Pioneering research aids Romanian orphans

The pioneering work of psychologist, Dr Suzanne Zeedyk, is being used to help some of Romania's most disadvantaged children and has already resulted in some ground-breaking results.

Using techniques based on her work on imitation with babies, Dr Zeedyk and her colleague Dr Cliff Davies, a retired psychology lecturer at Manchester University, were able to reach children in Romania's Antioch Centre who were previously regarded as unresponsive and unable to communicate.

"We went out to see if we could help develop new techniques to get in touch with these children, many of whom have severe disabilities," said Dr Zeedyk.

"One of the research areas I am working in uses imitation as a way of speaking to people with communication difficulties, using their own language. You respond to their rhythms and sounds using those rhythms and sounds, because these are already familiar and meaningful to them. The technique is also known as Intensive Interaction or Co-Creative Communication."

"The results with the children in Romania were amazing, far better than we expected. We had children who had never engaged with anyone before communicating with us. One girl was giggling and laughing delightedly within minutes and another little boy with severe autism started looking at us and smiling, both of which are uncommon behaviours in people with autism."

Dr Zeedyk was invited to the Antioch Centre in the Romanian town of Slatina by British-based charity Medlink. She and Dr Davies hope to return to the Centre in the future. Run by Romanian couple Alex and Sandu Micu, who have also adopted 14 children, the centre provides daily respite sessions for orphans and disabled children.

"The work being done there is inspirational," said Dr Zeedyk. "Many of the children have come from very neglected or abusive backgrounds but to see them doing so well now because of the care they are receiving really shows what can be achieved. We would like to help document the outcomes being achieved there because we believe it is a centre of excellence."

As well as planning a research study, Dr Zeedyk and Dr Davies are also hoping to set up a training exchange and have training materials translated into Romanian so that other child care providers in Romania can adopt the techniques which already seem to be proving effective with children in Slatina.