone in the detachment was teenagers and that they were not going in pairs at the whim of the camp commander. It’s just that most children with autism find it difficult to walk somewhere purposefully and far on their own, so each such teenager was led by the hand by a girl, a foundation employee or a volunteer. The girls were so young and petite that at first I mistook them for teenagers.

But how much joy

Autism is an inability to communicate and difficulty perceiving the world around us. People with autism do not make eye contact and tend to repeat words and actions. It is difficult for them to adequately assess the world around them, and sometimes it is not easy to distinguish reality from fantasy. But this is all a look from the outside, but how do they see us? Due to psychophysiological characteristics, the brain of a person with autism has difficulty putting incoming information into a systematic picture. The surrounding world is perceived partly as a cacophony of sounds, as a meaningless mosaic, jumble, confusion. They may confuse a pencil and a finger, not respond to their own name, not distinguish a human voice among other sounds, and experience great discomfort from an excess of incoming information. In general, imagine you are sitting in a car parked on Novy Arbat with a severe hangover. Your head is collapsing with pain, a police officer explains to you that parking in this place is prohibited, dozens of cars rush past per second, and your wife sitting next to you is sawing your brain: “Why did you go for the second one yesterday, explain? Is zero seven not enough for the evening?” In general, hell and a lot of it.

I studied the equipment at home, so in the camp near Losevo I walked quietly and silently next to the children. In the same way, moving smoothly and talking little and quietly, the accompanying people walked and led their charges by the hands. Soon the detachment came to the forest road, where a shield was installed and targets were hung. And 30 meters from the shield, a young man with a bow and arrow was waiting for us. We actually came to shoot. The first girl took the bow and... five times out of five attempts she hit the small, distant target. Wow skills for some special teenagers! But it turned out that the girl was completely ordinary, and this was not the first time in her life that she had shot with a bow. It turned out that, in addition to 12 pupils with autism, 14 accompanying people and 10 specialists, 6 ordinary children live in the camp, so that children with special needs learn to be in the company of their peers and communicate with them, and they, in turn, can accept and not be afraid of people with features.

Then the target audience came up to shoot with a bow, one at a time. Unfortunately, they rarely hit not only the target, but also the shield. And some simply could not achieve their goal. But there was so much joy in the eyes of these 13-17 year old boys and girls when the bowstring sent the arrow flying with a characteristic sound. Even after their turn, having fired back, they stood animated and even moderately excited. The same young man repeated again, but now with increased enthusiasm: “Shoot, shoot, shoot, shoot...”

Psychiatrists are not interested

Autism is a congenital disorder that does not have positive or negative dynamics throughout life. How it arises and why it happens is still not completely clear. Autism is practically not inherited (although some evidence of genetics does exist). It is not more common among blacks or whites, rich or poor, living in the mountains or near the former Claytuk plant - every person on earth has a 1.5 percent chance of having a child with symptoms of autistic disorder. With early recognition and timely, competent intervention, most children with autism can be adequately educated and integrated into society. 45 percent of them are developmentally delayed, but the rest are completely normal and are capable of showing outstanding results in a number of disciplines. People with autism often excel in programming, laboratory research, painting, and many other professions that require intense interaction with strangers.

The term “autism” was coined by Swiss psychiatrist Eugen Bleuler in 1911, considering this disorder a symptom of schizophrenia. Over time, doctors have suggested that autism syndrome is not necessarily a manifestation of schizophrenia. Today they talk about childhood autism, which is also included in the International Qualification of Diseases No. 10. Psychiatrists either do not know or are not interested in where autistic adults go. And, by the way, in recent years autism has been diagnosed more and more often - already in 1.5 percent of children instead of 1.2 percent at the beginning of the 2000s. Although, perhaps it’s just a matter of diagnostic development.

Manifestations of autism can be very small, falling within the framework of character traits, or global. The latter - severe autistics - are born six per thousand. We encounter mild symptoms every day and do not notice them in our colleagues, fellow students and classmates. It is generally accepted that Vincent Van Gogh, Virginia Woolf, and dozens of other famous people had and still have manifestations of autism. But the camp for teenagers with autism is neither the easiest nor the most difficult. These guys are roughly in the middle of the spectrum. They are those who, with the help of outsiders, can be included in society - study, work, relax in camps, go to the movies, theaters and museums, and without help - live life in a special boarding school.

The Bremen Town Musicians

In addition to the fact that we are correcting these children and teaching them to communicate,” says the camp director, 27-year-old girl Tatyana, while we go to see how the animation club works, “we took them away from their parents for the first time. After all, these children absolutely cannot be left alone, day or night. And now imagine the life of parents who for 15 years could not take their eyes off their child. For the first time in 15 years, they received 10 days of vacation. This, of course, is not a solution to the problem of autism, but it is also a big deal.

And here is the animation studio. Under the guidance of professional animator Katya, children and their companions make masks and musical instruments. Available materials - corrugated cardboard, tape of several colors, felt-tip pens, rope, paper tapes and colored corrugated paper. The masks are made according to everyone’s inspiration and turn out to be very funny and challenging, and the tools, of course, follow the protocol. First, children choose a picture for themselves: trumpets, guitars, double bass, accordion... Then they take a piece of cardboard and draw an outline on it with a felt-tip pen. The instrument blank is cut out with scissors, and then the strings are tensioned and the necks are attached. They work, bending low over the craft, snoring and with maximum concentration.

The performance is incredible. The camp in the forest has only been in its second day, but a whole bag of masks is already ready - both for ourselves, and for those who are now at the shooting range, and for the third circle - scooter racing.

Tools in production stage. A big concert is planned for tomorrow, when I'm no longer here. Teenagers will wear masks, play musical instruments and dance. Their imagination is better than we can imagine, so for teachers and accompanying people it will be dancing in cardboard masks and with cardboard instruments, and for children with autistic disorders - a real performance of the Bremen Town Musicians.

A good thing shouldn't be easy

To my question: “Is it hard,” director Tanya answers that it is hard. The camp program is very tightly structured: from wake-up to bedtime, children should have virtually no free time. The busy schedule is organized for two reasons: firstly, in a short period of time it is necessary to have time to make positive corrections in the behavior of the wards, and secondly, it is necessary that the “pioneers” are so tired during the day that they would fall into bed after lights out and sleep until the morning without problems . Accordingly, the assigned accompanying person does not leave his child from 8 am to 11 pm, and then also sleeps on the next bed. There is a substitution, but only one person who can release each accompanying person for one hour a day. Accordingly, both camp director Tanya and specialists have to be accompanying.

There is so little time that Tatyana could even tell me about the camp only at lunch, while the children and accompanying people were slowly finishing four courses in the cafe of the forest base. Accordingly, the director herself was left without lunch. It’s hard, but what can you do, a good thing can’t be easy.

All the walls are lined with fresh clapboards, and the bathrooms have modern showers. In these booths, special pictures are taped to the wall for special children so that they do not forget why they came here. The pictures show a sketchy person: soaping his armpit, rubbing himself with a washcloth, standing under streams of water, and so on. On the door frame of each living room there are photographs of all the children living in the room and their accompanying persons. Infographics, visual supports that are designed and prepared in advance, are an important element of the therapeutic environment. This makes it much easier for children to navigate in unfamiliar surroundings.

Good moose

For children with autistic symptoms, routine is very important - this way the space gains at least some integrity. Therefore, each child in the camp has a special sign with Velcro hanging on his belt, on which messages about each event are attached in the required order. When necessary, they review their routine, tear the next event off the Velcro several times, stick it back, then act accordingly: football, music, shooting, ropes course, animation, lights out. Nobody canceled the accompanying person, but over time you have to learn to live on your own.

By two in the afternoon the rain had stopped and it was getting lighter. And the children got used to me and even began to smile a little. Not looking into the eyes and just a little, but it was still nice. Their smiles are devoid of all our impurities: irony, sarcasm, arrogance, boredom and stiffness - therefore they are perceived not as human, but as angelic.

Inna Finochka, RIA Novosti.

Thus, in Russia, historically, conditions were created for children with special needs that were also special and, as a rule, isolated, but there are “islands” where a person’s value is absolute and their role is unique.

RIA Novosti correspondent Inna Finochka spent two weeks in an integration camp for children with special needs in an atmosphere of understanding and support, so natural that she did not want to return to Moscow at all.

The names of the children and parents have been changed at the request of the parents

Danik, welcome!

— Igor Leonidovich, I’m worried. Danik doesn’t get in touch at all,” says the mother of five-year-old Danila, meaning that her son has become less able to communicate.

The boy himself runs in circles in front of the building of the Velegozh sanatorium, repeating the English alphabet over and over again, first in order, and then in the opposite direction.

“He has every right to stand on his ears,” Spitsberg reassures. “This happens to many children in situations that are unusual for them. It takes time to readjust. After 2-3 days, the adaptation period should end. I’ve been seeing this in camps for 20 years on the first day.

Igor Spitsberg is the head of the rehabilitation program at the Our Solar World rehabilitation center for disabled children.

The first day for all children and parents is very crumpled and nervous: the road, the bustle, check-in at the sanatorium. This exhausts any adult with a stable psyche, and it completely unsettles people with mental disorders. It’s more difficult for autists: familiar rituals (routine and daily routine) are destroyed, in a new environment there are new unfamiliar landscapes, smells, too many new impressions, and, of course, a lot of new people.

Later, Igor explains to me that autostimulation is different for everyone.

— When someone is worried, they shake their hands in their peripheral vision, someone repeats the alphabet, because sounds in a certain order calm them down. We adults also self-stimulate as best we can. You smoke, for example. After all, there is nothing in pathology that is not normal. It’s just that after smoking we go back to work, for example, but it’s very, very difficult for an autistic child to switch.

— So you don’t need to fight autostimulation?

- In general, no. They allow the child to experience what is difficult for him to endure. You just need to make sure that, after “smoking,” the child returns to positive activities.

— Is the fact that Danya knows the English alphabet good for his development?

Photo: from the archives of the Our Solar World center, Natalia Kharlamova

— It’s hard to say. He is certainly a smart boy, quickly remembers information, but does not know how to process it and use it the way ordinary people do. In essence, he uses the learned alphabet for autostimulation, that is, for protection. As an autistic person, it is easier for him to be in a system of symbols and signs. Letters and words by themselves do not encourage communication. The task of the parent and teacher is to use any interest of the child to build joint activities. Therefore, Danik's interest in letters can be used in the process of playing together and learning words, which can then be used in interaction.

— Igor, what is the point of the camp?

— Both classes and the rehabilitation environment are important. The intensive program gives a good effect, and the environment is built in such a way that it stimulates the processes of self-development. Autistic children take part in performances along with healthy children, for example. There is a place here for any parent, any child, any teacher. Everyone should feel accepted, important and needed, then the person will develop.

What is natural for an ordinary child is a victory for an autistic child

On the second and third days the atmosphere is no longer so tense. Children gradually get used to the change of environment and get into the routine. Danila, for example, by the evening of the second day does not cry when entering the dining room.

“It seems difficult in the world to find two French restaurants as similar as the food in all Soviet sanatoriums,” says the father of one of the boys at lunch.

© RIA Novosti. Inna Finochka

Canteen of the summer integration rehabilitation and health camp of the “Our Solar World” center

But even so, some children forget about food selectivity and try diet food that is unappetizingly dumped on plates. At lunch in the dining room, Ksenia watches in surprise as Danik devolves a second plate of boiled cabbage soup and looks with interest at the mashed potatoes with a “complex side dish.” He doesn't eat soup at home.

“For a long time I couldn’t understand that my child had problems.” I didn’t have any other children in front of me. Danya ate only rice, pasta, boiled vegetables, boiled meat and chicken breasts. Very convenient food selectivity, right? - Ksenia laughs. “I couldn’t even think that this was a problem.”

— Have there never been situations where there is only unfamiliar food?

- It happened, of course. He didn't even want to try. But I’m telling you, I didn’t see a problem. I had nothing to compare it to. It was later that a child psychologist explained to me that this is typical for autistic people.

By the end of his shift, Danik tried buckwheat porridge for the first time in his life. Myself. And this was far from his only victory.

The door opens with many keys

From the second day of the camp, children begin classes. Almost all the guys have a very busy schedule: from six to nine classes a day.

— Each method in itself is effective and has specific goals. The combination of methods gives the most positive effect, says Igor Spitsberg. “There is no single correct method for helping an autistic child dismantle the wall that separates him from our world. There is a door in this wall, and there are many locks in it. Each method is a key.

Autistic children have a lot of activities to develop fine motor skills and sensory integration, to develop communication skills, sports and kinesiotherapy - to become aware of their own body. Children with emotional-volitional disorders often find it difficult to understand where their hands, feet, and heads are and how to use them.

Usually teachers meet children in front of the building. In addition to highly experienced teachers with 20 years or more of experience, there are many young teachers in the camp, usually under 30 years old, but they also have 5-10 years of work experience.

All of them, including volunteers, work at the Our Solar World center with children of different ages, and the program of classes at the camp is designed so that the child has as many familiar teachers as possible with whom contact has already been established. Each child in the group is assigned a “personal” teacher who helps him during the lesson, and afterward tells the parent how it all went.

But for the first time, the children don’t want to go, because they don’t understand what awaits them there and they’re afraid. Autistic little Kiryusha looks like a completely ordinary child, only very shy. He constantly looks at the floor and holds on to his mother.

“He’s become quite shy,” his mother says tenderly, looking at him with a smile. “Here he is embarrassed for both adults and children, and this despite the fact that he goes to kindergarten in Moscow.

Kirill cries and does not want to go to music class even with teacher Olya, whom he knows well.

Throughout the first lesson, Kiryusha sits in Olya’s arms, quietly cries and asks in an anxious voice: “We’ll go to mom, right?”

The first lesson is difficult for not only him. Danila, who speaks only when he doesn’t want something, and the rest of the time quotes extended dialogues from cartoons and the English alphabet, flatly refuses to enter the classroom. Therefore, Ksyusha’s mother has to sit in class with him.

Danik is asked to sit on a chair and just watch other guys play tambourines and rattles, but the boy squeals and slides under the chair and watches almost the entire lesson from there.

“He has the right to his own version of adaptation,” the teacher reassures the worried mother.

The next day, Danila was able to spend the entire lesson in the classroom without his mother, but, according to the teacher, he did not pay attention to the fact that the other children were singing and playing. On the fourth day, I willingly chose a musical instrument and danced with everyone, and at the last lessons I even sang songs with everyone.

After the music, Dani has a “game” schedule. This is also a group lesson and it takes place on the street: the children, together with their teachers, dance in circles, sing folk songs and play folk games. And at first, Danik also has difficulty understanding what they want from him and why they put him in the center of the circle, and then ask him to choose someone. On the fourth day at camp, he runs to the “game room” himself.

The next lesson is a game project, in which Danik and two other children, his peers, matching each other’s level of development, under the guidance of three teachers, play “doctor” and “store”.

After the lesson, teacher Ira says that she didn’t have enough “money” in the game, and she decided to secretly take it from the cash register. One of the boys literally caught her by the hand: “Hey! It is forbidden! This is not yours!"

“I had no idea he could do that.” “I didn’t think at all that my child knew how to play role-playing games,” his mother is surprised.

Myths about unsportsmanship

Children aged 7-10 years old gather on the volleyball court and learn to play in a team. The teams are mixed - there are both autistic and normal guys in them. The latter not only play, but also help the instructors.

Teacher: “Mark, stop picking your nose. Let's stand in a circle. Let's do a warm-up. We twist our knees, heels together.” The instructor talks to Mark as if he were an ordinary child who is just fooling around and getting distracted for unrelated reasons.

Eight-year-old Mark, a boy with incredibly beautiful eyes and an angelic face, does what the teacher ordered, but moves as if he is completely wrapped in a cocoon of cotton wool. After a few seconds, Mark begins to laugh cheerfully: “Who picks their nose? Take your finger out of your nose. Today we have Peter I on our program.”

By repeating incoherent (in the opinion of a person who does not know the boy) phrases, the boy is constantly distracted. He either says “oh, now it would be nice to lie down” and lies down right on the volleyball court when a pass is passed to him, or “hangs” on the net and looks through it for a long time at the opponent’s field. The teachers take this completely calmly, only making sure that the boy does not stop participating in the general game.

Five-year-old Danik is brought to a hippotherapy class. The boy saw horses this close about six months ago at the hippodrome, where his younger cousin’s birthday was celebrated.

“Then Danya panicked at the sight of the horse,” says his mother, intensely watching as her son, with an absolutely calm and detached expression on his face, climbs the steps of the montoir. As soon as Danik is helped onto the horse, his face breaks into a smile. Swaying in time with the horse’s steps, the boy turns to his mother and waves his hand: “Mom! Bye!".

By the end of the shift, Danila not only enjoyed sitting in the saddle, but also calmly sat backwards, could maintain balance while sitting sideways on a moving horse, catch a ball while moving, and even stand on all fours on the horse’s back. All these acrobatic performances are needed to help the child understand and feel his own body - where is the back, where are the legs, where are the arms, and how it all works.

“One more item has been added to the family budget expenses,” Ksenia grins at her last hippotherapy lesson. — Since he is interested in horses and he succeeds, teachers recommend using this interest. I hope we will now go to hippotherapy in the fall. And I’ll buy him a book about horses.

At this time, a teenager in a wheelchair is brought to the site. His arms and legs are fastened to the armrests and footrests of the chair - Maxim Vasilyev has cerebral palsy.

Only now I notice that a strange saddle is being put on one of the horses. It is specially designed for people with musculoskeletal disorders. Max's uncle, the horse breeder and instructor help sit the boy down and fasten him to the saddle.

“Max is a real fighter,” I say admiringly, watching him now sit in the saddle and control the horse.

- Yeah. How lucky we are,” Maxim’s grandmother smiles sadly. - You know, 4 years ago he was just lying flat on his horse.

It’s hard to believe this, especially when you see how Max holds his back and holds the reins of Semyon’s horse.

It can be seen that it is incredibly difficult for Max to consciously move his hands. But Semyon is a sensitive horse, and Max tries very hard. And therefore the horse under him passes into the gate made of cones. First in one, then in the second, and then in the third - in a row.

At the third goal, everyone who was on the field and rooting for Max bursts into applause.

© RIA Novosti. Inna Finochka

Maxim Vasiliev riding his horse Semyon

— He’s 14 now: hormones, his character is deteriorating. He has become harmful, but we understand that he is now a teenager. When Max makes a scandal, we say: “Well, how are you going to hug girls, huh? We need to study, train our hands,” says Max’s grandmother. - We found out at 4 months that he had cerebral palsy, the fortune teller told us then that we would still be proud of him.

Now Maxim Vasiliev is a champion among juniors in boccia. Its next height is the Paralympic Games in equestrian sports, but applications there are only accepted from 15 years of age.

-What do you want to become when you grow up? - I ask.

— I will always go to Our Solar World. And when I grow up, I will work here and play games here.

Mom is not good or bad, she is the only one

Parents are all different, but in most cases they are young, energetic, often smiling and laughing.

They understand each other because everyone has gone through or is currently going through very similar states: from the realization that something is wrong with the child - the one for whom there were so many hopes and expectations - to acceptance and search for ways to work with the current situation . British drama therapist Keith Loring worked through these situations in the camp with parents during trainings.

Parents who bring not only autistic older children to camp, but also their younger siblings, are looked upon with respect. Every parent understands what everyone goes through before and after diagnosis. After this, not everyone has the courage to decide on a second child.

— All people have the same reaction to stress, only the timing differs. The first reaction is denial. Dads often get stuck at this stage: “this couldn’t happen to me,” “my child is normal, I just need to wait a little,” “I can only have a normal child.”

It’s good if after this there comes an awareness of the problem and a search for solutions, because that’s when the road to a fulfilling life begins.

But some people get stuck at one stage, and this can take a long time. In men this happens more severely. Women by nature love their children, plus we are more flexible, we talk through and share what worries us, says psychologist Yulia Ignatova.

At Velegozh she leads an art therapy group for parents. He notes with regret that parents themselves are reluctant to attend classes.

- Why?

- Partly because this is our mentality. Parents bring their children to classes, but when it comes to helping themselves, they shy away. Or maybe there is simply not enough time here. But the very fact that they came to the camp indicates that they continue to fight.

— What should you do to avoid falling into despair?

— Active position. When you start looking for ways to solve a problem, specialists, teachers, centers, there is no time for soul-searching and despondency.

By the end of the camp shift, I remember that not once in two weeks did I see or hear any of the parents raise their voice at their child. I catch myself thinking that this is largely due to the fact that all the adults around understand what is happening.

There is no need to explain to anyone for a long time why a child is crying before entering the dining room. There is no need to blush for the fact that an eight-year-old child, who looks like a completely ordinary boy, asks to be held in his arms. There is no need to hear from the older generation that “you are a bad mother, you don’t know how to raise, that’s why your child is running around and yelling.”

And when all those factors are absent, due to which not only the child’s social position is reduced, but also parents find themselves forced to live under constant pressure, relationships with children are harmonized.

Every person, not just autistic people, needs love and understanding. It would seem so simple