The Mondo Disabili Future Association has realized that was necessary to train coaches, health professionals, instructors, and technicians for the management of people with neurodiversity, aiming at increasing the attendance of people with neuro-disabilities in sports activities, sharing development issues with people with typical development (neurotypicality) and socializing as well as learning and stimulating resources and skills.

Latina, Lazio, center of Italy

The Course for Neurodiversity sport coaches (from now OTSN) aims at the creation of professional figures in sport able to manage one or more people with neurodiversity disability. In Lazio, and Latina itself there aren't course dedicated to this specific topic. The goal of the course is to create sport technicians, who are able to work to increase inclusion and improve relational skills among people. It is necessary in sport dedicated to people with disabilities to be able to know how to interact not only with the disabled but also it is necessary to help family members, to be able to create specific training plans aimed at improving the basic physical skills acquiring specific skills.

One of the reasons why people with neuro-diversity disability do not practice sports is mainly due to the lack of training by coaches in the management of this particular disability, or the lack of trust by parents and tutor in the capacity of those who must carry out the activities. This cause a lack in an equal physical training. To improve the capacity of sport technicians it is necessary the participation in the course of professional representative of different fields: instructors, coaches, educators, therapists, physiotherapists, psychologists, teachers, health workers.

The goal is to create technical professionals, who work for inclusion and increase relational skills: 1. Ability to dialogue 2. Ability to recognize the typical behaviours of neurodiversity 3. Ability to interpret and recognize the characteristics of different neurodiversity 4. Ability to create specific training protocols, game and individualized and integrative activities for the insertion in the various sports 5. Ability to recognize and manage problematic behaviours in relation to the neurodiverse person and response of neurotypical subjects 6. That they know the phases of development of the various ages and the annexed problems 7. Ability to understand the limits and strengths of each discipline in relation to neurodiversity, so as to integrate the concept of multisport.

By the OTSN project it will be given to sport technicians the possibility to have additional tools to promote, propose and conduct sports activities with people with disabilities, mainly with mental deficits. This will allow a better integration of people with disabilities within sports realities, thus helping to rework a new expression of image to disability, restoring the right place to human and social value towards disadvantaged persons.

The training of specialized technicians for the management of people with neurological disabilities allows access to sports activities to a greater number of children and young people. This possibility leads to a social improvement with regard to inclusion. The benefit does not apply only to persons with disabilities but to all citizens. If more people with disability can have access to sport this increases the interaction among citizens and promotes a better understanding of the difficulties in this interaction. This consequently leads to an improvement in inclusion.

This course aims to offer qualified opportunities and appropriate and additional tools to sports technicians and instructors already in possession of certified qualifications, to educators and professional figures who intend to promote, propose and conduct sports activities with people with disabilities, mainly with neurological deficits. The training course will therefore allow the user to approach the complex world of neurological disability, moving the attention of the operator to the integration of the person with disabilities within sports realities, thus helping to rework a new expression of image to disability, restoring the right place to human and social value towards disadvantaged persons.

Project’s elaboration and coordination: 14.650,00
Promotion: 2.450,00
Operation, management and capital equipment: 32.950,00

The Mondo Disabili Future Association would be grateful for feedback that recognize the importance to learn more about neurological disabilities and that are necessary projects in any field dedicated to this topic for a better civic inclusion.