A project aimed to create a supporting network for Italian families with members with disabilities.

The initiative addresses mainly Italian families (including single parents and same-sex families), living in Germany, that include disabled members.

• Together with the families and the experts who joined the association, our center should become exemplary in facing the everyday issues arising from the social, scholastic and workplace inclusion of disabled people in Germany.
• We acknowledge that inclusion in Germany is different than in Italy, where it is possible to achieve a high school degree, while this instance is very rare and complicated in Germany. We want to make our voices heard, even on a political level, in the debate on the laws on the subject of disability.
• The center will also be a landmark for families and the other members for the presentation of the bureaucratic requests for the help intended for families that include disabled members.
• Moreover, this could be a way to foster the internal debate and share information and experiences in this field.

Our area of operation will be:

• The bureaucratic procedures to attain the support intended for families with disables members.
• Listing of the specialized centers in Germany that can help Italian families striving for integration in the German society to resolve possible issues.
• Support to the integration process in schools and the workplace.
• Research of possibilities for inclusion in the working place.
• Support and research of personnel specialized in helping families in the relationship with the disabled members, in particular about the new linguistic and cultural needs.
• Help and guide families through an interactive support, in order to achieve full autonomy for differently abled people.
• Identification, collaborating with the families, of foster homes with a focus different from the one proposed by German institutions, in the spirit of keeping a distinct Italian identity and culture.
• Organize monthly meetings in the cities where the centers will be founded, in order to allow full access to the members and families that take part to this project.
• Create a clear, open interaction, able to continuously evolve through the suggestions by families and disabled members.
• Organize meetings for families with disabled members that feel the need to share their issues in a supportive group, in order to find both a personal-psychological support and an interactive source of information on the problems that arose within the family.
• Collaborate with other associations across Germany that support families facing issues linked to disability.
• Provide information and contacts for medical centers specialized in the field of disability.
• Information on nutrition in order improve the life quality of disabled people

Consolidation of disabled people’s autonomy

• Organize group visits for disabled people to cultural venues such as cinemas, theaters, exhibitions, concerts and more in each town, in order to promote their active participation in the cultural and artistic fields.
• Organize courses on the Italian language and culture for disabled people, with the support of professional personnel to cater to individual needs.
• Plan trips in Italy for differently abled members of the family, in order to allow a personal growth independent from the family, while at the same time getting in touch with the Italian culture and landscape.
• Organize trips with exchanges in Germany among the various families, in order to provide chances for disabled people to make acquaintance.
• Discuss the topic of sexuality for disabled people, identifying specific personnel that can support both the family and the differently person him/herself.

This project was born out of my personal experience with my daughter, Lia Nadine. She was born in Germany, she is now 26 and she has Down syndrome. Over the years we had to face many problems when dealing with German institutions to promote social inclusion, and I consequently acquired an array of knowledge necessary to tackle the juridical and social obstacles to integration. For this reason my aim is to share my knowledge and advices to other people who are in my same situation, particularly in Germany, and create a network of parents in order to support each other, share our experience and create, together, new projects to improve the life quality of our children.