Elvira Special Needs School

Elvira provides special needs education to 396 children ranging in age from 3 to 15. The institute is in three sectors; preschool, primary school and pre-vocation center. The institute is transitory in nature, meaning that children do not write Government exams at the center, instead they are referred to mainstream primary schools in order to learn together with their peers. Those with significant academic difficulties are oriented to the pre-vocation training programs for a maximum of 3 years in order to prepare them for a vocational training program.

Elvira is the only special needs school in Malawi, based in the northern district of Mzuzu. Pupils range in age from 3 – 13  years, they present with many complex needs such as autism, intellectual & physical disabilities and down syndrome.

Each day the children work on their different cognitive skills to help support them towards independence

Sensory	Motor	Sensory	Social	Self Help
Water play	Colouring	Water play	Special Olympics	Eating & Drinking
Ball rolling	Block building	Ball rolling	Domestic play	Toilet training
Tasting	Drawing	Feeding	Listening to the radio	Washing hands

If the children were not attending school they would be locked in their houses for the day until their parent or guardian returned from work.

Every child receives a meal during school time, for some children this will be the only meal they will have that day. For the children that are able, the school works on introducing them into the main stream school system. Parents are also provided with counselling and training on how to help their child.

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