The Subject of the Project: To provide the skills which individuals with autism and intellectual disabilities will need after disasters and emergencies by producing innovative educational materials. Target Audience of the Project: Individuals with autism and intellectual disabilities. They are usually trained using visual materials with special education methods such as one-on-one and face-to-face. For this reason, parents and caregivers of these individuals have also been identified as target audiences to provide special education opportunities. The Objectives of the Project to be achieved are as follows: - To ensure that individuals with autism and intellectual disability can communicate with the right people after disasters and emergencies, - To ensure that they display the correct behaviour shapes to stay safe, - To integrate these individuals into the disaster and emergency management system, - To increase the professional knowledge and skills of the project partners and related participants. The final goals as a policy are: It is aimed to affect the policies and programs that can be developed in order to overcome the deficiencies in disaster and emergency awareness training and rehabilitation of disabled individuals including autism and intellectual disability. Content of the Project: 1- Dictionary of disaster and emergency basic terms adapted for individuals with autism and intellectual disabilities and prepared with special teaching methods, 2- Educational content consisting of video, animation and digital books that teach correct behaviours after disasters and emergencies, 3- Digital library for disasters and emergencies prepared specifically for these individuals, 4- The correct behaviours of the personnel working in disasters and emergencies in their approach to these individuals. Project Partnership: The project partnership was created by bringing together organizations with different expertise in disaster and emergency situations, autism and down syndrome, distance education, disability, design, education, risk management and innovation in line with the subjects and objectives. 1- Eskişehir AFAD, public body, experienced in disaster awareness training, response and evacuation in disasters and emergencies. 2- Osmangazi University, experienced in distance education, innovative design and user interface solutions. 3- YERSİS is an educational consultancy company that researches the issue of accessibility among individuals with special needs during disasters and emergencies. 4- Tohum Autism Foundation is a non-profit and in the public interest healthcare and education foundation in the field of autism. 5- Down Syndrome Association is a non-governmental organization that works to ensure that individuals with Down syndrome can establish an independent, productive and integrated life. 6- EDSA is an umbrella NGO that brings together 38 national organizations across Europe. 7- MSSA is an NGO established to realize, coordinate and carry out the interests and training of people with autism. 8- The Research Center on Disability and Marginality (CeDisMa) of the Catholic University of the Sacred Heart works to develop knowledge for teachers, educators, trainers, coordinators, social workers in the field of special education. Outputs of the Project: 1- Adapted Disaster and Emergency Basic Concepts Dictionary for Individuals with Autism and Intellectual Disability 2- Distance Education Portal 3- Digital Library Project activities: Preparation Process; 1. Working meetings with relevant organizations and associated partners (universities, NGOs on autism and intellectual disability, etc.) 2. Visits to special education and rehabilitation centres. 3. Literature review, research and data collection. The implementation process; 1. Transnational Project Meetings. - Project management, distribution of tasks among partners, time and financial management etc. administrative issues. - Sharing experience, good practices and know-how for intellectual output production. 2. Output development process. Dissemination Process; - Project Workshop as a Multiplier Event; Both the evaluation of the quality of the project outputs and the promotion of the project results. - Workshop’s online web platform. - To hold project introduction meetings with related institutions, to attend workshops, fairs and to open stands. - To organize training seminars at the local and transnational level within the scope of the multiplier event. - To prepare promotional brochures about project activities and results in order to increase the visibility in printed, visual and social media. - To send and distribute digital outputs to the relevant institutions in printed and digital formats. - Preparing scientific articles about project activities and results. - To ensure that the project outputs and results affect the policies and programs to be developed in this regard through the Disaster and Emergency Management Authority (AFAD).
The goals we wanted to achieve by implementing the project were: - Eliminating the lack of training materials specific to individuals with autism and intellectual disabilities in the current awareness training for disasters and emergencies, - Having equality in opportunity intended for disaster and emergency awareness training for parents and caregivers of individuals with autism and intellectual disability, - Creating a visual dictionary where individuals with autism and intellectual disabilities can learn basic terms related to disasters and emergencies, - Creating educational content for individuals with autism and intellectual disabilities to communicate with trusted people and to avoid untrustworthy people in disasters and emergencies, - Creating a resource where families and caregivers of individuals with autism and intellectual disability can access disaster awareness-raising, - Response personnel working after disasters and emergencies become conscious about individuals with autism and intellectual disabilities and gain the ability to communicate correctly, - Developing policies and services that include protective measures for individuals with autism and intellectual disability in disasters and emergencies.
The main objective of the project is the lack of education and training systems for individuals with autism spectrum disorder and intellectual disability to develop the correct course of action, safe communication and self-sufficiency skills when they are alone in a crisis and chaotic environment after disasters and emergencies. Since there was no widespread education and training system on disasters and emergencies for these individuals, who have social communication and intellectual disability problems, they often did not know the right course of action or could not access vital information. In order to meet all these needs, the training contents had to be produced with a special training methodology. Since there was no disaster education content produced with a special education methodology for individuals with autism and intellectual disabilities, the idea of the project emerged to fill this deficiency.