«Steps – School» and international conferences: how the field of autism has become very close for Nataliya Andreeva

At the time when Nataliya Andreeva noticed that her son was developing differently than the other children, she was working as a speech therapist. However, she knew almost nothing about autism, because such topics were not raised during her studies. Mental retardation was then spoken of only as schizophrenia.

Nataliya Andreeva has become from a mother who does not know how to help her child, to a real specialist in autism. Today she is the founder and director of the charity organization «Steps – School»  for children with ASD, author of many scientific articles, co-author of a textbook for parents and teachers “Corrective development of an autistic child.”

In addition, Nataliya is a co-organizer of all-Ukrainian conferences “Autism in Ukraine” with international participation. As part of «The beginnings» project, Natalia Andreeva told about her son and how another mother created an experimental class on the basis of a boarding school for children with severe speech disorders and why government agencies did not allow them to work further. In an interview, Nataliya described the methods of working with special children in the institution and clarified which specialists work there.

“The parents who approached us, received support, knowledge and a push that gave them the opportunity to develop further with their child.” – says  woman. She helped 750+ families.

Watch the full interview here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JWB_TMcE1fk&list=PLQDGjpYj_MwP3X04F7mQSQUDdrf1ii-6d&index=10.