Started in 2021, Talenti Latenti is an Erasmus+ project that aims at developing the employability of autistic people by supporting the validation of their skills. As one of its partner organisations, Autism-Europe developed a guide to better understand this process and its benefits for autistic people.
A skills validation process allows individuals to identify, document, assess and certify their skills, that can have been acquired through formal or informal learning. However, there is a need for tools that are more suitable to support the assessment of people with disabilities’ skills. There is also a widespread lack of awareness that this can be done, and how.
To address this gap, the Talenti Latenti consortium has planned to exchange best practices, conduct training as well as carry out research and testing to promote the certification of the competences of neurodivergent people, to support their inclusion in the labour market.
Talenti Latenti was launched in 2021 to support neurodivergent people’s access to employment, through the lens of skills validation. Namely, the project aims at:
- Developing criteria and tools to conduct neurodivergent people’s skill assessments.
- Informing neurodivergent people’s families about the skill validation process and its benefits
- Promoting an innovative model of job services aimed at social operators, employment agencies as well as public and private companies.
AE developed a guide to support understanding of the skills validation process
Families play a fundamental role in autistic people’s transition to autonomy and can support autistic people’s transition to the labour market, for example by helping them set goals and identify skills to be certified.
However, there is still a knowledge gap regarding skills validation. Autism-Europe developed a parent training and a Guide to inform families and other interested stakeholders about skills validation and its benefits, notably to increase autistic people’s employment opportunities.
Building on the guide, Autism-Europe also created an informative video to delve into the concept of skills validation, a vital process that allows individuals to receive official recognition for their skills acquired outside formal education settings. Whether it’s from home learning, volunteer activities, or workplace experiences, learn how these skills can lead to an official certificate or diploma.
On 3 December, all this Talenti Latenti’s work was presented at an online event organised by Autism-Europe under the title “Understanding skills validation and its value for autistic people”.
The speakers of the event were representatives from project’s partner organisations, namely: Prof. Raffaella Rumiati (SISSA, Italy), Luca Monti (CEQF, Italy), Etxane O. Scott (Autism-Europe, Belgium), Philippe Negroni (IRIPS, France), Teresa González-Gómez (Universidad de Huelva, Spain) and Silvia Muñoz (Plena Inclusión, Spain). The conference was held in English and French, with interpretation.