Early identification

Giving specialist help to deafblind children as early as possible in their lives makes a huge difference to the success of their learning and development.

So Sense International (Romania) launched the country's first-ever early intervention programme for deafblind babies. It is a complex programme, developed with the support of a multidisciplinary team consisting of education, health and social services professionals. The purpose of this programme is to:

• identify and assess babies at risk of deafblindness
• offer rehabilitation services
• give support to families.

The Early Intervention Programme is currently being implemented in Bucharest and in Oradea in partnership with two maternity hospitals (Hospital of Obstetrics and Gynecology "Dr. Panait Sarbu" in Bucharest and the Hospital of Obstetrics and Gynecology in Oradea); two support centers (Eminescu Kindergarten in Bucharest and School Centre for Inclusive Sensory Education in Oradea) and the local authorities (The General Direction for Social Assistance and Child Protection in Bucharest and Oradea).

This programme has contributed to a massive increase in the number of very young deafblind children who have been identified and supported early on. A Guidebook has been published and is available for parents and a Pathway has been developed and is being implemented.

In the next few years we hope to receive funding to expand our early intervention services to cover the whole country. We aim to host seminars and training events for professionals throughout the country so they can start to replicate the programme nationwide.