The teachers start each
day with an assembly in which they discuss what they will do. There,
the students separate into two groups, one for those who can read
and write and the other for those who cannot. At 2 p.m. the groups
meet to discuss the day’s events.
Teachers use a game-playing technique to make the
classes more enjoyable and learning more natural. The emphasis is
on doing the activity, not how well it is performed.
For example, the group plays a version of musical
chairs to improve listening and motor skills. In another game students
have to keep a balloon from touching the floor by hitting it with
their fingers. This improves hand-eye coordination.
There are two major outings a year. During one,
the students spend a week in the mountains, and during the other
they stay a week at the beach.
The group also leaves the center to visit local
schools, offering the Story Tree members a chance to interact with
Cagli’s children. “The people responded very nicely
and that is why they (the clients) feel comfortable making themselves
visible,” Moroni said.
These excursions show the clients that they are
“specially abled” rather than “disabled,”
he said. For example, clients learn that their motor skills may
be limited but that their perception of emotion may be advanced.
The Story Tree believes that it is important to
be an individual whether or not you fit in with what society expects,
Moroni says. It emphasizes independence, awareness, and identity
to integrate the disabled into society.
This integration is only possible with a cultural
change, Moroni said. This is difficult because “what makes
them the same as us is shadowed by what makes them different.”
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