On July 27, 2013 our colleague, Katerina Glazykina, visited the III International Conference dedicated to the needs of children with disabilities, “Give a hug – don’t let go”. The purpose of the conference was to show people how to focus on abilities of a person rather than his limitations.

The conference was organized by the mission “Heart of the Father” (Chesapeake, Virginia, USA), the “Diamond” church (Kiev, Ukraine), the “Orphan’s Promise” ministry, Association for the support of people with Down syndrome and their families, etc.

Much attention was paid to issues of Cerebral Palsy, Down syndrome and Autism Spectrum Disorders. Several families shared their testimonies about the life of children with Down syndrome, among which there are also foster children. There was an interesting and inspiring personal testimony from Elisha Kelly about the joy and surprises of married life with her husband, who has cerebral palsy. It should be noted that Elisha’s husband, Johnny Kelly, was one of the speakers at the conference. His paralyzed speech did not prevent him from conveying valuable thoughts about overcoming stereotypes and acquired defects, and from testifying about his life and difficulties that he had to suffer. As a certified expert in the area of information technology, Johnny used electronic voice equipment for his performances.

All the seminars and speeches were saturated with practice and life experience and it was precious for interested participants of the conference.