The Community Based Rehabilitation for Persons with Special Needs in Wangsaphung, Loei assisted 80 clients in the Center Based Program and 2,099 clients in the Community Based Program.  The following needs for the year 2005 were addressed by the program:

• Parents’ and Staff in-service training.
  • These are very crucial for the sustainability of the program in the future.  The program believes that the staff with good quality training would always ensure good services for persons with disabilities and their families.  In return, the family members (especially parents) who are considered to be the primary caregivers of the disabled and believed to be those  who are most concerned for the disabled should continue providing such services.
• Livelihood and income generating project.
  • The goal of CBR is to help the disabled to be self-reliant, socially integrated and economically productive.  Most of the disabled and their families welcome activities that can generate income.  They are willing to learn new skills to produce and compete with many other products in the market.  Though for some disabled it is impossible for them to be such, the program has involved their family members and or one from the poor families to join the project.
• Referrals and Networking.
  • Due to the cross disability services given by the program, the CBR field workers are trained to do basic assessment of all types of disabilities, but not as specialists.  Therefore, referral has been considered to be the heart of networking in CBR work.  All CBR field workers understand this very well.
• Regular services at home of the disabled
  • are also important because this is the time when the CBR staff can do the follow-up and point out the proper technique for the rehabilitation and encourage both the caregiver and the disabled to go on with their good work.
• Socialization
  • is also a very important aspect for the rehabilitation and development of the potentialities of the disabled.  One reality of the disabled who are living in the remote areas of Thailand is the isolation from people of the same fate and lack of exposure to the reality of the outside world.  Also, many persons with disabilities gain their confidence and pride through socialization such as winning a medal from the DC-CDR Games.