Model for Inclusive Community Education

The UN Convention on the rights of persons with disabilities demands the right of being included in the community. Thus all countries are in charge to developsupporting systems to foster the social inclusion and to promote systems that the inclusion and participation of them can be ensured. The main and long-termaim of the project MINCE was to attain the social inclusion and participation of people with severe intellectual disabilities in the community.The partnership developed a variety of methods and education programs which, taken as a whole, represent the Model for Inclusive Community Education. Themodel provides multi-level methods and tools to promote social inclusion. It consists of six Intellectual Outputs:• MINCE Curriculum for Peer-Mediators including easy-to-read version: This curriculum is a training program in the course of which people with learningdifficulties or minor intellectual disabilities get empowered to act as mediators between people with severe intellectual disabilities and society.• MINCE Guideline for Peer-Mediators in easy-to-read (STEP UP Guide) (brochure and audiobook): The so called STEP UP Guide for Peer-Mediators offerspeer-mediators support representing the interests of people with severe intellectual disabilities. It can be used by people with intellectual disabilities whileparticipating in the training for peer-mediators (developed in the IO1) as a training handbook and a learning diary and also when acting in their new role aspeer-mediators as it provides tools and support for this new task.• MINCE Curriculum for disability care workers: This is a supplementary curriculum created for professional assistants and care workers. It deals with theevery-day challenges of the professional staff in disability care organisations with regard to the social inclusion of people with severe intellectual disabilities.There was developed on the one hand a curriculum which identifies the core competencies and the areas that should be addressed during the training. On theother hand and additionally there was developed a more detailed version that provides additional material and knowledge.• MINCE Guidelines for disability care institutions: These guidelines are developed to help organisations in the disability field to gear the contents of theirexisting services towards the social inclusion of people with severe intellectual disabilities. Additionally they contain action strategies and good practises fordisability care organisations to expand their mission to include the idea of Community education.• Mince Compendium: The MINCE Compendium is a systematic instruction guideline that serves as a basis for the practical implementation of inclusivecommunity education which also provides the theoretical background of the MINCE project (aims and effects of social inclusion, community education, modelsof disabilities, deeper description of the developed material and its use).• MINCE Movie: This film brings the subject of social inclusion of people with severe intellectual disabilities closer to a broader audience. It shows threesituations (work, visit in a café and leisure time – disco) like they are nowadays and points then out solutions for the future. To keep it barrier-free the filmcomes without spoken language.The objectives MINCE was pursuing were:• Raising awareness of the society to meet the needs of people with severe intellectual disabilities• Collaboration with Peer- Mediators in the matters of inclusion of people with severe intellectual disabilities• Expert training for Peer-Mediators for Advocacy and Inclusion• Development of professional skills for disability carers working with people with severe intellectual disabilities in the community• Rethinking the role of organisations in the disability field – Facilitating processes within society• Support for the Implementation of Inclusive Community EducationThe MINCE project initiated developments which impacts and long-term benefits turn out on the following themes:• Empowerment of people with intellectual disability to play an active role in the community• Enabling communities to learn together with people with severe intellectual disabilities• Facilitating the process of inclusion of people with severe intellectual disabilities into communities• Enhancing the sensibility of communities and its members for the needs of people with severe intellectual disabilities• Building up an inclusive community in order to facilitate the de-institutionalisation processes of people with severe intellectual disabilities.--