Dar ul Sukun Center for Children with

Severe Disabilities

Dar ul Sukun Center for Children with Severe Disabilities (CCSD) is an extension of services offered by Dar-ul-Sukun Center for Children with Multiple Disabilities (CCMD). However, CCSD offers focused services to children with severe cognitive disabilities who are normally ignored in mainstream discussions where focus remains on physical and milder mental disabilities. For this, appropriate infrastructure has been put in place to provide quality care and living services.

Services We are committed to providing a reliable and high quality service experience. A wide range of facilities are offered for children with disabilities: •

Care-giving International standards of care are provided for children with disabilities. Care-giving involves proper planning, health and medication handling as well as assisting the children with basic needs. Care-givers provide assistance to the residents with their activities of daily living which include eating, bathing, shaving, caring for the skin, hair and mouth, and transferring (moving from chairs, toilets or bed); taking care of household chores and meals. Staff members are “on call” 24 hours a day, 7 days a week providing assistance to children with profound diverse physical & intellectual disabilities with knowledge, patience and skills.

Rehabilitation Dar-ul-Sukun’s Department of Rehabilitation strives to improve health, functional performance and participation in daily life activities for children with profound and diverse disabilities. The department provides the highest quality resident care to those who are experiencing disability, pain or loss of function. DUS provides variety of rehabilitation services including:-

Physiotherapy: Professional physiotherapists engage children through tailored therapy and different exercises to improve their mobility, balance, coordination and strength – Occupational Therapy: Our Occupational Therapists work with children to build their skills and confidence to take part in everyday activities – Sensory Integration Therapy: Sensory Integration therapy has been designed for children with the developmental disorders and with established dysfunction of sensory processing, e.g., children with autism, attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD). Sensory integration therapy is commonly used with occupational and physical therapy and includes specific movement activities and resistive body work to enable a decrease in anxiety of children, making them more confident, successful and interactive explorers – Perception in Music Therapy (PIM): Dar-ul-Sukun has introduced PIM therapy which is a new concept being incorporated with sensory integration and occupational therapy. It has been found very productive as an effective therapy for children as well as adults experiencing sensory disability

Other rehabilitation services offered include: – Habitation Therapy – Psychology Sessions – Psychiatric Sessions – Counselling – Developing Activities of Daily Life (ADL) – Developing Speech – Language & Communication Skills – Fitness & Gym – Mind Diversion Therapy through Art & Craft – Rehabilitation through Recreational Activities – Vocational Therapy – Sports Rehab

Medical Department Children with critical needs are the easiest targets of viral germs. To ensure that children with physical and intellectual disabilities have proper medical assessment and a managed medical plan, Dar-ul-Sukun has established a medical centre within its premises. The medical centre covers primarily health care needs of children with disabilities and ensures that residents receive prompt and appropriate medical care when needed. Two General Physicians (GPs) and three professional nurses run the facility: GPs hold their clinic four times a week while at least one nurse is available round the clock for 24 hours to attend the children. In case of any emergency, residents are immediately transferred to Aga Khan University Hospital or Holy Family Hospital for treatment.

Health & Nutrition Customized diet plans are designed by a nutritionist for each resident according to his/her dietary needs. Dar-ul-Sukun staff is trained to understand and meet unique nutrition needs of children with profound physical and intellectual disabilities.

Sports and Fitness Residents at Dar-ul-Sukun are engaged in fitness activities on a daily basis. Some of our residents have been selected to represent Pakistan in national and international sports events including Special Olympics held in USA, China, Ireland and India across the years. Dar-ul-Sukun children have made the country proud by winning Gold medals in various games.

Recreational Activities The children are engaged in a variety of recreational activities such as musical evenings, picnics and outings. These events are organized to give children an opportunity to experience mainstream society at large and learn to become responsible members of the community as far as possible.

Kitchen Gardening In addition to basic services also offered at Dar-ul-Sukun, Lemmen’s Home engages children in productive therapy through kitchen gardening with the assistance of a professional and experienced gardener. Experience so far suggests that children love to work with plants and visible changes in their behavior are observed. At the same time, these efforts of children enable production of seasonal vegetables for all Centers of Dar ul Sukun, which has resulted in self sufficiency of food provision.

Community Engagement Dar-ul-Sukun collaborates actively with the community to address issues related to disability. This is in the form of a two way exchange, through Training and Awareness Events organized by Dar-ul-Sukun as well as hosting volunteers to support and extend the programs being implemented within the Centre.

Awareness Events Awareness events are an important avenue to engage our extended community and society at large. These events have a two-fold purpose: 1) to create awareness about the rights of persons with disabilities and 2) to encourage community members to become more responsive towards persons with disabilities and take action to support them. All our events our designed to be inclusive so that a wide range of audience can benefit from them, which includes people with disabilities as well as people without disabilities. Events vary from in-house activities such as national celebrations, religious festivals including Eid and Christmas, to larger external community gatherings, theatre performances and events and activities to mark international causes and cause related events.

Volunteer Engagement Dar-ul-Sukun benefits from the assistance of a large number of volunteers particularly school children. Local volunteers visit Dar-ul-Sukun according to schedules that suit each individual. They select their areas of interest and expertise to serve the Dar-ul-Sukun. Volunteers assist children with disabilities to move in and out of therapy sessions, assist them on exercises, help them with their meals and spend recreational time with them as well.

Dar-ul-Sukun also received international volunteers, particularly from The Netherlands who stay from one to three months (in some cases even longer) serving the children. Once they return home, volunteers continue to assist Dar-ul-Sukun through financial and in-kind assistance even if they cannot visit.