A total of 36 families with people with disabilities work for their integration and growth in all areas of development.
Grupo Agroponiente ha rubricado y confirmado, un año más, su acuerdo con la Asociación ‘Soy Especial y Qué’, encaminado a apoyar económica, social y personalmente el proyecto de esta asociación sin ánimo de lucro ejidense, que reúne a 36 familias y con la que se cumplen ya tres años de colaboración.
The Association ‘Soy Especial y Qué’ was born in 2017 thanks to the impulse of a group of parents of children with disabilities and with a clear objective: to promote their growth in all areas of development and their full integration into society. To this end, work began to offer other types of therapies that are not found in specialised centres, such as equine therapy, hydrotherapy, music therapy and many others, always with the aim of completing their development together with other conventional therapies, such as speech therapy, psychology, occupational therapy or physiotherapy.
In addition, in ‘Soy Especial y Qué’, its users receive the opportunity to practice activities such as workshops, outings, social gatherings, etc., in order to develop their social skills, encourage their tolerance to an environment that can be aggressive, improve their autonomy to function in society and, in short, to contribute to the integral development of these children.
As a result of this collaboration, which has become stable and solid, ‘Soy Especial Y Qué’ has premises in which its headquarters are located and which is used to carry out workshops and therapies with the children, to organise all the activities that are carried out and to have a meeting place for the different families, which represents approximately 20% of the organisation’s expenses.
The therapies that are carried out through the association take place once a month in most cases. In addition, various excursions are organised throughout the year to get to know the local environment, make contact with nature, carry out cultural activities, etc., and different workshops are organised throughout the year, such as bread making, stimulation with sensory trays, etc., which are carried out according to offers.
In addition, members of the Association take part in a programme on Radio Ejido called ‘La Hora Especial’ (The Special Hour), in which various topics of interest with regard to disability are discussed and the work of the organisation in the municipality is publicised, as well as a project to create a monthly magazine in which the children themselves talk about their interests and the current affairs that surround them.
The `Soy Especial y Qué?´ therapies include the following:
– Equine therapy: Specialised therapy with horses through ‘equine magic’, in which they work on sensory integration, especially at a vestibular and proprioceptive level, connect with nature and work on their self-regulation.
– Hydrotherapy: activity carried out through the Neuralba centre in the Nexafit swimming pool, where an occupational therapist works with them in small groups through play, also seeking their physical development and their social and communicative skills.
– Music Therapy: Carried out in collaboration with the Almerimar Music School, where musical and social skills are combined to further promote the children’s development.
– Brush and Clay: where the children give free rein to their creativity and stimulate the sensory area with the help of a therapist.
– Painting: with the collaboration of local artist Carmen Luna, in which they develop their creativity and obtain a great deal of relaxation and sensory experimentation.
– Theatre: developing their communication and creative skills and performing in front of an audience.
– Family Respite: where members work with a psychologist in a controlled environment so that families can have some much-needed leisure time or carry out tasks that are sometimes impossible or very difficult to do with their children.
– If you teach me I can do it’: Therapy carried out through the Comunícate centre to promote autonomy in the street for members of adolescent age, to be able to manage when they have to take public transport, to be able to go “alone” on simple routes, to offer strategies if they get lost or disorientated, to do small purchases, etc.
– Sexuality: Also carried out through the ‘Comunícate’ centre to become aware of their own body and their needs, giving a healthy response to them and knowing what is socially acceptable and what is not.
– Count on me: Activity carried out together with the Association ‘Count on me’ in which our members join in the activities carried out by this association, opening their social circle and carrying out various cultural activities and different outings.
For Grupo Agroponiente, ‘this collaboration is a sensational opportunity, on the one hand, to collaborate with a noble and important social cause, to be at the side of these families who need economic and moral support in the sensational work they carry out; but also to extract magnificent life lessons for the members of our company. We are deeply grateful to ‘Soy Especial Y Qué’ for allowing us to be part of their family and for everything they teach us every day’, explained the CEO of the company, Imanol Almudí.
Communication Office.
Grupo Agroponiente.
