St Gregory’s has funded Anna Cîșlaru, lead therapist at Rain Kids, Chișinău, Moldova, to strengthen her professional skills. She co-ordinates the therapy for children with autism and other developmental conditions. She explains how these sessions vary with the age of the children.
With children like Alex, who is nearly two years old, the focus is on stimulating his development across a range of areas including physical co-ordination. He needs help to learn to focus and concentrate, and Anna is laying down a foundation for communication and independence. All this is done through guided play in a way which is enjoyable for them both.
Meanwhile, with five years old Iulian she is helping develop some of the essential skills he will need for school. Together they are strengthening his communication, his ability to manage his emotions, and learning to follow instructions.
In both cases, their progress will be closely monitored so that an individual programme can be adjusted to their particular needs. Both Alex and Iulian and doing well!
Darius and David are curious little boys, but they struggled to join in with activities at their kindergarten. When they were little, their mother had already noticed that they didn’t respond to their names and didn’t play together. But it was when they hit three and started group activities at kindergarten that their difficulties became more obvious. They were unable to sit still, concentrate or socialise with the other children. Often distressed, their behaviour was difficult to manage within the class. However, fortunately, the director of the kindergarten recommended that their mother turn to our colleagues at The Wish for help.
Support from The Wish is important for the whole family. They live in a village 6 miles from Calarasi. Their father is abroad to earn enough to look after the family, so their mother has her hands full.
Fortunately, with the right support David and Darius have already made great progress. They go to The Wish once a week and take part in individual and group sessions. The aims at the moment are to help them improve their communication and social skills, their concentration and their coordination. Over time, their behaviour has become less impulsive, and they are building better relationships with children and adults. Now that they are six they are much more able to join in group activities, and their natural curiosity is helping them learn. The difference is now they understand some simple rules, they are able to follow up on their curiosity within the guidelines of the group.
In Moldova children start school at six. The coming years will no doubt present new challenges for Darius and David. We are grateful to all our supporters who help us fund the therapy that they need to be able to thrive and learn.
Mihai is 6 years old and lives with his parents in Chisinau. He is a gentle boy, attentive to details, with a remarkable memory and a special curiosity for colors, shapes, and neatly arranged objects. He loves building, sorting his toys by size, and watching his favorite cartoon over and over again. However, from an early age, his parents noticed that his development was different from that of other children his age. He didn’t respond when his name was called, avoided eye contact, and preferred to play alone in silence.
After several consultations with specialists, the family received the diagnosis of autism spectrum disorder (ASD). It was a difficult moment, full of emotions and questions, but the parents did not let themselves be overwhelmed. They began searching for solutions, support programs, and centers that could help Mihai develop and gradually connect with the world around him.
For just two months Mihai has been attending the Rain Kids Center for Children with Rare Diseases and Autism in Chisinau. He is only at the beginning of his therapeutic journey, but small changes can already be seen. He attends daily sessions of behavioral therapy and adapted educational activities. At first, he cried often, refused to enter the room, and did not tolerate being touched, but gradually he started getting used to the therapists and even looking forward to some activities.
Today, Mihai can follow simple instructions, wait for his turn during games, and communicate through gestures or sounds. Although he does not speak yet, he expresses his wishes through looks, and his shy smile brings great joy to everyone who works with him. His greatest achievement so far is that he has started to seek his mother’s gaze and take her hand when he wants something; a small but essential step on the road to communication.
Mihai’s parents are deeply involved and eager to learn how to support him at home as well. His mother says that every new gesture, every look, and every calm moment is a victory. However, both the family and the specialists believe that Mihai needs more intensive and consistent therapy in order to make faster and more stable progress.
Mihai is a child with tremendous potential. He enjoys activities that involve order and repetition — puzzles, building blocks, drawing, and coloring. Loud noises frighten him, and sudden changes upset him, but in the safe environment of the center, surrounded by his therapists, he feels increasingly confident.
Even though his journey has just begun, every step Mihai takes is a sign of courage and hope. With the right support, he can learn to communicate, to express himself, and to discover the world at his own pace. You are helping us provide quality therapy to children like Mihai, by helping us build the skills of our team.
We are delighted that Serge Malaison, Honorary Consul of the Republic of Moldova in Quebec, has agreed to be an Ambassador for St Gregory’s Foundation. He has already visited our partners, Rain Kids, who support children with special needs in the capital Chişinău. They have sent this warm letter of thanks for his visit.
Dear Partners,
On behalf of the entire team at the Copiii Ploii Center, we would like to express our heartfelt gratitude for the visit of Mr. Serge and Mr. Matthieu, as well as for the time, interest, and openness with which they listened to us. Their presence in our center meant far more than a simple trip — it was a gesture of solidarity, respect, and compassion toward the children and families we support every day. We felt them as true friends of our community. They looked beyond statistics, spoke with the children, observed the therapists’ work, listened to the parents’ stories, and understood the reality faced by families of children with special educational needs. For us, this is the most valuable gift: an open heart and a genuine desire to do good. We are deeply grateful for their willingness to support us through fundraising campaigns. The support you intend to offer together is not only financial — it represents real opportunities for our children: opportunities for consistent therapy, opportunities for recovery, opportunities for inclusion, opportunities for a better life. We hope that this beginning of cooperation will grow into a stable partnership filled with meaningful and positive results. We remain open to ongoing communication, experience-sharing, joint projects, and everything that can bring more light into the lives of our children. Once again, we thank you all for your empathy, energy, kindness, and willingness to be part of our story.
With gratitude and respect, The Copiii Ploii Center Team
Our partners at Communication Space in Moscow continue their core work of teaching disabled young people to communicate. Here a communication book is enabling a chat about dinosaurs.
Excitingly, in the last year our colleagues have had the opportunity to teach others their methods. After an online training session on adapting books for non-verbal children, a specialist went away with plans to create a reading corner full of adapted books at her centre. Their teaching session at a conference on alternative communication was praised by delegates as one of the best of the conference. They continue to work too on guidelines aiming at more consistent use of alternative communication for those who need it across Russia.
If you missed our September AGM, you can still read the presentation from Ana Gorea, co-founder of Rain Kids, a small charity that works with children with special needs. She lays out how St Gregory’s grants to provide training for their staff are helping to raise standards of care.
The main request of the Rain Kids charity in Chişinău, Moldova, was for staff training. They offer therapy to children with special needs and are acutely aware of how low the level of professional skills are in Moldova. We are funding their chief therapist, Ana Cislaru, to take an eighteen month training course to qualify her as a supervisor in ABA therapy, so that she will be able to offer training to their other staff. Due to a lack of suitable training in Moldova, the course is provided by a Romanian charity and is accessed largely online. Here Ana explains how her training helped her plan the programme of therapy for Alex. Despite a difficult start, she was able to find the key to his progress. Incidentally, the stigma attached to autism is still so high in Moldova, that many families do not want photographs of their children to be used publicly. We respect their wishes, but sincerely hope that one day autism won’t be a source of shame or embarrasment to families in Moldova.
Every family that comes to the Deaf Club we sponsor in St Petersburg has its own story, and that is not always straightforward. This was the case for Maxim (on the pink rocker) and his parents. His parents really struggled to accept his diagnosis, and visited several centres for a second opinion.
After his hearing was checked for a second time at the Early Intervention Institute, the family was invited to join the Deaf Club. Here, Maxim’s parents were encouraged to use the hearing aids Maxim had been fitted with. Maxim is a lovely boy, but he is hyper-active. At the Club we are able to show his parents how to attract his attention to the toys, or to other people, including to the sounds around him.
The family’s are just starting out on their path. They have recently discovered that Maxim has a genetic condition. Fortunately, our colleagues are able to support them as they adjust to the news. They will be able to speak to a psychologist with experience of working with parents of children with disabilities. They will also be encouraged to appreciate Maxim’s strengths at the weekly club sessions and will be able to see older deaf children who are flourishing. Without this support it would be difficult for some parents to see past the diagnosis, which in a society where disability is stigmatised, feels like bad news. We wish them all well.
Nina is 29 and she has an infectious smile and loves talking about her family. We’re chatting in one of the offices at The Wish’s Centre in Calarasi, which her son Liviu attends. He’s here too, a bit wary of strangers, though he sneaks a few glances at us. Since he obviously doesn’t like having his photo taken, it is Nina you can see here.
Liviu and Nina’s experiences expose just how little understanding there is about how to support autistic people in Moldova. Thank goodness Nina found The Wish, where Liviu could get the support he needed.
St Gregory’s is proud to sponsor Sunny Corner, a charity based in rural Moldova. They provide an accepting community that helps people with learning disabilities or autism to socialise and develop their skills. Vova (Vladimir), 43, is pictured with a violin. He lives with his mother, a pensioner. Vova is a talented artist who plays instruments, dances, and draws. He is neat and meticulous.
Vova attended a regular school, but ‘deviations’ appeared in the 9th grade, and he was later diagnosed with autism. This diagnosis was made at a mental hospital Kodru, in Chisinau, when Vova was 14-15 years old. Due to his progressive condition, Vova left school after the 9th grade and was forced to stay at home, which hindered his further development of communication. Vova had been depressed for a long time, and it was very difficult to help him overcome it.
Lyudmila Shishkina worked in the “Planet of Care” program before “Sunny Corner.” During that time, Vova was involved in sewing, carpentry, and drew a lot. Gradually, the black color in his drawings was replaced by bright colors, as she describes it. Nowadays, Vova actively participates in “Sunny Corner’s” activities.
