Autism-Europe aisbl

Hello Brussels! 👋 This week, we meet with the EASY consortium in the Belgian capital for an inspiring and important project meeting. We discuss the state of play of the project, the piloting sessions and survey results, and more about the exciting upcoming deliverables in EASY. Get to know EASY!⚙️ Read our newsletters: https://lnkd.in/gbx_jCKW Discover the ins and outs of the project: https://easy.erasmus.site/ Kainotomia - Lifelong Learning Centre Luiss Guido Carli University Autism-Europe aisbl Centrum Wspierania Edukacji i Przedsiębiorczości EFTOPIA

Today, autumnal Brussels is also the backdrop for our Autism Spectrum Pathways project's #MultiplierEvent. 📢 We discussed this morning: 👉 ASP's key objectives and achievements presented by project partner PAGS's Feliciea Jibson. 👉 Autism-Europe presented the Digital Training Modules. 👉 Romanian project partner Help Autism discussed the added value of ASP by introducing the Romanian experience with a video. Read more about ASP here: https://lnkd.in/duab6MgJ

Hello and good morning from Brussels! 👋 On this second day of AE's Council of Administration, we start by discussing some very exciting updates on the #AECongress25, presented by congress host AsIAm - Ireland’s Autism Charity's Adam Harris. The 14th Autism-Europe International Congress takes place in Dublin from 11 to 13 September 2025. Registrations will open soon and the call for abstracts was recently launched and will remain open until 10 January 2025. 🖇 All the information is available on the congress website: https://lnkd.in/eNMY5A55

Greetings from Brussels! This morning, we kicked off our Council of Administration gathering. A warm welcome to our members and friends joining us today and tomorrow. The first meeting day started with opening words from Autism-Europe president Harald Neerland, after which presentations on our organisation's work programme, policy developments, and project updates followed. Stay close for more updates throughout the weekend! #AutismNotInvisible

In October, Harald Neerland, President of Autism-Europe was invited to the 2024 biennial meeting (“Université d’Automne") of ARAPI, the French Association for Autism Research, celebrating its 40th Anniversary. Harald was invited to a roundtable to react to Pr. Cathy Lord (UCLA) 's keynote lecture. In his intervention, he made a powerful address to promote the participation of autistic people, including those with high support needs, in research. Autistic people should be meaningfully involved in setting the research agenda and through co-production. To this end, research must be fully accessible to autistic people and their families. He also underlined that this is critical for self-determination and informed consent.   Speakers at the event included Dr. Catherine Barthélémy (President, French National Academy of Medicine), Dr. Anouk Amestoy (President, ARAPI Scientific Board), Dr. Christina Nicolaidis (Portland U), Dr. Meng Chuan Lai (U of Toronto), Dr. Giacomo Vivanti (Drexel), Dr. Boris Chaumette (McGill), Dr. Pierre Defresne (Fondation SUSA), Dr. Mikhail Kissine (ULB), and many others.   Right to left: pictured in discussion at the event Mr. Harald Neerland (President, Autism-Europe), Pr. Vincent Grimaldi de Puget (Board Member of Autism-Europe and ARAPI Scientific Board Member), and Dr. Eric Lemonnier (Psychiatrist and ARAPI Scientific Board Member). Autism-Europe aisbl ARAPI - French Association for Autism Research Vincent Grimaldi de Puget Harald Thomander Neerland Bernadette Rogé Rutger Jan van der Gaag Giacomo Vivanti Anouck Amestoy Autism and NDD GIS #autism #science

🚗 20-40% of European city dwellers own a car. 🚦 About 25% of all trips made in cities are by car. 🚧 Yet, between 60-70% of all public space in European cities is streets. 🏗 For almost one century, cities have been built for cars. 👫 Isn’t it about time to change perspective and create space for citizens?   That’s what the international JUST STREETS project is all about: Re-shaping street space for all citizens. Representatives from 18 organizations that work for the diversity, inclusion and equity of streets met last week to share experiences and find common ground for collaboration.   🏃♂️ "If streets were planned to be safe for children, they would be safe for everyone"   🗣 "While we know how fix them, we have accepted unsafe and unsustainable streets as normal and inevitable. So let’s use data to show the reality of how people move instead of planning principles from the last century.”   Here some of the key takeaways from the discussion:   JUSTICE BY DESIGN: it is critical to understand how the sensory and emotional experience of street space is a question of justice. People with disabilities, children, and senior citizens, for example, are often neglected in the design process. As a result, they struggle to navigate safely what is to them a noisy, chaotic, too fast, or dangerous environment.   JUSTICE BY SAFETY: we must create safe spaces for the youngest and unexperienced road users – and design spaces that foster patience and tolerance towards them.   JUSTICE BY DEMOCRACY: (street) space should be distributed fairly among the various users.   JUSTICE BY POLITICS: It is time to shift the conversation from creating bans to enabling rights – creating streets that are not just safe, but also inviting for everyone. We're creating better streets: Thanks to #RevoltaEscolar Global Alliance of NGOs for Road Safety International Federation of Pedestrians Inclusion Europe ESCOLA PROJECTE YOURS Mobiel 21 FEANTSA European Network on Independent Living Pedestrian Space BACC Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona Autism-Europe aisbl European Cyclists' Federation Street for Kids HOGAR SÍ European Disability Forum Walk21 Foundation University of Amsterdam Politecnico di Torino Fondazione LINKS #YouthForRoadSafety Thanks to Karl Jilg for his thoughtful cartoon.

On Monday 14 October, the European Council adopted two directives establishing the European parking card for persons with disabilities and the European Disability Card, facilitating travel and short stays throughout the European Union for persons with disabilities. Autism-Europe welcomes this important step before the implementation of the cards at a national level. Member states will have two and a half years to adapt their national legislation and three and a half years to apply the measures. National authorities will be responsible for issuing the cards m, that will be recognised throughout the EU as proof of disability or entitlement to specific services based on a disability. The cards will ensure equal access to special conditions or preferential treatment for persons with disabilities during short stays throughout the EU.  “Having a Disability Card recognised everywhere across the EU is a great support to freedom of movement. It makes it so much easier to prove our invisible disability without having to explain.” – Member of Autism-Europe Alongside, the European Disability Forum we will now support an ambitious implementation at a national level, in particular to minimise exceptions to the scope of the cards and continue advocating for all autistic people to be eligible for disability status in their respective countries so that they can access the European Disability Card. #AutismNotInvisible

Ten years ago, our affiliated member Fondazione Il Domani dell'Autismo (ildomanidellautismo.it) started a large programme to support autistic adults from the moment they finish school to as long as necessary for the rest of their lives, with access to sports or work-related occupational activities or leisure activities. Luna Blu La Spezia (aut-aut.eu) was established five years ago and is part of the project Living Life of La Fondazione Il Domani dell’Autismo. Luna Blu comprises two restaurants, a bakery, a workshop to produce dried pasta, a workshop to produce fresh pasta, a gastronomic workshop and two bars, all in the province of La Spezia. A bar was opened in Cinisello Balsamo in the province of Milan. Last June, Luna Blu representatives took pasta around the world as seven representatives cooked caserecce al pesto at the UN in New York, and this week, they presented their pesto pasta and their products at the G7 meeting in Assisi and Solfagnano. “The autistic young people were proud to be involved in the catering of the official dinner!” #AutismNotInvisible

An important week! 📌 These couple of days, the Italian towns of Assisi and Solfagnano are hosting a G7 ministerial meeting that is for the first time dedicated exclusively to the topics of #inclusion and #disability. Some of our Italian members are represented at the meeting in various forms, with stands, exhibitions, speeches, and even providing food for the attendees – definitely check Luna Blu La Spezia for an overview! On the agenda this morning was the adoption of the Solfagnano Charter, with 8 priorities on which the G7 countries commit to take action and support policies for inclusion and empowerment. Autism-Europe welcomes the adoption of the charter and encourages concrete and effective follow-up and appropriate action. Anffas Nazionale ANGSA Associazione Nazionale Genitori PerSone con Autismo Fondazione Il Domani dell'Autismo Fondazione Oltre il Labirinto ETS Diversamente ODV Read more here: https://lnkd.in/dNc89yDc Image: logo, G7 ITALIA 2024 📸 from https://lnkd.in/dNc89yDc #AutismNotInvisible

On #WorldMentalHealthDay, we join 31 organisations to call for an EU Strategy on #MentalHealth and: 👉adopt a #mentalhealth in all policies approach 👉engage persons with lived experience 👉promote human rights Read the full statement 👉bit.ly/3Y1F0w1 #EU4MentalHealth Mental Health Europe