Participants

In these difficult days of the pandemic, this project came to our rescue. Just when we were saying ‘Enough is enough!”, Professor Aysun came into our lives. Thanks to this project, I have learned and gained the awareness that our priority is ourselves before our children. And then I thought it was so true. If I’m good, s/he’s good, if I’m strong, s/he’s strong, if I’m here, s/he’s here.

The Program has seemed like such a gift to us, because we have raised our children with our research and our own efforts up untill now. Because my daughter did not participate in an education program before she turned twenty-seven years old, we had never experienced such a serious education program both for our children and for supporting parents.

We as parents were so nervous, stressed and angry. We’re now a little over it, we’ve learned to love ourselves. We have learned about self-confidence, we have stayed away from people who hurt us and trouble us. We have learned to protect ourselves and live better, so that’s how we become relaxed and calm.

Thanks to the project, I learned to value myself. I’ve learned to make time for myself. Actually, I have learned not to do anything if I didn’t want to. I’ve learned not to do anything that I don’t want to do. These have helped me a lot. I was always trying, I was tired. I am done with letting go myself so I could make others happy. I’m done, I’ve quit it. I make myself happy before I make others happy, and then I make others happy. That’s how this program has helped me… Now that I’m relieved, I have let everyone go. I’m relieved and they’re relieved.

Motherhood is the beginning of self-neglect, and from that moment on, your priority is always your child. Especially if you’re the mother of a special baby, the situation becomes even worse. In every lesson (session) with you, I have learned brand new concepts that I didn’t know about. With every bit of information I learned, I felt stronger. I think the more knowledge I have, the less scary my fears will be. I feel I have the power to rebuild myself with what I’ve gained from you.

I was confident, but now I AM more confident.
I liked myself, but now I LIKE myself better.
I loved myself, but now I LOVE myself more.
I used to think I was strong, but now I think I am stronger.
My very busy pre-pandemic days were suddenly over. It was nice to be home in the early days and weeks but as time went on, I have started to feel like I was wasting my life. I started to see myself as unuseful and uncreative. It was like they were sucking all my energy out of me. I couldn’t feel free, and it was driving me crazy. I started spending time with you and my therapy group at a time when I was starting to get angry about facing my inner world.
Although me and my friends from the group that I had known for many years were all in an environment where we had common problems, I felt like I had embarked on a new journey under your guidance. So I began to confront my inner world and share it with my friends under your lead. Although everyone’s problems, reactions and solutions are different, it has come to my attention that our common point is the sacrifice we have to make as mothers of an individual with special needs.
I will MISS your reassuring, peaceful face and voice, especially our conversations…
Thank you very, very much for all that you thought me.
Maybe one day we’ll meet again and talk. Take care.

My daughter, Damla reacted at first, she didn’t really understand what online meant. She thought she was going to school, and she reacted because she was afraid of the virus. At first, she was so happy when she turned on the computer and started classes. And she was so excited for the whole 3 months. Every day she was asking: Is there a lesson today? What lesson do we have today? Let’s get up early today, we should not be late… Although she was very fond of eating, she even had her breakfast in a hurry, sometimes left it halfway. Damla is very upset that it’s over, and she really wants it to start again.

My son was very happy. He planned everything himself, he participated. If I forgot, he reminded me of the sessions… Thank you on behalf of my son. My,son, Kamer was very happy to be in such a program. He planned everything in advance and participated. In fact, when I forgot the hour and suggested going shopping together, he told me he couldn’t go. Because he had his class. There was no time. He said he would be in class at that time, and he warned me.

He’s more open now, he’s played sports in front of people he did not know at all. At first, he was a little shy. But then, he developed himself in this regard. He changed his school right now, normally one of us had to go with him. He was going into an environment he didn’t know, but he didn’t want anyone. He went to school alone.

So, at first I had my own classes with my students. My son, Alper had classes, he didn’t. Mom, why don’t I have a class? Look, he was very happy that he had a class during this period, because I also have a class. So it was very good for him. Thank you very much. Yes, I’ve never followed, he’s always followed himself. Being self-sufficient is important. My son was so happy to be involved in something like this, he felt better. He saw himself as a part of a community, and he was very happy that he was active in life.

We have become closer, he came to me more, he would never say, “Mom, look, we’re going to do this.” I noticed it too. When I asked my son, Fikri whether he liked it, he told me he was so happy. And he saw his friends there. Of course, he also saw his friends that he missed. He chatted with them. Participants from different cities such as Bursa, Balıkesir or other cities joined in. We got to meet participants from Istanbul. He began to make friends with them. I’m telling you, both he and I, we have seen a lot of positive effects and he’s still asking.