Terence Charles 31, was born with cerebral palsy, but thanks to the help, expertise and early interv
ention he received at the Peto Institute, Hungary and later at Buddy Bear Trust school, Dungannon, he learned to walk and has worked full–time in his job at The Print Factory in Enniskillen since he left school aged 16.
Terence from County Fermanagh, is speaking up on behalf of the work being done at Buddy Bear Trust School. He is planning a campaign to meet MLAs starting with those in Fermanagh, to enlist their help to raise awareness of what can be achieved.
There is a demand for the services provided at Buddy Bear conductive education school, but some parents who wish to send their children to the school are experiencing problems attracting funding. The school delivers all the expertise from the Peto Institute, right to the heart of Northern Ireland, with the help of its principal, and conductive educator Ildiko Veres,from Hungary.
According to Terence Charles, there is a longer term economic side to this.
"Because of the way I was trained, it left me with a better outlook on life. It really changed my life. I'm working, I socialise, and I have up to three disabled friends and about 20 able- bodied friends. It definitely has longer term benefits for the economy, with the tax returns that I am making," he said.
"I would strongly say that Government needs to take a long term look at the picture," he said.
Terence is quick to dispel any perceptions about conductive education being thought of as a miracle cure.
"It is not a miracle cure. It is not going to happen over night, and I think that is why Government is reluctant to support it, because they may have taken it up the wrong way. This is not a quick fix. But the outstanding benefit I see, is that the child and the conductive educator do not give up. The ordinary physio may give up on people," he said.
He said everyone who has gone to Buddy Bear Trust school, or had conductive education has had their lives made better, he said.
Terence also attended Erne School in Fermanagh, and says he had some of the worst physical disabilities of the 20 pupils in his year group, but estimates, that today, he is one of only two people from that group working full time.
He knows another person with cerebral palsy, who was tube fed, but conductors taught his parents to massage a neck muscle which enabled him to eat and chew food.
"That was a major achievement in his life," he said.
Terence learned to walk, but later experienced a set back when scoliosis of the spine developed. He learned to cross a busy street for the first time in Communist Budapest back in 1989, previously something he thought he would never do.
But he stressed the big plus is the positive – 'you can do it ' mentality of conductors.
"The Peto Institute was very hard work for me, but it gave me a great outlook on life," he said.
(September 30)
