The first online platform for parents of special children launched in Kazakhstan
On November 8th, 2021 in Nur-Sultan, the first Kazakhstani informational online platform for parents of children with special needs, the “Ozim Platform” (available on both Android and IOS) was launched. The developers of the application, graduates of the Graduate School of Education of Nazarbayev University, Asem Tazhieva, Maria Ippolitova, and Dana Mambetalina, demonstrated the capabilities of the application and explained what had led to the idea of its creation.
During the global Covid-19 pandemic, parents of children with special needs and specialized professionals faced difficulties in organizing educational opportunities and rehabilitation procedures for children.
“As a mother of a child in need of early intervention, I also experienced the impossibility of carrying out rehabilitation during a pandemic,” says one of the founders of the project, Asem Tazhiyeva.
Her experience served as the motivation for educating and informing parents online. The developers found that the optimal solution to the problem was to create a mobile application in the form of an informational platform for parents of children with special needs, which includes not only theoretical materials but also practical lessons to be done with the child at home in Kazakh and Russian.
The idea for the application reached the finale of the SDF Grants 2020 program and became one of the 13 recipients of a grant from the Nazarbayev University Social Development Fund. To ensure the successful implementation of the project, it was important for the developers to gather the opinions of the parents of children with special needs. Therefore, the Ozim Platform project team conducted a study on the informational needs of parents, which revealed that parents specifically requested articles from specialists concerning important information about diagnoses, for video materials from various rehabilitation organizations concerning practical work to be done with a child at home to be organized in a unified database, and for recommendations and consultations from psychologists and lawyers to be available.
The Ozim platform project involves an expert in the field of inclusion, Assistant Professor of the Higher School of Education of Nazarbayev University, Rita Kasha. In the presentation, the Assistant Professor highlighted the importance of research, saying, “I am glad that you have added your research to this application. One of the pages in the app will be specifically on the topic of world-class research, where summarized articles will be offered in the Russian and Kazakh languages, and where a user will be able to find out recent studies and conclusions drawn by researchers, as well as about debates and discussions on various issues concerning the needs of children with special needs in terms of rehabilitation and inclusive education.”
Early intervention specialists also spoke at the presentation of the project: rehabilitologist Latif Parpiev, winner of the competition for 100 new faces of Kazakhstan in 2021, Justina Victoria, a defectologist with eight years of experience, as well as an expert on digital inclusion Ziyat Abdykaimov.
Furthermore, the presentation was attended online by Ruslan Sarmurzakov, a representative of the Aruzhan Sain Foundation’s “Voluntary Society (the Miloserdie [Милосердие]).” He noted that “There is a goal to help children find a better life, help parents react, take advantage of all the lessons, and find information and specialists who can help. Early intervention is very important. ”
The social project Ozim Platform is of particular importance for expanding access to knowledge about early intervention, as well as the development of inclusion in Kazakhstani society. The creators note that the application will be supplemented with additional materials. Specialists in early intervention and representatives of foundations for children with special needs have already been involved in the work.