RATIONALE OF THE PROJECT

Autism is a handicap not a disease.
Autism is a neuro psychiatric condition. It is a multifactorial developmental dysfunction of the central nervous system.
It comes associated to disturbances and medical conditions as:
Epilepsy (high incidence), fragile X syndrome, phenylketonuria, tuberous sclerosis and many others genetic diseases.

Incidence in the general population:
Kanner Syndrome: 4 or 5 to 10.000 individuals
Considering the whole spectrum of Pervasive Developmental Disorders (PDD): 1 to 700-1000 (Description of Autism, 2000)

Persons with autism are part of a population considered with "High complex dependency needs" (European Disability Forum) or "In need of a high level of support"(Council of Europe).
They

• are one of the most exposed populations to social exclusion and discrimination.
• have great difficulties to access to lifelong learning
• have minor opportunities to participate as active citizens

Families of persons with autism are also victims of discrimination.
Members of the family often have to give up their jobs in order to take care of the autistic person.
There is a lack of structures and trained staff.

Characteristics of the persons with autism
Impairment on verbal and non-verbal communication. Half of the population doesn't speak.
Disturbances in the development of reciprocal social Interaction. They usually don't answer to questions or don't start a conversation. They have problems in the relationship with other people.
A Restricted Repertoire of Interests and Behaviours. They don't play imaginative games or "as if" play.

Because of their characteristics and unexpected and aggressive behaviour either self-aggressiveness or towards other persons, it is very difficult to deal with people with autism.

An adequate answer to the needs of persons with autism
Persons with autism assisted by non qualified staff have limited performances as a consequence of a passive support. On the contrary with the adequate support of trained staff, they will have access to a better attendance that will give them opportunities to new learning situations and to a better quality of life.

Qualified people: psychologists, therapists, teachers who have the adequate preparation
Staff without the necessary training; they need and want to be trained in service.
They need to have the basic knowledge to engage in a process of long life learning and have access to new professional expectancies.
Members of the family also need to have access to training.

Exchange of experiences
It is important to exchange experiences with other countries:
to update knowledge
to have access to new models and methodologies
to learn to use new technologies in the area of information and communication
to be exposed to cultural diversity