The National Parents Society for Persons with Disability (NPSPD) is an organisation that caters for the needs of people with disability and their families, and organises a number of activities throughout the year.
It is also a leader in bringing disability issues to the fore and engages in discussion with all parties who have the interests of people with disability at heart.
As a pressure group, the society lobbies with Government and other non-governmental bodies to ensure that an acceptable level of service is offered in the respective sectors. A main objective is to facilitate relations between people with disability, their parents, and the authorities and professionals concerned. In order to achieve this a newsletter is issued once a month, containing information for persons with disability and their families.
At present there are 215 registered family members and this year the society celebrates its 30th anniversary. Bearing in mind NPSPD's commitment to continually provide the best service to its member families, the society is organising a four-day parental guidance workshop entitled 'Enhancement of quality of life for persons with disabilities'.
This training will include personal care within the home, the overall enhancement of quality of life for the person with disability within the family as well as educational tutorials on various topics.
Contact has been made with professional trainers in Germany. The speakers are Mrs Bettina Muth, Mrs Anna Leitz and Mr Andreas Fux, who will offer their expertise on several topics and share their vast experience on the topic.
The main topic of the seminar will be the quality of life and disability. This session will deal with quality of life as experienced by the person with disability, his or her parents and close kin.
The session 'Potentials of human perception' will serve as an introduction to sensory stimulation by means of hands-on experience. The aim is the recognition of how the person with disability perceives his/her environment as well as the pedagogic and therapeutic opportunities for multi-sensory stimulation at the parental home.
The seminar will also offer a choice of workshops on various topics, such as Stimulation of Motor Activity and Augmentative and Alternative Communication, as well as basic personal care given to persons with disability.
Professional trainers will offer their expertise on various subjects, such as basic knowledge on how to 'handle' people with physical and intellectual disability; positioning, lifting and carrying; activation and stimulation during care.
The seminar will take place between September 4 and 7 at the Mosta local council and sessions will be held in the mornings between 9 a.m. and 1 p.m. The seminar will be conducted both in English and Maltese and is open to all parents and care workers or volunteers.
The goal is to offer assistance and support to parents of children with disability, endorse knowledge and help them overcome difficulties that might arise from their child's disability.
For more information and terms of registration, contact Ms Mangiafico on 2124-6163, Ms Gauci on 2143-7056/9945-1079 or visit the Website http://npspd.tripod.com.