In a resolution passed on the theme ‘European Parliament and disability’, on Thursday 30th of November 2017, MEPs called for the European Union and its Member States to “further accommodate implementation of the European Disability Strategy”.
As one of the measures to be taken up by the Commission and/or Member States as a matter of priority, the Centre de ressources Robert Laplane team picked up on “the training and re-training educational staff, in particular to support persons with complex needs”. (European Parliament, Texts adopted, P8_TA(2017)0474, Implementation of the European Disability Strategy)
It is within this context, and in view of this objective, that we have been carrying out a series of projects:
- the creation of a pedagogical handbook to promote the communication for access to sense and language approach
- the “how are our European neighbours addressing this issue?” exploratory study, aiming for discovery, inspiration and exchange regarding the support and training apparatuses for care professionals and helpers looking after people with multiple disabilities who have serious difficulties communicating with their entourage and, more specifically, young deaf adults with associated disorders
- Media+: European Erasmus+ project concerning the exchange of practices and innovative development aspiring to construct a multimodal training apparatus for professionals and families. It aims to model the communication for access to sense and language approach within a European context, to develop and formalise the pedagogical tools associated with the approach, and put together a competency framework for professionals using the approach.
- The CHI (Cerebral Hearing Impairment) project, which has brought together 9 specialised European establishments, will allow a better understanding, at the European Union level, of the practices, examination techniques, and equipment used in supporting children with cochlear implants presenting unexpected difficulties in terms of oral language development.