Early intervention programme of Amimoni travelled to Portugal and participated in the training of the “Burnout Free ECI project”, which focuses on the prevention and treatment of professional and parental burnout, with Amimoni having the role of coordinator and the training being organised by C.E.C.D Mira Sintra.

During their stay in Portugal, the team members had the opportunity to be trained and trained in modern tools and practices for the prevention of professional and parental burnout. The training included a series of activities focused on stress management techniques, enhancing mental resilience and mental health support strategies. Participants successfully completed examinations based on the content of the training, which were administered by the Cyprus Certification Society.

At the same time, the fifth transnational meeting of the project was held, which was attended by all the partner organisations. During the meeting, the next steps for the last six months of the programme were discussed and prepared.

The exchange of knowledge and experience with colleagues from other countries was particularly beneficial, creating a community of practice and support.

Sharing knowledge and experiences with colleagues from other countries was particularly beneficial, creating a community of practice and support.

We express our sincere thanks to C.E.C.D Mira Sintra for the excellent organization and warm hospitality. This experience was another important step towards improving Early Intervention services and empowering professionals and parents supporting children with disabilities.

On Wednesday, June 21 2023, at the Azima Cultural Art Space, the final event- exhibition of the digital tactile stories created during the Stories4ALL project took place. Educators and family members of visually impaired people participated in trainings on creating stories with digital tools and transforming illustrations into tactile images with the help of 3D printing.

The stories and tactile images they created themselves after the trainings were presented in the exhibition. 3D printed tactile fairy tales, orientation maps, everyday aids and object representations were presented.

The exhibition was open to the public and there was particular interest in the methodology followed for the design of the tactile objects.

We especially thank those who participated in the trainings and the exhibition, and especially the trainers and the family members of the visually impaired, who showed particular zeal and devoted valuable time to the creation of the exhibits which will be accessible from the program’s website.

 

The Story Making and Reading for ALL (Stories4ALL) project, 2021-1-EL01-KA210-SCH-000031465, KA210/ Small-Scale Partnerships – School Education Sector, Erasmus+2021 is a partnership between e-Nable Greece, MICROKOSMOS and AMIMONI and its ultimate goal is the promotion of creativity and the development of digital skills of teachers with the final recipient being the visually impaired student and the entire educational community.

The 1st EASPD conference for 2023 took place in Tirana on June 8-9. The Conference focused on the formation of policies and practices in the field of supporting children with disabilities and their families, focusing on family-centered Early Intervention practices and the creation of national Early Intervention systems.

The conference was crowned with great success, with the participation of more than 300 delegates from the Balkans and all over Europe.

In the first large panel discussion on the topic: Early Intervention in practice, coordinator Irene Bertana from EASPD presented the basic principles of family-centered intervention.

Then followed a video with the experience of Mr. Yiannis Franceskakis, a parent of Amimoni’s Early Intervention Program where he described with great emotion the contribution of the program to the well-being and empowerment of his family and the decisive role played by the individualized, holistic, family-centered character of the program and instructors in the child’s natural environment to effectively manage the complex challenges they face.

The experience of Mr. Franceskakis moved the audience, while the testimony of a parent’s experience was evaluated as very important.

Later, a panel discussion with representatives of organizations that provide family-centered early intervention was held, where Ms. Papadaki Agapi, Head of Amimoni’s Early Intervention Program was also present. Ms. Papadaki referred to the challenges facing the provision of a home-based family-centered service to children with severe disabilities, without the presence of an appropriate institutional framework. More specific reference was made to the problem of the sustainability of the programs without stable state funding, the increased responsibilities and difficulties of the members of the interdisciplinary team in exercising their role, and the difficulty of families often to perceive the need to change the intervention model and the transition from medical to social model.

On the second day of the conference, a workshop titled: “Parental and ECI professional burnout: Definition and strategies for preventing it” based on the Burnout Free ECI Project was presented by partners of Amimoni and OmegaTech.

On Friday, April 28, the 8th organization of the weekly educational program “Building an Inclusive School for all” was successfully completed. The European organization EASPD and AMIMONI  were responsible for its organization.

Over the course of a week, professionals of the field from Greece, Europe and the United States got to know the theoretical framework and new tools aimed at developing and promoting inclusive education. The participants had the opportunity to get to know the theoretical framework and new tools for inclusive education in a direct and interactive way. They participated in discussion groups, educational visits and thematic workshops with the aim of discovering together with their colleagues, at an international level, the way to move towards inclusive education, the way to design a “School for All”.

Amimoni gladly welcomed the participants to its facilities in Elliniko on Thursday, April 27, while at the same time our training program was presented as well the European Programs Burnout ECI Project and Stories4all.

We thank  EASPD and Rachel Vaughan for co-organizing this project, presenters Annemie Jennes (VSKO, Belgium), Marleen Clissen (VSKO, Belgium), Wolfgang Plaute (Pädagogische Hochschule Salzburg, Austria), Jezerka Beškovnik (University of Primorska, Faculty of Education) and Andreja Klančar (University of Primorska, Faculty of Education), for the educational experience and the participants for their interest and enthusiasm.

 

The workshop for the families and teachers of visually impaired people of the European STORIES4ALL program was successfully implemented on the first weekend of April at the IRIS Day Center.

Parents, siblings and professionals learned the basics of storytelling and browsed tools for developing stories for people with visual impairments while learning how to use basic digital tools to transform a digital story into a tactile one with 3d printing technology.

 

Thanks to the participants for the enthusiasm and to the presenters for the interactive presentation!

 

The Story Making and Reading for ALL (Stories4ALL) project, 2021-1-EL01-KA210-SCH-000031465, KA210/ Small-Scale Partnerships-School Education Sector, Erasmus+2021 is a partnership of e-Nable Greece, MICROKOSMOS and AMIMONI and its ultimate goal is the promotion of creativity and the development of digital skills of teachers with the final recipient being the visually impaired student and the entire educational community.

In the framework of the implementation of the Burnout FREE ECI Project “Burnout of Professionals and Parents with Children with Disabilities: Prevention, common challenges and mutually empowering methodologies and practices in Early Child Intervention Services” (No: 2021-1-EL01-KA220-ADU-000035230) under the Erasmus+ Programme, KA220-ADU-Cooperation partnerships in adult education, coordinated by Amimoni and managed by the State Scholarships Foundation (IKY), all partners associated with the project had the opportunity to meet in Cluj-Napoca, Romania, for our third Transnational Meeting on the 16th & 17th March 2023. Those that could not attend in person were virtually present. Luckily, most of the partners were able to personally attend which contributed to lively discussions and certainly to build better relations among partners.

 

During our Meeting, hosted by the Babes-Bolyai University, we went through the last completed tasks, as well as the current and upcoming activities, deadlines, methods of implementation and expected results. Regarding PrR2 “Burnout Free ECI Training Material & Content for Professionals and Parents”, we had a constructive discussion with the University of Zagreb, the PrR2 leader, summarizing what has been done so far and planning the upcoming work regarding the next steps – the assessment tool & the finalization of the Training Material.

 

We also reviewed in detail PrR3 “Methodology Guide and Report on Burnout Free ECI Pilot” for which the responsible partner is the University of Thessaly. We saw a presentation regarding the PrR3 methodology and then discussed guidelines for reflective logs and questionnaires for professionals and parents and the final techniques/practices which will be applied during the pilot phase of PrR3.

 

Thereinafter, the E-Learning game (PrR4) was presented by the leading partner – THEOFANIS ALEXANDRIDIS KAI SIA EE, Omegatech, Greece. A presentation of potential scenarios for the E-Learning game, a definition of technical specifications and requirements and a discussion led by the Omegatech representative brought in lots of creative ideas regarding the design and development of the E-Learning game. Omegatech’s representative showed all partners a demo version of the game so we had the opportunity to discuss it in detail and talk more about the scenarios each organization will be responsible to design.

 

During the second day of the Transnational Meeting, we went through the rest of the PrRs so that we can be sure that all partners work the same way and have a unified understanding of how the project results should be delivered and reported. With the colleagues from Amimoni, the coordinating organization, we went through the project management issues discussing the Quality Assurance, Monitoring and Evaluation of the project, as well as the administrative and financial procedures and appropriate documentation.

We included a representative of EASPD via Zoom who presented summarized results on project sharing and promoting activities for the last few months. Last but not least, we talked about the PrR5 “Certification Scheme” which is a responsibility of Cyprus Certification Company. We discussed the eligibility of people who can be certified and we received valuable tips and guidance on how to select these people, as well as on the “Innovative Train the Trainers Burnout Free ECI Program’’.

 

During the 2-day meeting, successfully led by Amimoni, we had great and fruitful discussions. Participants were very open, very active and eager to plan the forthcoming activities of the project.

 

Join the conversation on social media with #BurnoutFree!

 

This project (No:2021-1-EL01-KA220-ADU-000035230) has been funded with support from the European Commission. The European Commission support for the production of this publication does not constitute an endorsement of the contents which reflects 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.

In the framework of the International Week for Rare Diseases (28 February- 2 March), Amimoni, represented by its President Mrs. Paraskeyi Bellou and the Head of the Early Intervention Program, Agapi Papadaki, was present in the event which took place in the European Parliament, with the title “Time to act: Building a pharmaceutical framework fit for rare diseases”. The event was hosted by Member of European Parliament Mr. Stelios Kympouropoulos. Representatives of patients with rare diseases from Greece and Europe, as well as representatives of the European Commission and the pharmaceutical industry attended the event.