Programs in
Assistive Technology Education
for End-Users in Europe

Name of the organisation
    ASSOCIATION CHR TIENNE DES INVALIDES ET HANDICAP S
    Personnes Handicapées
Address
    Rue de la Loi, 121
    1040 Bruxelles
    BELGIUM
    Telephone: +32 2 2374226
    Fax: +32 2 2373310
Key Person of the organisation
    Christian Javaux

This is an organisation of persons with disabilities, involved in information/advice, training/education, pressure group activities and public awareness raising. Educational activities (begun more than 10 years ago) are addressed exclusively to persons with disabilities, and the issues of independent living and AT are considered.

The educational activities carried out over the past 5 years can be classified as follows:

  • training courses, both residential and non-residential, addressed exclusively to a target of personal assistants and persons with disabilities;
  • seminars, in the form of monographic seminars also addressed to a target of rehabilitation professionals and administrative officers;
  • information activities, mainly addressed to the press and the media, together with the exchange of experiences, addressed to the same target mentioned above;
  • activities addressed to the individual, in the form of advice, information services and advocacy, addressed exclusively to persons with disabilities.

The role played by AT in these initiatives is important and the areas related to AT considered are: household activities, employment, general accessibility issues, communication.

TRAINING COURSES AND SEMINARS

The initiatives have been generally described but without providing specific titles. The only information given is that the target of these activities is people with disabilities.

Selection

The organisation's initiatives are usually publicised through leaflets, distributed to a special address database and to users organisations, and through advertisements in category journals.

The criteria adopted for choosing participants are territoriality, age, impairment and disability, though no further information is provided on these aspects. Teachers are chosen for membership of the organisation itself, and no preference is given to teachers with disabilities.

Organisation

The initiatives took place in different locations, both off and on the organisation's premises, and overall accessibility was the main aspect taken into account in venue choice. Organisation included personal assistance when needed, assistance with travel reservation and accommodation, as well as coffee and lunch-breaks on site. Some events were free of charge, while for others participants paid a token fee of only BF 5,000. Co-ordination between teachers was ensured both by a co-ordinator and preparatory meetings.

Implementation

The preferred methods for content delivery were group discussions and work groups, while learning by doing and interactivity are the pedagogical key-words selected. The educational aids used were overhead projection, software for content presentation and handouts for participants. Hands-on sessions took the form of individual use of products. Information on the participants was collected through self-presentation during the opening day; and this information was used to readjust the initiative's contents and methods on the basis of the effective target. Progress meetings for the teachers were held. Feedback from participants was collected through an open final group discussion and the information gathered was used to readjust the initiative's contents and methods. Follow-up was done through interviews.

Further remarks

The organisation's answers to the last questions reveal that their target definition has changed over the years, shifting towards the training of trainers. In the future, greater stress will be placed on wider public participation, probably through the adoption of different educational methods.