Dr. Solomon recently returned from a P.L.A.Y. Project Agency Training in Switzerland, and, as a writer by nature, kept a travel journal of his experience to share with you:
April 22, Monday. The flight to Geneva and the train ride to Lausanne were uneventful. Here we are in French speaking Western Switzerland! We have a couple of free days here to get over jet lag, stroll around, and get ready for The P.L.A.Y. Project training. Looking forward to meeting the child psychiatrists whose university-based teams we will be training: Francois Rentsch MD and Carole Muller-Nix MD (who we met in Zurich the last time we were in Switzerland). We’re staying at the lovely, old Hotel Mirabeau in Lausanne where from our balcony we can see Lake Geneva surrounded by the snow covered Alps. Rough life. Spring is in the air. The trees are just beginning to leaf. It’s overcast and cool just like Michigan!
April 23, Tuesday. Sunny and 75 degrees (I mean 25 Celsius) today. Lausanne is a lovely French speaking college town divided into the Ouchy area on Lake Geneva, the lower city center section, and the old city citadel at the top of the town. Linda and I climbed past Place St. Francois, the town center, up the steep hills, narrow streets, and steep steps to the Vielle Ville (old city) and caught our breath in the largest (300 foot long) Gothic cathedral in Switzerland (built in the 12th century!) with a great panoramic view of the city below, lake, and mountains. Tomorrow I will be going to EPFL University, the MIT of Switzerland, where we have a classroom for the first two days of the training open to professionals interested in The P.L.A.Y. Project.
April 24, Wednesday. We have a good show with close to 50 professionals for the 2-Day training. I went over the videos demonstrating Greenspan’s 6 functional emotional developmental levels and got to know the eight 4-Day trainees (who will be certified) a mix of early interventionists, speech-language therapists, psychologists, and psychometrists (kin to our occupational therapist), as well as the two child psychiatrists. For most, spoken English was only fair; thankfully, their understanding of spoken English was very good. Switzerland is divided into German, French, and Italian regions. Almost everyone speaks at least three languages. Here in Lausanne-Geneva French is the lingua franca (so to speak, get it?).
April 24, Wednesday evening. After the first day of training Carole (Dr. Muller-Nix) took us on a most scenic tour of the Geneva lakeside (see pic) past vineyards, to Montreaux (home of the famous jazz festival) and to her favorite patisserie (chocolate shop), Augnet (marveilleux!). She is a high level academic but down to earth, warm, outgoing, and fun. As the sun set we had dinner at a rustic waterfront restaurant on Lake Geneva where their specialty was. . . .perch! (I didn’t have the heart to tell her that pan fried perch is a Michigan specialty too).
April 26, Friday. The training moved to Geneva for the last two days for the smaller group of eight who would train for certification. Francois (Dr. Rentsch) graciously invited us to stay at his home where we met his charming wife and three daughters. It was voted ‘no screen week’ in Switzerland (the Swiss vote on everything—they even voted to limit how much rich people could make!) and children all over the region turn off their TVs, computers, and iPads and . . .well. . .do other things like talk to each other and do arts and crafts and go to special community events. Francois toured us around stately Geneva (while it rained) and we learned that Switzerland is a civilized country of 7 million (Michigan has 10 million) characterized by very low unemployment (2%!), low crime rates, great social benefits like paid maternity leave, state supported childcare, and a two week election cycle (!). How many Swiss does it take to change a lightbulb? Let’s vote on that. Francois was so generous and kind (and smart!).
Interestingly, while they have extensive evaluation expertise in their university hospital centers, they do not provide intensive early intervention on a large scale. Many in the large first 2-Day group had not heard of Applied Behavioral Analysis. Which is why they brought The P.L.A.Y. Project there and were very excited to begin the last two days of training (and a bit anxious about implementing a new model).
April 27, Saturday. Yesterday went great. We analyzed cases in detail. All the pediatric professionals are quick learners and a fun group. On the last day of training for our lunch break we celebrated and had a cheese fondue and clinked glasses of Swiss white wine and toasted The P.L.A.Y. Project’s success in Switzerland (did I mention that the Swiss are civilized?). I felt confident that each of the trainees, who by this time felt like new-found friends, would implement the model with their families. Now we just have to translate our materials into French! We all went out to an excellent French dinner, then, as is the Swiss way, kissed each other on the cheek 3 times (alternating right, left, right or left, right, left) and said our au revoirs.
April 28, Sunday. On the plane home. Sweet exhaustion. Training over. The rain had transformed the trees from budding to full green leaves in one week. It felt that like that for me too. My budding knowledge of Switzerland bloomed during my time there. I grew to appreciate and admire the wonderfully dedicated team of professionals there who serve children with disabilities and their families in Lausanne and Geneva. Linda and I just felt grateful to have had this wonderful experience. We were overwhelmed by the kindness and generosity shown to us. Tu vas nous manquer (We will miss you).