Programs in
Assistive Technology Education
for End-Users in Europe

Name of the organisation
    GIHP - GROUPEMENT POUR L'INSERTION DES
    PERSONNES HANDICAPÉES PHYSIQUES AQUITAINE
Address
    436 Avenue de Verdun
    33700 MERIGNAC (Bordeaux)
    FRANCE
    Telephone: +33 5 56123939
    Fax: +33 5 56123792
Key Person of the organisation
    Christian Bérard, President

This is an organisation of persons with disabilities, but also a provider of social and health services, engaged in rehabilitation and education/training. Educational activities are exclusively addressed to persons with disabilities, and embrace independent living and coping better with disability, as well as the role of AT.

The educational activities are mainly addressed to individuals (persons with disabilities), and can be classified both as training services and as rehabilitation (families). Consequently, they do not fit in with the proposed classification. In any case, AT plays an important role within these activities. The areas considered are: (for training) vision, cognition and employment; and (for rehabilitation) household activities, communication, mobility, vision, general accessibility issues, reading and writing.

Some of the centre's activities focus particularly on promoting personal autonomy, through special rehabilitation sessions or special services implemented by this organisation and addressed to the individual. For the purposes of EUSTAT, special interest lies in the following two activities:

  • SAT (Service Accueil Temporaire - Temporary Accommodation Service), addressed to adults with a motor or neuro-psychological impairment who wish to leave the family environment, hospital, or rehabilitation centre. Through this program they can test and verify their concrete possibilities, limits and needs for living in a more autonomous way. Clients are assigned a furnished adapted flat for a period of 3-6 months, paying all the necessary expenses (rent, electricity and gas bills). During this period, a complete team of experts is on hand to help them (with or without the aid of AT) to deal with the problems that arise. At the beginning of the period, an individual contract must be signed by the disabled person to clarify the objectives to reach, in terms of the person's specific problems, during the temporary accommodation period. A special standard contract has been drawn up for this purpose, and must be filled in by the person in agreement with the therapist during introductory meetings. The areas covered are: bodily needs and grooming, eating, household management, mobility, recreational activities.
  • SAD (Soutien A Domicile, Support at Home), addressed to adults with a motor or neuro-psychological impairment, and aimed at enabling them to live at home even with their disabilities, by providing ideas and tips and making their house accessible. The main aims of this service are: managing life in optimum conditions of comfort and safety; preparing the return home after a period in a rehabilitation centre or hospital; experiencing personal autonomy, rediscovering the gestures of daily life, rediscovering one's own possibilities, becoming more aware of the limits. Once again, a kind of contract governs the relationship between the organisation and the person with disability, a pedagogical contract that clarifies the objectives of the work with each of the therapists involved, also defining the number of sessions needed to reach those goals and a time frame for their achievement. This contract is signed after a series of preliminary meetings between the main actors, and is also re-considered at the end of the established period, in order to discuss the objectives reached, or the reasons for failure.

This kind of work reflects very well the special concept of integration adopted in France. It is clear that even if these activities take place within the context of socio-medical services and in a close relationship with rehabilitation professionals they have a strong educational thrust The importance given to the individual's evaluation of his/her own needs, the structure of the work, the tools used (above all the contract approach) are all strictly connected with educational techniques and standpoints. For example, the contract may be very useful in clarifying the process of adjusting the final objectives to fit the initial situation; but it also has the role of building a clear relationship between the user and the professionals. In addition, it provides the opportunity to evaluate the work done, redefine objectives, and sometimes redefining the needs themselves.

On the other hand, in the French language two different words exist to express what in other nations is called "rehabilitation". French people speak of "réeducation" and "réadaptation", thereby making a distinction between the medical and social sides of "rehabilitation" work. The "réadaptation" carried out within the two described services not only concerns counselling and training techniques, but also education, in the sense that it represents work done within a context of change for end-users: a gradual but radical change.

TRAINING COURSES AND SEMINARS

The course described hereafter is mainly aimed at preparing participants for the workplace, helping them (individually and as a group) to find the best ways of using new technologies and AT to become more autonomous in their search for future employment.
Title of the initiative
Typology
Year
Duration

(in hrs.)
Number partic.
Target
Number teachers
Formation à l'utilisation des nouvelles technologies et des AT

(Training in the use of new technologies and AT)

n/r train. c.
330
 pers. with disab.
3

Selection

The initiative was publicised through leaflets and various kinds of advertisements (also via the Internet); the leaflets were sent out to the organisation's own database, but also to other user organisations and rehabilitation centres, as well as being handed out at congresses and exhibitions. Participants were chosen on the basis of their type of impairment and profession. A preference was expressed for teachers with disabilities, and these were selected on the basis of their expertise.

Organisation

The initiative took place on the organisation's premises in spaces already fitted out for the purpose; general comfort and overall accessibility were considered in this choice of venue. The event included coffee-breaks and welcome and farewell sessions. A co-ordinator was appointed to facilitate exchanges between teachers.

Implementation

The methods used to transmit contents were simulation and discussion groups, with strong use of software for content presentation. The hands-on sessions involved use and experimentation of products. In line with the emphasis on practical experience, the two key-words chosen to describe the pedagogical preferences are interactivity and learning by doing. Information on participants was collected through self-presentation on the opening day, and this information was used to update the organisation's statistic. Feedback was gathered via a final questionnaire and collection of personal impressions, and the latter was also used to readjust contents and methods of the next edition of the same initiative.