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Description
People with intellectual disabilities are vulnerable to exclusion, especially when they leave the educational system and enter the labour market. This project contributes to inclusion of young people with intellectual disabilities into society by strengthening their citizenship skills. Its activities will make them aware of their rights and possibilities and help them to become self-reliant and confident.
The project puts together the Norwegian social enterprise Fretex, which specialises in inclusion on the labour market, and Obchodní akademie Olgy Havlové, a secondary school attended by people with disabilities. The educators and consultants will compare and exchange their experience. Moreover, they will develop a modular educational course with the goal teach students such skills which will enable them to be more independent and included in the society. The created educational resources and visual products will be appropriate for usage in both the Norwegian and Czech settings.
The final conference in Norway will present the project results to educators, vocational rehabilitation consultants, counsellors, social workers, politicians, and young people with intellectual disabilities.
Summary of project results
We started our project because we perceived a huge lack of educational materials for young people with autism spectrum disorders and mental disabilities in the Czech Republic and Norway. We created five brochures to help young graduates with the above-mentioned problems to get involved in everyday life after leaving school. Due to the nature of the disabilities of the target group, the brochures assume the assistance of an accompanying person when working with them. The brochures cover the following topics: Democratic Citizenship, Self-care, Computer Skills, Financial Skills and Working Life.
The work on the brochures was not easy, but it was very fulfilling and we managed to create all the manuals (6 Czech and 5 Norwegian), test them with young people and translate them into English. We presented the manuals at three conferences - one confernce in Stavanger, Norway and two conferences for the general public at the Czech school.
We were pleasantly surprised by the very positive response to the materials we produced. For sure we managed to fill a gap that was at least in the Czech education system, caused by the lack of teaching materials for our target group.
Summary of bilateral results
The collaborative aspect of the project was indeed one of its greatest strengths. The opportunity to exchange ideas and insights into approaches to the target group in both Norway and the Czech Republic provided valuable inspiration for future work. By learning from each other''s experiences and practices, participants were able to gain fresh perspectives and enhance their own approaches to education and social services.