AmI Fit –
Inclusive tools to support the Employment Cycle of Individuals with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) [1]
October 2023 – May 2026 | Erasmus+ | KA2 | Cooperation Partnership in youth | Project n. 2023-1-PT02-KA220-YOU-000153676
AIM
The Council Recommendation of 30 October 2020 (2020/C 372/01) recommends to ensure that young people under 30 years of age receive a good quality offer of employment in line with Principle 4 of the European Pillar of Social Rights (“Active support to employment”).
One of the core points of the European Union Youth Strategy 2019-2027 is to enable young people to be architects of their own lives, support their personal development and growth to autonomy, build their resilience and equip them with life skills to cope with a changing world.
Furthermore, preserving people with disabilities, guaranteeing them an independent life and equal opportunities compared to other European citizens is at the forefront of the European Union. Although this is not a new aim for Europe, barriers for people with disabilities are still widespread, which is why a new “Strategy for the Rights of Persons with Disabilities 2021-2030” has been developed (https://ec.europa.eu/social/main.jsp?catId=1484&langId=en). The same report encourages activities aimed at acquiring the necessary skills for accessing and achieving employment success.
Finally, no sufficient systematic research has been carried out so far on the conditions necessary for individuals with disabilities to succeed, including individuals with ASD. Participation in employment is the best way to ensure economic autonomy and social inclusion.
AIM
The ASD-INtoJOB project is inspired by the need to dignify Young Individuals With Autism Spectrum Disorder (YIWASD) standard of living, and to dismantle the barriers that prevent them from having equal opportunities in the employment sector. In particular, the project’s main aim is to facilitate the process of job searching of YIWASD, through improving the communication process at each stage of the employment cycle (recruitment, selection, onboarding, and job retention) to help to minimise perceived stress levels. At the same to contribute to make the work environment more ASD user-friendly and raise awareness among employers and human resources departments about the need of facilitating the successful employment of individuals with ASD through holistic and sustained interventions targeting inclusive organisational cultures.
OBJECTIVES
- To carry out research on strategies implemented in Partner countries and across Europe in order to streamline recruitment processes and make them more inclusive and accessible for young people with ASD, and to conduct a research work to identify possible ways of improvement in the HR field.
- To create materials and tools (i.e., employability toolkit) tailored to prospect YIWASD and a training toolkit for youth workers (YW) on how to properly assist YIWASD to use the employability toolkit which will enable them to better prepare themselves to successfully manage the employment cycle.
- To design and develop an inclusive and dynamic entertainment-based learning App that will allow YIWASD to experiment with the contents from a realistic point of view, in a virtual environment reproducing the steps of the employment cycle.
RESULTS
The results will be stemming from five Work Packages:
– WP1: Project Management
– WP2: Situation based assessment reports
– WP3: Employability and Training toolkit for YIWASD youth workers
– WP4: Entertainment-based learning application for young individuals with ASD-INtoJOB App
– WP5: Dissemination, communication, exploitation
PARTNERSHIP
Coordinator:
P1 Associação Portuguesa para as Perturbações do Desenvolvimento e Autismo -PT
Partners:
P2 CRES – Centro Ricerche e Studi Europei-future business – IT
P3 ASOCIAȚIA ROMANA DEPSIHOPEDAGOGI E APLICATA -RO
P4 FACHHOCHSCHU LE DES MITTELSTANDES (FHM) GMBH – UNIVERSITY OF APPLIED SCIENCE – GE
P5 MILITOS SYMVOULEUTIKI A.E. – GR
WEBSITE:
https://www.asdintojob.eu/
PROJECT OUTCOMES
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The European Commission’s support for the production of this publication does not constitute an endorsement of the contents, which reflect the views only of the authors, and the Commission cannot be held responsible for any use which may be made of the information contained therein.