Robert

Robert is 11 years old. He was diagnosed with severe autism at the age of 3 and since then he has been under the care of the specialists from the Synapsis foundation centre in Warsaw. He attends a primary school but must be provided with tuition. Every day he works at home, supervised by his therapist. Apart from autism, Robert has also a severe hyperactivity disorder – ADHD – for which he is treated by a doctor from Germany. He is an extremely cheerful child, he likes goofing off, eating and cooking. He has developed quite good computer skills and likes completing jigsaw puzzles (he can do it for hours and with very good results). He loves car trips.

Filip

Filip is 4 years and 6 months old. He was diagnosed with autism at the age of 2. Since then, he has been under speech, behavioral and sensory therapies. Since September 2008 Filip has been attending an integrated preschool, where he spends about 2 to 3 hours, supervised by an adult. He has problems with making social contacts. He cannot speak. Nevertheless, he is a very cheerful, always smiling boy. He shows no particular interests, but since he is motorically hyperactive, he prefers games involving physical movement. He likes going for walks and travelling by car.

Olivier

Oliwier is 7 years and 6 months old. He was diagnosed with autism before the age of 3 and since then he has received a continuous treatment from different specialists. At present, he is in the oldest group in an integrated preschool. Oliwier is a nice, calm and cheerful boy, but he differs from his friends. He has problems with making contacts with peers, he speaks little. He is quite good at solving mathematical tasks using concrete objects. He likes music and computers.

Kuba

Kuba is almost 7 years old. He suffers from infantile autism he was diagnosed with before the age of 3. Since then he has been under the care of pedagogues, speech therapists, doctors, etc. Thanks to the treatment he has recently started speaking, although not very clearly yet. His best caregiver is his sister, two years older than him. Kuba is a cheerful child. He loves playing board and computer games (they are the best!). He feels great among children, although he has not yet learnt how to establish relationships with them.

Marcin

Marcin is 6 years and 6 months old. He is autistic. He was diagnosed with the disorder soon before the age of 3 and since then he has received intensive treatment and rehabilitation. At present, he is in the oldest group in an integrated preschool. Marcin is a very nice and cheerful child, but he differs significantly from his peers. He barely speaks and he does not initiate contacts with other children. He likes mathematics and counting, and he is great at using computer. He is thrilled when he can surf the Internet or play on-line games. Recently, he has also taken to playing football.

Jagoda

Jagoda is 2 years old. In the 26^th week of her mother’s pregnancy, doctors diagnosed the child with lumbar meningocele. Jagoda underwent her first surgery (for lumbar meningocele) when she was just several hours old, but it soon turned out that this first defect was accompanied by hydrocephalus. Additionally, the girl was diagnosed with neurogenic bladder, double hip dysplasia and club right foot. Jagoda’s rehabilitation started on the 10^th day of her life and continues up to today. Since the first days of her life she has been under the care of medical specialists. At present, Jagoda crawls and is a very cheerful child. She likes playing with her older sister. Despite her movement limitations, everyday she tries to learn new skills.