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>>Conducative Education

El Valor, in partnership with the Center for Independence and the Coleman Foundation, initiated the first Conductive Education program in the City of Chicago though a summer camp that began on June 20, 2005-July 15, 2005.

Fourteen children participated in the camp which consisted of two groups, seven children with quadriplegia, and seven children with hemiplegia.

Conductive Education was founded by Dr. Andreas Peto in Budapest, Hungry in 1948. Dr. Peto's model is a unique method of special education which stretches children through olimpic-like physical activities that strengthen motor abilities, in an atmosphere of challenge and support.

Four instructors who trained in the Conductive Education method of therapy were brought in from Budapest to practice therapy at El Valor. The instructors facilitated the education of the children, utilizing goal directed activities, and group dynamics. Although relatively unknown in the United States, Conductive Education is the mainstream form of therapy used to strengthen children with physical disabilities in Europe.

The children at the El Valor Summer Camp spent six hours a day involved in activities that included work, play, and socialization with peers who eventually became friends. Parents and family members were invited to a performance by children that involved stories and skits that demonstrated the progress they had made. The smiley faces of the children and their parents demonstrated how much the program had benefited both the children and the parents.

El Valor plans to bring back the program in Summer 2006. For more information regarding this program, please contact Sylvia Campos: (312) 997-2030, Ext. 230.