Fourth meeting Praha

On 4-7th October 2013 the fourth partner meeting devoted to the implementation of the VESTA project was held, and organized by a partner organization Detske Centrum Paprsek in Prague (the Czech Republic). The main purpose of the meeting included analysis of the effects of project work so far, and in particular (1) the structure of didactic materials, (2) the content of particular parts of didactic materials regarding vocational training of autistic people (3) the VESTA project information leaflet, (4) the VESTA project e-learning platform. Collective development of the structure of information materials (a guidebook) for the assistants of autistic people, was another target of the project team meeting.

On the first day, the session took place in a residential care home for autistic people  „Domeček”. The host of the partner meeting - Dr Miroslava Jelinkova, PH.D. presented: (1) the mission and organizational rules of the permanent residential care home, (2) a new tool to assess development of central coherence developed by experts at Leiden University (ComFor), the disorder of which is typical of autism and connected with serious difficulties in social functioning, (3) cognitive activation and stimulation methods in persons under a 24-hour care, (4) and on the basis of an analysis of speeches made at the World Autism Congress in Budapest, in which she participated, the most explored areas of scientific research  – genetic and biological basis of autism, cognitive disorders, eclectic therapeutic approach based on structural thinking and ABA, individualized approach to therapy and education, an IT tool aiding therapy and education, significance of parents and grandparents in supporting an autistic person throughout life, housing policy, professional work.

In the following part of the meeting, Joanna Kossewska, Ph.D., presented a developed structure of didactic materials for teaching vocational skills, whereas particular authors showed the content of the prepared parts. The materials presented included: general skills development section (Adam Wrona) and 4 areas within teaching specific vocational skills: library work (Małgorzata Sowa), kitchen work (Anna Stawiarz), hotel work (Paulina Wal) and office work (Agata Selecka). After the presentation, a few comments were made: (1) the knowledge-testing exercises based on choosing the correct answer may be too stressful for autistic people, the number of alternative answers should be limited, (2) the English version of the materials must be revised to avoid language mistakes in the final version. The verification should be done by a native speaker.

Then, the authors of the information leaflet showed the effects of their work. After the presentation, several remarks on the completion or/and modification of the leaflet content and form were made. The leaflet will be complemented by: (1) logos of all project partners, (2) the logo of VESTA project, (3) addresses of partners in English.

HiTeCo representatives demonstrated an e-learning platform that will structure the didactic materials. After getting familiar with the suggested model, a few remarks were made: (1) each language version of the platform must be created separately; each partner country must create an adequate version in terms of content layout on suitable sub-webpage on the basis of the English version, (2) a solution to save all the materials from the platform on a DVD must be found, (3) a webpage being a kind of an introduction to the didactic materials must be created, it will include the most important information about the project and partner institutions, (4) using the didactic program with the aid of the Moodle platform is difficult and will require an assistant's help.

At the end of the problem session, there was a discussion about the demonstrated didactic materials and teamwork directed at drawing up substantive tips regarding the training program for assistants. The participants were divided into teams, each team, on the basis of one part of didactic materials, was supposed to draw up guidelines for constructing a guidebook for assistants.  Then, the results of teamwork were analyzed at the forum of the whole team. Conclusions and  settlements developed by particular groups are to be prepared as a report by group leaders (Vilma Butkute, Natalia Szota, Danuta Cop, Lena Xarcha) and sent to Monika Kurhartová (MonikaKunhartova@seznam.cz) from the Palacky University in Olomouc, which is responsible for drawing up the whole of materials for assistants (in the content, formal and editorial aspects).

On 5th October, the partners met at the "Paprsek" institution. Miroslava Jelinkova, Ph.D. gave a short presentation of the institution in comparison to the educational system in the Czech Republic and support provided to autistic people and their families. She also discussed the existing possibilities of early diagnosis and early intervention. Access to services is diversified locally and it is organized in the best way in the capital and big centers. Having acquainted the meeting participants with the most important information, talks regarding the legal aspects of the institution functioning, ways of diagnosing children with autism in the Czech Republic were held. The presentation was a starting point to exchange experiences and discuss practical possibilities of building a support system for autistic people.

            On 6th October less formal and structured talks on preparing the electronic version of didactic materials were held. It was arranged that IT specialists from Latvia (Pietro Ferrari) and Poland (Wojciech Kubik) will support each other in this area. Participants in the meeting also took the opportunity to see the cultural  richness of Prague.

             On 7th October, part of the project team was able to attend lectures organized by the Palacky University. Brenda Peters, Ph.D., presented the principles and implementation effects of the „Build Project”, an innovative approach to the issue of stimulating social competencies during a team construction play with the use of the LEGO blocks.

At the end, participants anonymously evaluated the meeting by filling out a prepared questionnaire.

The partner meeting ended in official thanks and a group photograph.

Mutual settlements:

1. The Domecek organization will prepare the information leaflet in detail – project logos, partner logos and all addresses will be added, the text will be justified, the leaflet will be printed out in the circulation necessary to popularize the project  (by 6th December, 2013).

2. The Pedagogical University and National Society for Autism – will finally verify the didactic materials: will limit the number of answers in exercises, will select pictures showing the course of activities for the ‘step by step’ tasks, will put a finishing touch on the stylistic expressions regarding work activities (e.g. kitchen help, etc.), will commission a native speaker to proofread for the language accuracy. The final version will be sent to partner organizations for translation into their mother tongues (by 15th October, 2013).

3. Organizations from Latvia, Greece and the Czech Republic will translate the didactic materials into their mother tongues by the next partner meeting (by 6-7th December, 2013).

4. HiTeCo will develop the structure of the didactic program and an usable English version of the program, which will be demonstrated during the partner meeting in December 2013.  An additional webpage including information about the grant, project and partners must be constructed on the platform. (by 6th December, 2013)

5. HiTeCo will make a decision on how to effectively transfer didactic materials from the e-learning platform on a DVD.  According to the taken decision following from expert knowledge of IT specialists, the DVD will be prepared. The DVD is a final product anticipated at the very beginning, it will include a program to develop vocational skills, therefore such form of materials is required. (by 6th December, 2013)

6. Discussion group leaders (Vilma Butkute, Natalia Szota, Danuta Cop, Lena Xarcha) will send reports containing conclusions from the discussion held to  Monika Kurhartová (MonikaKunhartova@seznam.cz) from the Palacky University in Olomouc (by 15th October 2013).

7. The Palacky University will prepare materials for assistants, in the form of a guidebook/instruction on how to work with the computer program (both in the substantive, formal and editorial aspects), and on the basis of suggestions included in the reports (by 6th December, 2013).

8. Partner meetings schedule –

·             6-8th December, 2013 Cracow, the International Scientific Conference within the celebration of the European Week of Autism and a partner meeting

·             7th December – satellite partner meeting Prague

·             5-8th March, 2014 Olomouc

·             15-18th June 2014 Vilnius – final meeting and report.