Project Funding: 30 Years of Integration Vorarlberg – video interviews for teaching and learning purposes
30 years ago, parents of children with impaired abilities in Vorarlberg joined forces and founded the “Integration Vorarlberg – IV” association. The goal back then was that their children should be allowed to go to kindergarten and school together with the neighbouring children as a matter of course, just like everyone else. The children of those days have now become young adults.
In these 30 years, the pioneers (parents) for an inclusive way of life have collected a large and valuable treasure trove of experience that we want to document and pass on, with the aim of strengthening parents and sensitising students, educators, social workers, etc. for the concerns of people with impairments and above all their families, and for them to dare to take more inclusive paths.
Keywords:
inclusion, inclusive lives, people with impaired abilities, parents’ perspective
Initial Situation
In 2008, Austria ratified the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (CRPD). The guiding norm of the UN CRPD is inclusion and an unrestricted, equal participation in society. The path to achieving this goal is a long one, and while many barriers have been overcome, many barriers also still lie ahead. The UNCRPD distinguishes between material and other barriers: attitudes, convictions, ideas.
Engagement
The parents of Integration Vorarlberg are experts in inclusive lifestyles, but they’re also ambassadors for a change of perspective: it goes without saying that people with disabilities are a natural part of us; they often achieve great things, and we can learn a lot from and with them, both individually and socially. In the context of an exhibition and an open space for dialogue in the Wirk-Raum of Caritas Dornbirn, these experiences will be exchanged and made available in the long term.
The Project
Documenting complex experiential knowledge of Vorarlberg’s pioneers for inclusion and making it available for educational purposes – video interviews with a storytelling approach. This approach is a new method, though in its basic form it has been used for centuries to preserve and pass on cultural knowledge. From these interviews, features (thematic summaries) will be created on the following areas:
- Diagnosis – and suddenly everything was different!
- Everyday family life – the normal madness – how different are we really?
- The inclusive path – how much courage does it take?
- Change of perspective – teachers and moments of happiness
- Wishes and visions
The Effects
- Direct results (output): authentic video materials for outreach, teaching and learning purposes. Inclusion starts with one’s attitude, and it requires reflection on issues, ideas, attitudes, a change of perspective that often doesn’t occur in the everyday lives of non-disabled people.
- Medium-term effects (outcome): encouraging parents to follow the inclusive path, raising awareness among students and professionals.
- Long-term effects (impact): reduction of barriers to the inclusion of people with impaired abilities
- Contribution to a change of perspective – impaired abilities and being different as a self-evident aspect of life
Cooperation Partners
