Erasmus+ Programme – Strategic Partnership

Project Title: “Psychological Aid Techniques for Victims of Human Trafficking”

No.  project:  2020-1-RO01-KA202-079778

PROJECT SUMMARY

Human trafficking is the MODERN ERA SCLAVIA, whereby some people take advantage of the exploitation  of other  people. At present, it is the second most profitable illegal business after drug trafficking, ahead of arms  trafficking. One of the reasons it is a profitable business is that, unlike drugs,  a person can be resold.

About 62% of the trafficking in persons in the European Union is for the purpose of sexual exploitation  and the second place  is occupied by trafficking through  forced labor. Among the other  types  of human trafficking there  is the obligation to beg,  to commit illegal acts  and others.

Most victims of human trafficking in the European Union are recruited from Eastern Europe, from countries where  people have  fewer career options,  where  the population  is very tempted to find a job outside the country and children are more difficult than  others. raised and thus neglected.

Victims of human trafficking are often subjected to extreme psychological, physical,  sexual and social abuse, which leads to severe mental  and physical  illness.  According to the guidelines of EU Directive 2011/36 / EU on “preventing and combating trafficking in human beings and protecting its victims”, the partnership formed by 4 organizations (Romania, Italy and Cyprus)  proposes the implementation of the project “Psychological help techniques for victims of trafficking in human beings”.  people”.  This project intends to increase the quality of psychological assistance to victims of human trafficking and other  forms of exploitation.

The project ” Psychological Aid Techniques for Victims of Human  Trafficking” is designed to increase the quality of support provided  to victims of trafficking in human beings and other forms of exploitation. Our project includes a partnership consisting of 4 organizations:

* Expert PSY (Romania)

* ZIVAC Group Central  srl (Romania)

* IIAPHS association (Italy)

* OPEI (Cyprus)

The main objective of our project is:

* increasing the quality of support for victims of human trafficking and other  forms of exploitation.

The secondary objectives of the project are:

 * increasing the quality of psychological support for victims of human trafficking and other  forms of exploitation

* improving the skills of victims of human trafficking in order to reduce their psychological suffering and related conditions

* increasing the quality of other  forms of support for victims of human trafficking and other  forms of exploitation

* increasing the quality of standardized procedures for providing psychological support

* supporting law enforcement and personnel involved in crime prevention by understanding the key psychological aspects of crime (ie, mind manipulation, psychological profile of traffickers and victims, anthropological and cultural factors  impacting  on crime, communication strategies)

* increasing cooperation between law enforcement institutions  and NGOs in the field of support for victims / crime prevention

* raising awareness of the general population  and relevant target  groups on the subject of human trafficking

These actions will be carried  out by implementing, exploiting and disseminating the following intellectual  outputs

1) The practical  guide “Psychological methods for victim support”  (O1), designed to teach the techniques of psychological help for victims of human trafficking, communication and support strategies dedicated to law enforcement and support staff; includes a dedicated international protocol

2) 18-hour  course support ” Psychological Aid Techniques for Victims of Human  Trafficking ” (O2) containing detailed instructions for educators who want to reproduce the course, the model  of skills for experts

3) The multilingual platform, which includes 12 lectures for victim support staff and 12 video-guided psychological exercises, designed for victims, translated into 4 languages (EN, RO, IT, GR) to facilitate access and exploitation  by victims who can fully exploited  the content in their national  language.

Primary target  groups: psychologists, victims of human trafficking and other  forms of exploitation

Secondary target  groups: law enforcement personnel, support staff, educators, health  professionals, students

This project includes an international partnership between organizations from 3 critical countries regarding human trafficking issues (RO, IT, CY). The complementary experience and funding of participating organizations and specific national  law systems will enable us to implement  more comprehensive actions to counter this transnational crime, which is considered a priority crime by Europol  in the EU 2018-2021 policy cycle on organized international crime and serious (7704/17; Europol,  2017).

“This project (Project No. 2020-1-RO01-KA202-079778) has been funded with support from the European Commission. This publication reflects the views only of the author, and the Commission cannot be held responsible for any use which may be made of the information contained therein.”

Erasmus+ Programme – Strategic Partnership

Project Title: “A Mental Trainer to Empower Your Super Ability”

No.  project:  2020-1-RO01-KA202-079780

Visit the official website of the project

PROJECT SUMMARY

The European strategy for disabilities 2010-2020 has clearly stated the importance of creating a Europe without barriers that will facilitate the improvement of the social and economic conditions of people with disabilities. The progress report (2017) on the implementation of the European Disability Strategy highlighted positive results for the participation of people with disabilities in sports and physical activities. According to this report, having a disability or illness is the third most common motivation (14%) for not practicing sports and physical activities. Physical barriers, physical conditions, but also prejudices often pose obstacles to the career of people with disabilities who want to be a sportsman or coach.

Social inclusion is a top priority at EU level and inspired the 2010-2020 Disability Strategy, which inspired the realization of this project. To this end, we have established a partnership consisting of 5 entities with complementary environments, with the aim of increasing the impact at transnational level and covering a large area in Europe.

Our project intends to support people with disabilities and to facilitate their inclusion in the field of sport and physical activity by introducing a model of competences for a new qualification that of the “Mental Trainer for Athletes with Disabilities”.

The perspective of a mental trainer for athletes with disabilities offers a new perspective designed for these people:

* offers new specialized techniques for increasing motivation for sports and physical activity

* offers a new position for people with disabilities who want to start a coaching career or a dual career for disabled athletes

* is a model that can be easily transferred within the work-based activity (eg corporate wellness activities, etc.)

The objectives of our project can be summarized as follows:

– Increased awareness on the inclusion of people with disabilities in the field of sport

– Developing a methodology to strengthen the degree of employment and inclusion in the field of sport and physical activities

– The acquisition of new skills in a new qualification, that of mental trainer for athletes with disabilities

– Improving the performance of athletes with disabilities and increasing self-esteem

These objectives will be achieved by producing 4 intellectual outputs translated into 4 languages (EN, RO, IT, GR) summarized as follows:

1. The competency model “Mental Trainer for Athletes with Disabilities” is a complete description of educational competencies and requirements to acquire new skills in a new qualification, that of mental trainer for athletes with disabilities.

2. The practical guide “A Mental Trainer to Empower Your Super Ability” contains detailed descriptions of the mental training techniques adapted to people with disabilities. It is specially designed to improve the performance of athletes with disabilities and increase self-esteem.

3. The video course “A Mental Trainer to Empower Your Super Ability” is a course that contains a series of video lessons based on the competency model proposed by the partnership.

4. Web site. The web site will offer both the target group and the indirect beneficiaries the opportunity to benefit from: intellectual outputs and other updated materials related to the project theme. The web site will be completely open and all materials can be downloaded for free, to facilitate their exploitation.

The main target groups of this project are:

Primary target groups: coaches with priority for people with disabilities, athletes with disabilities, athletes. By participating in the exploitation of these outputs they will acquire new skills and qualifications in the field of mental training of athletes with disabilities and people with disabilities.

Secondary target groups: psychologists, educators, support staff for people with disabilities in the field of gymnastics and sport. Their participation in the exploitation of the intellectual products of the project is designed to inspire new specific practices for people with disabilities who want to increase their physical activities.

“This project (Project No. 2020-1-RO01-KA202-079780) has been funded with support from the European Commission. This publication reflects the views only of the author, and the Commission cannot be held responsible for any use which may be made of the information contained therein.”

Erasmus+ Programme – Strategic Partnership

Project Title: “Healthy Life Through Stress Management”

No.  project:  2020-1-RO01-KA202-079774

Visit the official website of the project

PROJECT SUMMARY

In the context of our modern society, stress has become one of the biggest threats to an individual`s health and safety. Given it`s “invisible” characteristic, stress tends to be overlooked thus unaddressed, creating favorable premises for the development of both psychological and physical illness.

In a very concise definition, stress is an automatic physical and mental response to challenges or any situation that forces an individual to adapt to change.  It is thus clear that this response has a constant presence in our lives, in our professional, personal and social endeavors and, in this context, developing the necessary skills and accessing the proper tools to identify and manage specific risk factors has become a very important element for any individual thriving to lead a healthy lifestyle.

Several studies state that work related stress issues have a significant impact on the health of people, the success of organizations and local economies.

Approximatively half of European workers believe that stress is a common factor in the work place and that like other issues affecting mental health, stress can cause adverse psychological, physical and social distress.

When it comes to specific industries, various studies and surveys conclude that workers in the HoReCa sector endure highly unfavorable working conditions leading to a serious risk of work related stress. As a result, The European Agency for Safety and Health at Work has identified HoReCa as a high risk sector.

A study released by The European Agency for Safety and Health at Work states that ” long and non-standard working hours are characteristic of the HORECA sector. Most workers in Europe (63.5%) never work longer than 10 hours per day. However, in the HORECA sector 47.5% workers have a working day of 10 hours or more at least once a month. The average working week for European workers is 39.6; a worker in the HORECA sector works an average of 43.4 hours. “

The same study reveals that over 71% of HOERCA staff work in the evening and more than 45% work at night Moreover, most HORECA workers work over the weekend — 83% on Saturdays and 69% on Sundays.

Taking into account the demanding work hours as well as the high workload and working under time pressure with continuous customer contact, it is not surprising that individuals working in the HoReCa sector experience problems with their work-life balance and stress related illness.

This is the context that prompted the development of the Healthy Life Through Stress Management project, an endeavor that addresses the risks that this unseen enemy of the human health and wellbeing pose.

The target group that the project HLTSM is addressing is represented by management and executive level personnel working in HoReCa sector.

Through this project, we aim to develop intellectual results that contain a set of stress identification, prevention and management tools that can enable individuals to quickly and correctly react to stress symptoms thus preventing and reducing the negative consequences.

More specifically, the objectives of the project are to:

 – increase transversal competences of management and executive level personnel in the HoReCa sector, thus enabling them to correctly identify, address and manage workplace stress issues within their organizations.

– increase soft skills in the areas of communication, collaboration, resilience and stress management

– Increase the retention of employees and improve the manager-managee relationship

– Increase the necessary skills that enable better prevention and management of work conflicts and accidents

– Improve the overall physical and mental health of HoReCa personnel

The project is designed to offer individuals the necessary skills and tools for timely identification of hazards, to develop proper involvement and commitment to ensure all issues are identified and to create the support necessary for the successful implementation of prevention measures.

Through the four designed Intellectual Outputs:

– Manual for the identification and management of work related stress

– Mini Guide for management and executive level personnel in HoReCa industries

– Video Course on the subject of work related stress – prevention and management

– Web site that provides unlimited access to training tools and materials

The project is proposing an inclusive approach using different tools and types of action thus increasing the overall chance of success of any action taken.

“This project (Project No. 2020-1-RO01-KA202-079774) has been funded with support from the European Commission. This publication reflects the views only of the author, and the Commission cannot be held responsible for any use which may be made of the information contained therein.”

Erasmus+ Programme – Strategic Partnership

Project Title: “Psychological Resilinece for Emergency Responders”

No.  project:  2020-1-RO01-KA202-079773

PROJECT SUMMARY

Recent scientific research has shown that increasing psychological resilience plays an essential role, in personnel involved in emergencies, doctors, assistants, paramedics, firefighters, because it can moderate and prevent serious psychological responses. Poor psychological resilience affects performance, quality of work, life and ultimately can lead to post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) or even more severe psychological disorders.

This is particularly relevant for the personnel involved in emergencies, doctors, assistants, paramedics, firefighters, who are constantly facing emergency situations both medical and disaster response.

One of the most effective adaptation strategies is psychological resilience, which refers to the ability to overcome difficult moments in life.

Psychological resilience is a training skill. It involves a series of patterns of thinking and behavior that can be learned and trained.

General objective – Increased psychological resilience to personnel involved in emergencies, doctors, assistants, paramedics, firefighters.

Specific objectives

– improving resilience by raising awareness of the emotional consequences of the trauma experienced.

– acquiring the behaviors and skills that can increase resilience

– knowing the stress signals resulting from emergency situations by the personnel involved in emergency situations doctors, assistants, paramedics, firefighters

– the knowledge and use of increasing psychological resilience as a technique for managing the effects of individual and group critical situations

The direct target group will be made up of the personnel involved in emergencies, doctors, assistants, paramedics, volunteers, firefighters, who come first in contact with the victims or the deceased persons.

The indirect target group consists of emergency personnel involved in secondary lines of action, policemen, psychologists, social workers, their families, etc.

During the project, different results will be obtained.

IO1 The first intellectual result is – The test – questionnaire for the evaluation of the psychological Resilience of the personnel involved in emergency situations.

– The test for the assessment of psychological resilience is an instrument designed to assess the level of psychological resilience of the personnel involved in emergency situations, doctors, assistants, volunteers, paramedics, firefighters.

IO3 – Course for increasing the psychological resilience of the personnel involved in emergencies, doctors, assistants, volunteers, paramedics, firefighters

The course support is an educational material for partner organizations and all trainers who want to educate their target groups (doctors, assistants, paramedics, firefighters involved in emergencies) in increasing the level of psychological resilience and other indirect beneficiaries interested in working tools. for increasing psychological resilience.

IO4 – Digital Video Course

The fourth output of the project will be a video training compiled from several individual episodes that will provide visual guidance for increasing psychological resilience. This output will be very useful for those who are not particularly computer literate for whom the learning process will be made easier by practical examples.

Intangible results

– improving resilience by raising awareness of the emotional consequences of the trauma experienced.

– Acquiring behaviors and skills that can increase resilience

– Increase the capacity to manage very strong feelings and impulses

– Knowing the stress signals resulting from emergency situations by the personnel involved in emergency situations doctors, assistants, paramedics, firefighters

– Knowledge and use of increasing psychological resilience as a technique for managing the effects of individual and group critical situations

Most importantly, there is an interest and focus at European and global level to optimize the adaptation techniques in the emergency system and we have chosen, together with our partners, to build completely new psychological resilience assessment tools for medical staff, assistants, paramedics, firefighters involved in emergencies and to present useful techniques precisely for this purpose, in the partner countries in the project.

Erasmus+ Programme – Strategic Partnership
Project Title: “Talking to my Teenager”
No. project:  2019-1-RO01-KA204-063050

Visit the official website of this project

PROJECT SUMMARY

Communicating with the teenager is sometimes quite difficult. You need to be attentive to the verbal, or non-verbal messages that he conveys. Certain parental statements may cause communication and relationship blockages that may put you as a parent. You ask yourself: Why is my child no longer talking to me? Why does my child turn his back and close in his room?

The relationship between parent and teenager is a definitive and indestructible link, and it should be the closest and strongest possible bond between people. It is very important that the relationship between parents and children, especially those in the teenage age, is a successful one and full of understanding, respect and love. As a teenager, it is very important to keep on a straight line, ie to be careful to keep control of the behavior under so many temptations, or to know NOT to influence the negative influences of the entourage, to make mistakes that go beyond certain limits and who could cause great problems.

Adolescence is, by definition, the period of life in which we learn to become autonomous. The adolescent begins to detach gradually from the family environment to the group of friends, but at the same time, he seeks that family environment, those parts that will allow him to become an adult, modeling his behavior according to parenting patterns; is a child and an adult at the same time … and he lives this contradiction, it’s not easy at all …

Communication is often blocked by the way the adolescent parent addresses it:

• Moralisation – telling him what he should do, preaching him for a quarter of an hour or more about how he should have a certain behavior

• Advices – Give solutions to your child without asking for it

• The orders – the teenager’s orders that you want to do without taking into account his opinion

• Criticism – the negative assessment of the person, his attitudes or actions

• Appraisal praise – evaluate the teenager in general terms

• Excessive use of questions – can lead to an elusive response or the use of one word that does not clarify the problem

• Labeling – Use labels to characterize the child

• Threats – Command the adolescent’s actions through threats, about the negative consequences that will arise

• You should do …

• Deviation – distraction from the interests of the teenager

It is good for each member to make an effort to maintain a certain balance, calmness, and show understanding and respect for other members of his family, especially parents. Parents are the ones who lead the children on the road of life, they always guide them to make the best choices in life for them, they not only figure their way, they are next, for good and hard.

In this context, we come up with the proposal “Talking to my teenager”, which aims to share the experience and practices between partner organizations in Romania, Italy and Cyprus, to create an optimal approach to communication between parents and adolescents, promoting at the same time, better cooperation and communication between partner organizations.

The objectives of our project can be summarized as follows:

– Teach parents to be effective mentors for their teenage children

– Encourage parents to detect, understand and prevent risky behaviors (smoking, drugs, unsafe sex, effects of psychological disorders, etc.)

Our project will include 5 intellectual results: a parent’s educational ability questionnaire, a practical guide, educational materials, a video course, and a platform to prepare parents with adolescent children. All intellectual results will be translated into 4 languages (English, Romanian, Italian, Greek). Experts from partner organizations agreed on topics that will be in the resulting materials, namely: Developmental Psychology, with special emphasis on adolescence, parent-child interaction in adolescence, parent as coach – coaching strategies, Internet safety, education for secure relationships and positive, understanding of behaviors and personality, managing emotions, preventing risky behaviors

Our project will provide free and open tools to help parents with their teenage children, including the use of MOOC (Massive Open Courses Online).

“This project (Project No. 2019-1-RO01-KA204-063050) has been funded with support from the European Commission. This publication reflects the views only of the author, and the Commission cannot be held responsible for any use which may be made of the information contained therein.”

Erasmus+ Programme – Strategic Partnership

Project Title: “Empowerment of Tourism Marketing in Rural Areas”

No.  project:  2019-1-RO01-KA202-063044

Visit the official website of the project

PROJECT SUMMARY

In the context of the last century, rural tourism has emerged as a form of tourism that is
becoming increasingly important in the industry worldwide. The various new lifestyles, an
evolving and more informed tourist behavior and the newfound desire for different traveling
experiences coupled with a widespread concern for the cultural heritage, environment and
sustainable development are all elements that have contributed tremendously to the
expansion of this type of tourism.
Rural tourism is a niche that revolves around resources and exists in a relation of co-
dependence with the natural and human potential. Therefore, sustainable development in
this field in not only a trend but rather a necessity.
The target group that the project ETMRA is addressing is represented by individuals working
in rural tourism facilities such as agro tourism accommodation units and B&Bs.
The objectives of the project ETMRA are:

• to develop a set of tools, instruments, techniques and methods that will develop and
  support the rural tourism marketing skills of individuals working in rural tourism facilities such
  as agro tourism accommodation units, in their professional activities;
• to enhance the professional key competences and abilities in rural tourism marketing of
  individuals working in rural tourism facilities
  During the entire life span of this project, various interrelated and transversal activities will
  take place producing different results. All these activities are designed to be complementary
  to each other and to ensure a high the quality of the results.
  Throughout the life cycle of the project we will be producing four intellectual outputs: a
  manual that will address marketing and promotion notions and strategies and their
  applications in the tourism industry, a step by step guide that will address social media
  marketing and digital presence, a video training compiled of several individual episodes that
  will provide visual guidance for digital marketing tools and platforms and a learning platform
  in the form of a website with a user friendly interface easily navigable by anybody regardless
  of their level of computer literacy.
  All these outputs are expected to help the addressees apply corresponding measures and
  develop skills and competencies in the field of rural tourism marketing to properly market, to
  innovate and to increase the quality of tourism services that they provide, therefore leading
  to sustainable development resulting in investments and increased numbers of tourists.

Erasmus+ Programme – Strategic Partnership
Project Title: “Empowerment of Tourism Marketing in Rural Areas”
No. project: 2019-1-RO01-KA202-063044

The project “Empowerment of Tourism Marketing in Rural Areas” is designed to support
individuals in acquiring and developing basic skills and key competences in the field of
marketing for rural tourism in order to determine socio-educational and personal
development and to foster employability of participants.
The project results are designed to help participants acquire new skills in the field of
marketing, communication and digital literacy, skills aligned with the needs of a digital era, to
develop critical thinking and creativity and an entrepreneurial mindset. The project is
designed to support work based learning and it promotes interdisciplinary cooperation
between several fields such as: marketing, psychology, communication and PR, technology,
tourism management, thus ensuring a high permeability between different educational
pathways and also ensuring the results` transferability.
This project is designed to be carried out transnationally because the organisations involved
in this project represent countries with different and complementary needs for tourism
education. The different needs will lead to a more flexible system of outputs, including
solutions to a broader range of situations and challenges. Moreover, running this project
transnationally will lead to a better exploitability of the outputs in external organisations and
possibly to other EU countries.
As an added value, the project “Empowerment of Tourism Marketing in Rural Areas” is
helping the participants develop key competences that can be used to promote the values of
European cultural heritage and therefore to raise awareness of its importance. This kind of
promotion can become an invaluable tool for integration, inclusion, stability and unity in
Europe and the project ETMRA is aiming not only to develop rural tourism marketing skills
and to educate the individuals involved in this field but also to perfect these tools and reveal
the potential as key instruments for the development of a local, national and European
Identity.

“This project (Project No. 2019-1-RO01-KA202-063044) has been funded with support from the European Commission. This
publication reflects the views only of the author, and the Commission cannot be held responsible for any use which may be made of the
information contained therein.”

Erasmus+ Programme – Strategic Partnership

Project Title: “Bad news communication protocols in the medical field”

No.  project:  2019-1-RO01-KA202-064021

Visit the official website of the project

For many years the task of delivering bad news to patients has been a subject of concern and question for the professionals in the medical field and not only. With the current trends of increased medical disclosure of diagnosis and prognosis, the importance of sensitively and effectively communicating news that might negatively alter a patient`s perception and view of the future, becomes a high necessity.

The communication of bad news can be seen as a multidisciplinary activity that requires not only the active involvement of an array of healthcare professionals such as medical doctors, nurses, therapists, etc., but also knowledge and skills of proper techniques and protocols that encompass expertise from fields such as medicine, psychology, sociology, human resources, communication, legal, etc.

Bad news situations can include disease recurrence, spread of disease, or failure of treatment to affect disease progression, the presence of irreversible side effects, results of genetic tests, or raising the issue of palliative care and resuscitation.

Notwithstanding the psychological impact of the news itself, improper bad news communication protocols, skills and techniques have a negative impact not only on the receiver but also on the deliverer.

The objectives of the Bad News Communication Protocols in the Medical Field are:

– Improving the quality of medical doctor’s professional skills in communicating bad news

– Increasing the level of humanization of medical practices in hospitals

– Reducing the negative effects of bad news communication on medical doctors, patients and families

– Awareness of the importance of training medical doctors in communicating bad news for optimal communication with the patient or family.

The target group for this project consists of medical doctors who are exposed daily to situations that involve communicating bad news and whose need for proper training is highest.

The three partner countries – Romania, Cyprus and Italy- as well as other countries in Europe face a scenario where the majority of medical doctors has not received formal training for this essential and important communication, even though delivering bad news is something that occurs daily in most medical practices.

During the entire life span of this project four Intellectual Outputs will be produced: a questionnaire that will be applied to medical doctors to establish the level of information they posses in regards to bad news communication protocols and techniques; a practical guide to an effective communication of bad news; a training course for medical doctors and an online platform in the form of a website dedicated to medical staff. Through these outputs and all the activities undertaken we are expecting the project impact to manifest as:

1. an increased awareness of medical staff and medical institutions in regards to the importance of communicating bad news

2. improved skills and new competencies of medical doctors for communicating bad news

3. improved skills and new competencies of medical doctors for managing reactions of patients and their families after receiving bad news

4. improved skills and new competencies of medical doctors for properly managing the stressful and critical situations resulting from communicating bad news

5. improved communication protocols for medical doctors

6. positive changes in specific policies at a local, national and international level

The project is expected to trigger a significant increase in bad news communication skills among medical doctors and to develop the competencies that are needed to be able to adapt said communication to specific situations. The impact will also manifest as an increase of awareness in regards to all the tools, techniques and methods that medical doctors can use in order to efficiently communicate bad news to patients and next of kin, to humanize healthcare and to increase the quality of the doctor-patient relationship therefore contributing to an overall betterment of medical services.

As an added value, the impact can manifest through fostering employability and enabling career advancements due to the increased and newly developed skills and competencies of the medical doctors.

Moreover, through its transferability attributes, the project is expected to have an impact on various groups such as first responders, firefighters, emergency psychologists or staff from law enforcement agencies who communicate bad news to families in the event of accidents. The impact on the said group will manifest through their better understanding of the subject therefore preparing them for real-life actions that can efficiently improve their skills and reactions regarding the communication of significant news.

At an organizational level, the outputs of this project will impact as acquisition of new knowledge and the formulation of new cooperation networks.

We have been to Alicante (Spain) to create new methods of support for people with Autism Asperger’s (project WOTICS). People with Asperger’s Syndrome encounter countless difficulties at work and are often penalized, despite their great skills.

Because what few people know is that when we talk about autism, we are actually talking about a rather broad spectrum of possible conditions.

Asperger’s Syndrome is called “highly functioning”, precisely because it does not involve delays on a linguistic and intellectual level. Indeed, very often people with Asperger’s Syndrome have an ability to grasp out of the ordinary details.

Precisely because it is “high functioning”, often the diagnosis that is made is late or wrong. Indeed, some experts fail to recognize this condition.

Furthermore, the world of work is organized precisely in order not to be inclusive towards them. Few business management experts have the skills to understand neurodiversity and recognize its value.

And it is a missed opportunity, not only for people with Asperger’s Syndrome but also for the companies themselves.

People with Asperger’s Syndrome:

• have difficulty using eye contact
• don’t often use reciprocity
• they mean the meanings literally
• lack of common goals
• have narrow and high intensity elements of interest (which are perceived by others as bizarre)

All these elements are in contrast with the corporate strategies:

think of all the clichés and practices that are used in personnel selection contexts. Imagine what conclusions the average interviewer makes when interviewing a person who never uses eye contact.
imagine all the elements of social cohesion and team building
think about how often, people with Asperger’s can be bullied (and this often happens even earlier – at school)
We started in Alicante, Spain, to create support methods for people with Asperger’s Syndrome
in fact, from 12 to 14 February we were convened as part of the WOTICS project. A project headed by Aspali, the main association supporting people with Asperger’s Syndrome in Alicante.

The partnership includes the cooperation of organizations from Spain, Austria, Italy and Romania.

AIJU, Aspali, Psihoforworld, ALP are with us.

The ultimate goal is to create a Virtual Reality simulator dedicated to people with Asperger’s Autism.

The simulator will be able to propose hypothetical problematic work situations to the person whose solution is required, thanks to social skills.

We believe that the training of people must pass above all through practice.

But it’s terrible to have to do it at your own risk.

The difficulties at work of people with Asperger’s Syndrome
Work settings are often designed for neurotypical people and not accepting neurodiversity is a real risk for people with Asperger’s Syndrome.

The Virtual Reality simulator will allow people with Asperger’s Autism to develop the social skills necessary to be successful at work.

They will therefore finally be able to face the work experience to the fullest and develop their potential.

During the experience we shared in Alicante, at the University headquarters, we drew the conclusions for the production of the following results. The results will be free for everyone:

guide for people with Asperger’s Syndrome to increase their social skills. These are essential skills to enter and remain in the world of work
chatbot. It is a virtual assistant capable of communicating automatically with the person and suggesting effective work behaviors
Virtual reality: it is a simulator of work contexts in which the person can experiment with new skills

Write me at iiaphs.associazione@gmail.com for further information