This project addresses the issue of vulnerability of people with autistic spectrum disorder (ASD) living in the West Śląsk Voivodship subregion, and their carers. We estimate that approximately two thousand families affected by this problem live in that area. There are no institutions or organizations specializing in supporting people with ASD and their families operating in this region. Parents are helpless and do not know their rights, especially in the period following a child’s diagnosis. Medical services do not provide any support or counselling in this respect.
This project addresses the shortfall in specialist support for people with ASD and their families.
We will open a consultation and advice centre (operating face-to-face and remotely). We will provide twelve people with ASD with training on operating in the public sphere (doctor’s appointments, going to government offices, using equipment, etc.), and workshops providing training for four people with ASD and four carers to be self-advocates (human rights, personal presentation, defining expectations and objectives, and public appearances). We will organize workshops on preventing stigmatization. We will create an autism support network and invite organizations, services, and institutions able to support families dealing with autism to join. We will issue an awareness and information pack.
Primarily, this will increase awareness of 48 participants in stigmatization prevention workshops and personal skills of eight self-advocates, make twelve people with autism independent, and provide comprehensive advice for approximately 50 people,
People with disabilities and those around them (parents, carers, CSO workers, potential employers) will participate – 140 people in the West Śląsk Voivodship subregion.