We introduced ADI in the previous edition of Christian Comment. It is good to have positive stories emerging from Israel when so much of the World’s media creates and focuses on negative stereotypes. This second article focuses on a few more areas of ADI’s very specialized and very professional approach to caring for the seriously disabled.* Paramedic and Creative Arts Therapies *
* Paramedic and Creative Arts Therapies *
Respiratory Therapy
Most ADI residents suffer from respiratory complications and breathing difficulties. ADI’s Respiratory Therapy Program provides residents with ongoing respiratory treatments that enable them to live quality lives to their maximum ability.
Music Therapy
Music is the key to the soul. At ADI, children and residents learn to use music as an enjoyable and rewarding form of self-expression and social interaction.
Hydrotherapy
With its many physical and emotional benefits, hydrotherapy is one of the most enjoyable and beneficial therapeutic avenues available for children with severe disabilities. Hydrotherapy improves and strengthens physical abilities, coordination, sensory-awareness and the respiratory and pulmonary systems and enhances quality of life through the positive release of energy and building self-esteem.
Art Therapy
Residents and outpatients at ADI learn to express feelings and understand their surroundings as they enjoy various forms of art and artistic expression, leading to feelings of accomplishment and increased confidence.
Communication Therapy
Assessment and treatment of communication challenges and disorders through language intervention activities thwart frustration as ADI children learn to verbally express their wants, needs and feelings. ADI Communication Therapists also help improve congenital or acquired eating and swallowing disorders, enabling children to eat and enjoy regular food.
Physiotherapy
ADI physiotherapists address and challenge disabilities through innovative exercises and practices that help residents and patients improve functioning and overcome congenital or acquired physical limitations.
* Social Activity and Inclusion *
Sports Therapy
Participation in sports can speed the recovery process for rehabilitation patients, proving to them that their disability does not have to prevent them from benefitting from an enjoyable and active lifestyle. Sports therapy provides emotional, psychological and social benefits, and offers numerous opportunities for inclusive community integration.
Motorized Mobility
Specially designed motorized wheelchairs allow ADI residents to take control of their own mobility from the earliest age. From Wizzibug chairs to switch-operated wheelchairs, ADI residents are on the move to maximum independence.
Gymboree
Gymboree corners enable ADI children to move around more freely and play with a variety of colorful hoops, cushions, vibrating pillows and activity boards in a safe, padded environment. Placed on the floor, children benefit from movement, change of position and altering sensory stimulation.
* Vocational Training *
Therapeutic Greenhouse
The ADI Therapeutic Greenhouse enables residents to learn about care and responsibility as they watch the seeds they planted, nurtured and cared for grow and develop. Residents also make planters and pot the plants which are then sold to the general public. Proceeds from sales are re-invested into the greenhouse.
Gardeners Without Borders
In a truly groundbreaking program, ADI provides a real and equal opportunity for people with disabilities to work and earn proper wages in a normative and supportive social framework. People with physical, emotional and mild intellectual disabilities cultivate and maintain village grounds as an integral part of ADI’s gardening team. The ‘Gardeners Without Borders Program’ has often been a stepping stone to entrance into the general workforce.
Creative Arts Workshops
ADI’s Creative Arts Workshops offer challenging and meaningful vocational activities employing creative solutions in accordance with participants’ varying levels of ability and need. Workshops include digital printing on mugs, paper mache products, ceramic plates and decorative items, Havdalah sets, silk table runners and more, all of which are offered for sale through the ADI Ability Boutique.
* About ADI Israel *
An Israeli charity serving the disabled and disadvantaged, including Israeli Arabs and local Christians. As they say, it’s all in the name: ADI celebrates Ability at every level, promotes Diversity and insists on Inclusion.
ADI is Israel’s most comprehensive provider of residential care for individuals with severe disabilities and the leader of the national rehabilitation movement.
It was my privilege to speak recently with Oren Selinger, the Director of Strategic Partnerships of ADI. He explained that ADI run state of the art facilities in its Jerusalem-based disability school, whilst it also runs a ‘rehab village’ in the south of the country. In fact, as a charity, ADI is multi-faceted and multi-disciplnary – and very, very, professional.
ADI provides residents and special education students with the individualized growth plans and specialized services they need to grow and thrive, its rehabilitation patients with the inpatient and outpatient treatments and therapies they need to heal and return to their lives, and the community at large with tangible opportunities for encountering disability, raising awareness and promoting acceptance. It’s all in the name: ADI celebrates Ability at every level, promotes Diversity and insists on Inclusion.
More information here:
https://adi-il.org/in-the-press/
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