Programs in
Assistive Technology Education
for End-Users in Europe

Name of the organisation
    ASPHI - ASSOCIAZIONE PER LO SVILUPPO DI PROGETTI
    INFORMATICI PER GLI HANDICAPPATI
Address
    Via Arienti, 6-8
    40124 Bologna
    ITALY
    Telephone: +39 51 277811
    Fax: +39 51 224116
Key Person of the organisation
    Vincenzo Minchilli, Secretary

A company mainly involved in education/training, information/advice, research and public awareness raising. Educational activities embrace independent living and coping better with disability, and are addressed to persons with disabilities.

Educational activities began more than 10 years ago; those carried out over the past 5 years can be classified as follows:

  • 2 training courses, exclusively in residential form, addressed exclusively to persons with disabilities;
  • 4 information activities, in the form of periodicals and exhibitions, addressed exclusively to persons with disabilities;
  • activities addressed to the individual, in the form of information services, addressed to the same target.

The role played by AT in these initiatives is important or very important, the areas considered are employment, communication, hearing and cognition.

TRAINING COURSES AND SEMINARS

The educational activities of this organisation can be regarded as traditional training courses, in accordance with the topic covered.
Title of the initiative
Typology
Year
Duration

(in hrs.)
Number partic.
Target
Number teachers
Corso biennale CAD

(Biennial course CAD)

res. tr. c.
1994-1995
2.300
10
pers. with disab.
2
Corso biennale CAD

(Biennial course CAD)

res. tr. c.
1996-1997
2.300
10
pers. with disab.
2

Selection

Information is mainly spread by word of mouth, as well as being addressed to the leading local organisations in the field of disability. The participants are adults with an auditory impairment, while teachers are selected because of their recognised expertise in the field. (no preference expressed for teachers with disabilities).

Organisation

The initiatives took place off the organisation's premises in a place dedicated to this activity; the site was chosen in part because of its overall accessibility. Personal assistance was offered when needed. A co-ordinator was appointed for the initiative.

Implementation

Lectures and group discussions were organised, as well as group work, and the educational aids used included overhead projection, software for content presentation, and handouts distributed to participants. Interactivity and learning by doing are the key-words chosen to describe the adopted approach. Information on participants was collected mainly through a presentation form, and used to update the organisation's statistics. In this phase teachers' progress meetings were held. No feedback was collected and no follow-up done.

Further remarks

The course has improved over time with the experience gained and the introduction of changes in software and hardware. No significant change is foreseen in the future.