By decision of the Croatian Parliament from 2018, dated March 1 is declared the National Day of Educational Rehabilitators. This Decision emphasizes the importance and role of educational rehabilitators as indispensable experts in the habilitation, upbringing and education of children and young people, as well as professional training and rehabilitation of persons with disabilities. With their knowledge and activities, educational rehabilitators, formerly known as special education teachers, remove prejudices against children with developmental difficulties and people with disabilities, not only in the institution where they work, but in the whole society.
Target population of the educational rehabilitator are children with neurodevelopmental factors risks and risk symptoms; children, young people and adults with: intellectual disabilities, learning disabilities, ADHD, autism spectrum disorder (ASD), multiple disabilities, motor disorders, chronic diseases, visual perception difficulties; blind, visually impaired and deaf-blind children, young people and adults; as well as their environment.
Areas of work of educational rehabilitators are early intervention in childhood, upbringing and education, training for life and work, professional rehabilitation, employment and housing, the third age and transitions within and between systems (support).
Educational rehabilitators they work with all age groups of the target population in the system of upbringing and education, social welfare, healthcare, professional rehabilitation and employment, civil sector and self-employment.
In a society that actively encourages inclusion, educational-rehabilitation activity is indispensable in the scope of health care in order to detect developmental deviations in children in time through the process of screening and early diagnosis and to start educational-rehabilitation interventions, programs and procedures in time.
In Croatia, the profession of educational rehabilitator is in short supply, and only about 50 educational rehabilitators are employed in the health care system in the entire country. We are proud that it was our institution that recognized the importance of the educational rehabilitator as an indispensable member of the Early Intervention Team and employed the first female educational rehabilitator in the health system of Istria County. Thanks to the valuable resources of our County, the work of two more external collaborators - educational rehabilitators - has been made possible.
With team assessment and diagnostics, of which we highlight ADOS-2 Observational protocol for diagnosing autism, educational rehabilitators in our institution carry out individual and group educational-rehabilitation programs, counseling parents and mentoring educational rehabilitation students who do professional practice at the Rovinj Special Hospital.


