Zentrale wissenschaftliche Einrichtung der Fachhochschule Gelsenkirchen in Kooperation mit der Ruhr-Universität Bochum INTEGRATING CONCEPTS FOR ACHIEVING BASIC SKILLS BY PEOPLE WITH DISABILITIES: THE GRUNDTVIG PROJECT BASKI Dr. Ileana Hamburg Institute for Work and Technology, FH Gelsenkirchen

Introduction The starting point:  Learners with disabilities need to learn basic skills at all levels.  They should acquire them to enable them to lead more independent lives, to improve their literacy or numeracy, to gain employment or enter further education.  Some people with disabilities will be able to access the basic skills curriculum and progress through the basic skills standards as long as they have the support they need.  Because the learning needs of people with disabilities are often more complex than by people without disabilities, the impact of usual barriers for achieving basic skills at them may be greater, particularly at adult ones.  Local, national and European strategies and projects on adult basic skills should take into consideration learning difficulties of people with disabilities. Barrier that hinder the (re-)learning of basic skills:  There is a poor range and quality of provision in some areas.  Learning deficiencies or other ones require good specialist teaching, which is not available to many learners because of the shortage of skilled and qualified teachers.  Specialist equipment and often required but many teachers are unfamiliar with it or equipment does not exist.  The curriculum for basic skills is insufficiently flexible to enable all learners to build new skills which are required in connection with many economic and technical changes.  Many learners need continuous learning opportunities and/or learning in a community. The basic skills for people with learning disabilities include:  essential skills for everyday living,  learning to learn,  communication skills including IT skills,  creative skills to promote self expression, confidence building skills.

 social and individual competence training for people with mental and multiple disabilities in small groups being supported by a trainer (BASKI-Training)  qualification programmes for professionals in the social, educational and / or psychological sector (Train the Trainer, European Counsellor)  professional support for trainers and institutions in disability sector as well as accompanying them in the creation of infrastructures which support all involved persons (BASKI-Coaching). BASKI ( was an European GRUNDTVIG project which developed and provided a Basic Skills Training Model that offers: Examples of positive outcomes that could be achieved by using BASKI Model are:  Social Competences  Ability to communicate  Participation in the social life  Motivation to learn (also life-long learning)  Ability to solve life problems.  Organisation development and change process  High motivation and commitment of staff in the work and living area of people with disabilities Target groups  People with disabilities  Professionals in psychosocial counselling  Institutions in the disability sector

The partners

The products  Curriculum for Basic Skills Training for people with mental or multiple disabilities in small groups, methodical/didactic material developed to support communication, learning and group processes,  Two Curricula for a further education addressing professionals in psychosocial counselling (Train the Trainer and European Counsellor), test and evaluation reports received by the means of pilot groups.  Pilot runs in partner countries Austria, Bulgaria and Greece in order to test and evaluate the developed materials. The testing included the implementation of the BASKI model in institutions of the disability sector. and means to carry out following main parts if of the BASKI model:

A handbook with the training materials in printed and in Multimedia form ( including also results of the pilot runs and indications how the training materials should be used The HandbookCurriculum ACurriculum BCurriculum C

Following activities:  In Austria the BASKI Model has been implemented at Lebenshilfe GUV as a service for all departments under the name of "SeMi-Vision". Twenty training groups and according coaching offers are planned.  An educational programme “Train the Trainer” and “European Counsellor” for interested professionals in the psycho social field in the region of Graz and surrounding area.  Al the partners integrated parts of the BASKI Model in their activities with disabled people  A CD-ROM has been produced including all developed and tested products of the project and a handbook; it can be used also for project marketing and dissemination activities.  The model is already available on a web-site with a user-friendly, simple (integrated) communication platform.

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