To improve the quality of life of persons with autism

Autism Europe Aisbl

Autism-Europe aisbl is an international association whose main objective is to advance the rights of persons with autism and their families and to help them improve their quality of life.

Autism-Europe plays a key role in raising public awareness, and in influencing the European decision-makers on all issues relating to autism, including the promotion of the rights of people with autism and other disabilities involving complex dependency needs.

Quality of services

ASD are developmental disorders ranking from severe to moderate, which inevitably result in a significant lifelong disability. This means that persons with ASD need early, lifelong, qualified intervention, lifelong protection at different levels of help, lifelong continuity of services and opportunities for inclusion in the community. The development of their unique potential, as well as their quality of life, depend more on the availability of suitable, proper, qualified facilities than on the degree of individual impairment.

Services must support the development of the person from early childhood and their social inclusion in the community by providing special education programmes as early as possible, lifelong training in functional areas such as communication and behaviour, social, work and leisure skills, personal autonomy, and all the support needed for as independent as possible adult life in the community and outside their families.

Confronted by an uncertain future, the fears of their families could be dispelled by early planning in how to take care of the child on a daily basis and for the rest of her/his life and depending upon the evolution of the child. The prospect of a dignified future for the child in community-based residential services also provides the most effective emotional support for parents.

Links:

Quality of Services for Persons with ASD

Autism-Europe document on quality of services for persons with ASD drafted with the contribution of the members of the Council of Administration of Autism Europe (2007).

PDF (260 Ko)

Quality assessment

A debate has been developed across the Autism Europe membership on the need and possibility to promote a European Accreditation System for service delivery for Autism.

It followed the awareness campaign and consultation process via the web across the enlarged network of organisations/persons involved in Autism carried out during the EYPD 2003 project (with the support of the European Commission, DG EMPL.), and the reflections on the quality of residential facilities carried out during the partnership in the project "Included in Society (with the support of the European Commission, DG EMPL.). It resulted in the publication of a document: Autism Europe on Quality Assessment- Perspectives for a European accreditation system for autism.

PDF (104 Ko)

Training modules

Autism-Europe’s recommendations on the education and (re)habilitation of persons with ASD served as the basis for developing training modules for policy decision makers, service providers and the staff of institutions on a rights-based approach to Autism Spectrum Disorders.

A first version of these training modules has been elaborated with the collaboration of the AE national member Autismo Italia, the Italian National Council on Disability and the material on assessment of Quality of Life of persons with intellectual/developmental disabilities provided by the Department of Psychiatry of the University of Florence.

Parts of these training modules have been experimented in practice in several international conferences as well as in a traditional institution for persons with ASD and other complex dependency needs disabilities in Italy in July 2007, during the Conference «Independent living for dependent people».

PDF (954 Ko)