Early intervention for children with sensory disabilities in Sibiu County

Bucharest, November 2025. Sense International Romania announces the launch of the project "For every child, together", through which children with sensory disabilities and their families in Sibiu County and neighboring counties will benefit from specialised early intervention services. The project is implemented with the support of the OMV Petrom Foundation, through the "Azi. Împreună" fund, edition 2025.

An early intervention service will thus be established at the Inclusive Education School Center no. 2 (C.S.E.I. 2) in Sibiu, within a multi-disciplinary partnership, by providing sensory stimulation materials and equipment, training specialists and creating an early intervention group. 40 children aged between 0 and 6 and their family members will benefit from early intervention services, and 20 specialists in education, health and social services will have increased capacities to provide quality early identification and intervention services.

"The increasingly younger age of children with disabilities who come to special kindergarten or request rehabilitation and compensation therapies with specialists from C.S.E.I. 2 Sibiu served as the cause for the emergence of the desire to have an early intervention service. Through early intervention, we want to directly improve the child's development, to lay a lasting foundation so that the inclusive education model is sustainable and successful for all children," says Mrs. Nicoleta Nan, director of the institution where this new service will be established.

The aim of early intervention is to identify and address any developmental delays as early as possible and to provide the support the child and family need to overcome obstacles. The main activities that will be included in this new service are communication activities, sensory and cognitive education, orientation, mobility and general motor stimulation, emotional and social development activities, physiotherapy and, extremely importantly, information and counseling for parents.

According to official data published by the National Authority for the Protection of the Rights of Persons with Disabilities, in Sibiu County and the 5 neighboring counties (Alba, Argeș, Brașov, Mureș and Vâlcea) there are 3,444 children classified as disabled (visual, hearing, deaf-blindness, associated disabilities), of which 700 with sensory disabilities (visual, hearing, deaf-blindness). However, there is no specialised state early intervention service for newborns with such disabilities.

The project offers these children the chance for harmonious development, parents the support and confidence that they are not alone, and the community the opportunity to be for each child, together.

About Sense International Romania

Sense International Romania is a Romanian organisation founded in 2001 with the aim of improving the lives of people with deafblindness and multiple sensory disabilities in our country. Through national programmes that promote early intervention for newborns with sensory disabilities, the education of children with deafblindness and the provision of vocational services, SIR successfully manages to bring a change for the better in the lives of hundreds of people with this disability. www.surdocecitate.ro

About OMV Petrom Foundation

OMV Petrom Foundation builds programmes and supports long-term investments in Romania for disadvantaged communities, in three key areas: education, health and environment. You can find more details about the work of OMV Petrom Foundation on www.fundatiaomvpetrom.ro