The panel entitled “Social Services for Persons with Disabilities” and charity sale was organized by The Students’ Dean Office and Social Services Club. Güneşköy 18 Years and Elder Rehabilitation Center for the Disabled- Social Services Expert Gülay Gündüz Efendi and The Head of Special Education Teaching of EUL Prof. Dr. Ayşegül Ataman have participated as speakers of the panel which was realized in EUL Rauf Raif Educational Complex Hall.

Within the scope of the event, at the organized charity sale by the students of Güneşköy 18 Years and Elder Rehabilitation Center for the Handicapped at the entrance of EUL Rauf Raif Denktaş Educational Complex, the foods prepared by the students at Application Kitchen and cactus plants grown at Disable Free Flowers Greenhouse were presented for sale.

Karasular: Each mentally disabled child can learn and be trained.

The panel started with Mehmet Ali Guzelyüz, a social work student, giving information about “Disability”. Social Services Department student Ilayda Cansu Karasular said during the presentation on “Creating Awareness on Disability” that children with disabilities have other children’s needs and that parents of children with special needs should have a little more patience and spare more time Karasu stated that each mentally disabled child can learn and be trained, and these trainings enable the child to do his or her own work in a serious manner. Karasu therefore emphasized that these trainings support the parents to be happy about their children’s situation and as their child’s quality of life increases thus the parents can be motivated to learn more quickly and happily by making the child happy.

Efendi: There are 3 Rehabilitation Centers for the Disabled who are 18 years and elder, affiliated to the Social Services Department, serving total of 93 persons with disabilities.

Similarly to other fields of responsibilities, Social services also handles the handicapped field under 3 main categories; individual, family and community, especially with the aid of rehabilitation centers in TRNC, Efendi stated. Efendi also said that the Office of Social Services has opened the necessary rehabilitation centers and dormitories by cooperating with other ministries to meet the medical, social and occupational requirements of the disabled and to enable their skills to be maximized. In this context, Efendi said that there are 3 Rehabilitation Centers for the Disabled who are 18 years and elder, which are affiliated to the Social Services Department, and that a total of 93 persons with disabilities are provided services in these centers and that the Disable Free Living House is planned to be opened in June 2017.

Efendi informed about the Güneşköy Rehabilitation Center for the Disabled over the age of 18 and stressed that the main aim of the center is to prepare young people with disabilities and to work to ensure that disabled young people can be self-reliant, responsible and self-sufficient individuals. Expressing that the existing workshops in the center serve both these purposes and enable young people to develop their skills, Efendi stated that their goals are to enable individuals with disabilities to adapt to the maximum level of social life, to acquire skills, to acquire hand skills, to carry out their self-care at a minimum level,

Ataman: Teacher and family need to cooperate

The Head of Special Education Teaching Prof. Dr. Ayşegül Ataman have remarked on “The Importance of Family and Institutional Cooperation on Handicapped Persons and Domestic Communication of Handicapped Persons”.  Ataman emphasized that respect must be the prior element in domestic communication and that children must not be obliged with parental responsibilities in their early ages and other children must also be taken care of within the framework of mutual love and respect, repeating the school education at home and comprehending this to the child through the cooperation of parents and teachers. Ataman also stated that parents must influence their children positively to be motivated towards contributing to producing.