Partnership for active life of youth with intellectual disabilities Erasmus Project

Project Title

Partnership for active life of youth with intellectual disabilities

Project Key Action

This project related with these key action: Cooperation for innovation and the exchange of good practices

Project Action Type

This project related with this action type : Strategic Partnerships for youth

Project Call Year

This project’s Call Year is 2018

Project Topics

This project is related with these Project Topics: Inclusion – equity; Youth (Participation, Youth Work, Youth Policy) ; Disabilities – special needs

Project Summary

Project Partnership for active life of youth with intellectual disabilities – Pal4youth is a project between 2 organizations, which strive for the improvement of care of people with intellectual disabilities and their families: Zveza Sožitje from Slovenia and Inclusion Czech Republic.

Young people with intellectual disabilities are deprived of realistic information about their rights, their bodies and the opportunities they have. Young people with intellectual disabilities are included in every definition of young people with fewer opportunities. This is a specific group that is even more vulnerable than others, as their dependence on the interpretation of information by the environment is much higher than that of other people with disabilities.

The main objectives of the project are to build partnerships between organizations, develop tools for information and education on relationships, sexuality and health care for young people with intellectual disabilities and their parents, as well as the development of a model of youth work with young people with intellectual disabilities through a needs analysis.
In the project we developed innovative tools for educating and informing young people. Booklets for girls and boys are written in an easy-to-read and understandable language, published in Slovene and English. The titles of 7 individual booklets are: Being a Woman, Being a Man, Love, Sex and Me, A Visit to the Gynaecologist, Pregnancy, Childbirth, Sexual Violence.
In total, they have more than 300 pages of easy-to-read text, along with illustrations, which are one of the key sources of information in easy-to-read texts. The easy-to-read format means that the texts are understandable and thus accessible to people with intellectual disabilities and other target groups. Publications can help less skilled readers, those with specific learning disabilities, as well as those who are just beginning to learn the language (immigrants).
Another developed tool in the project is publication: Growing up, A booklet for parents of young people with intellectual disabilities about relationships, sexuality and support in growing up. It was published in Slovene, Czech and English.
These are all innovative contents that offer answers to questions about how to support young people with intellectual disabilities as they grow up. All booklets can offer support to youth workers and professionals who work with young people with intellectual disabilities.

With the PAL4youth project, we have improved the opportunities for young people to access real information on sexuality, relationships, sex life and health, in an easy-to-read language, which has contributed to their greater well-being, independence and easier participation in events related to them and so increasing their independence.
Youth workers and others who work with young people with intellectual disabilities often didn’t have a model on how to deal with these topics with young people. In disseminating the results of the project, we focused on various groups of professionals, from the field of youth work, social welfare, education and health.

The project promotes quality youth work, and has developed new concepts in partnership between two organizations. We have systematically introduced elements of youth work in both organizations and, with the support of experts, focused on starting to collect needs among young people with intellectual disabilities.
The project focuses on empowering young people with fewer opportunities. The focus of the project is human dignity and equality. Easy-to-read information about growing up are one of the foundations for independent living and active participation in society. Through structured research of needs of young people with intellectual disabilities we have developed new youth work methods in both organizations.
Only young people who are informed about their own rights and opportunities and understand the consequences of their choices can actively participate in society.

The project partners have a wide network of services, programs and activities. Zveza Sožitje from Slovenia has more than 15,000 members, and Inclusion Czech Republic 8,000, through which the results of the project were implemented and expanded to the local environment of both countries. Results of the project had reached a large number of young people with intellectual disabilities, their parents, and professionals. We had expanded the concept of youth work and work with young people with intellectual disabilities as a specific population with their needs. Collaboration has enable the exchange of knowledge and skills among professional staff from both organizations, strengthening the competencies to support young people with fewer opportunities in the international environment. Through the processes of direct participation, we have strengthen the voice of young people with intellectual disabilities and thus contribute to changes in culture and society.

EU Grant (Eur)

Funding of the project from EU: 66801,97 Eur

Project Coordinator

Zveza Sozitje & Country: SI

Project Partners

• Spolecnost pro podporu lidi s mentalnim postizenim v Ceske republice, z.s.