In small towns in inland Puglia, opportunities for children with disabilities to socialise are scarce, and where they exist they rarely reach beyond the professionals already working with them. Families of children with autism, together with the ABA specialists who treat them, have long looked for ways to fill the hours outside school and therapy with activities that are both enjoyable and useful, only to run into a social environment that is often unprepared to include their children.
Giving these children real access to playful, recreational experiences means building the right conditions from scratch, and doing so alongside peers who would not otherwise take part: children drawn from the same schools and parish groups the children with autism already belong to.
The project
"Il battito del cuore" pairs children with an autism spectrum disorder or another pervasive developmental disorder with neurotypical peers from their own school classes or parish groups, bringing them together for shared play, learning and everyday social interaction. Working side by side, in pairs and small groups, helps the children with autism build basic social skills, extend what they learn to new situations and people, and reduce the conditions that tend to trigger behaviours of distress.
Sessions also work on fine and gross motor coordination, body awareness and communication, widening the range of activities and interests each child can enjoy. For the neurotypical children who take part, the experience introduces disability as something familiar rather than distant, within the very communities, school and parish, where they already spend their time.
Who the project is for
The project's direct beneficiaries are 18 children and young people with a diagnosis of autism spectrum disorder or another pervasive developmental disorder.
Alongside them, 18 neurotypical children and young people from the same school classes or parish groups take part as peers, gaining first-hand experience of inclusion that, in time, can grow into a broader culture of acceptance within their own communities.
Project name: il battito del cuore
Proposing organisation: con.te.sto - odv
Area of intervention: Inclusion & Social Development
Country: Italy