AGORA XII - training for mentally disable people and their trainers : permitting the mentally disabled a genuine and appropriate exercise of their rights. Thessaloniki, 5 and 6 july 2001

Abstract

"People suffering from learning disabilities are subjected to ostracism that is not unkind so much as a condescending. Agora XII demonstrated that the disabled are merely another side of ourselves, that training for them - just as for those not considered disabled - is a means of developing and acquiring independence and becoming absorbed into society. While recognising the importance of including those with learning disabilites as far as possible in normal training schemes and conventional enterprises, the conference warned against going too far in this direction and that special classes and sheltered employment undoubtedly had a role to play. Emphasis was placed on the importance of training and the role of trainers and social workers in opening doors of society to the disabled." (Herausgeber, BIBB-Doku)