Background

Background of the project


We took the first, hesitant steps of the project in April 2001, in a small city of the German-speaking community in Belgium: EUPEN. Georges Heck, Inspector at the Ministry of Education of the German-speaking Community, and Geneviève Simonis-Pelzer, physiotherapist and therapeutic psychomotor specialist at the Institute for Special Education, German-speaking Community (known by the German acronym IDGS), Eupen, got the project under way.

The topic of “Autism” was not unknown in the German-speaking Community, but in 2000 the IDGS was pushed to its limits. A schoolgirl with autism reached puberty and developed distinctive behavioural features; she proceeded to inflict injuries on herself and thus became a danger for herself and her fellow pupils. She had to leave the school and is now being cared for in a suitable institution in the French-speaking Community of Belgium. But the people at IDGS did not want to rely on temporary solutions. Draft projects defined at the IDGS soon extended to the German-speaking Community.

This is how the “Autism” work group, headed by Mr Heck, came into being. Founded on 26 April 2001, this work group deals with overall human development, from birth to adulthood, thanks to its inter-disciplinary composition: representatives from all social services (institutions for persons with disabilities, first aid, the Griesdeck advice and support centre, all special schools, mental health, medical and social centres, treatment advice centres for children and adults (KITZ, SPZ), parents’ associations, etc.).

Our dream was to take other dimensions however: to pool resources, experiences and expertise at European level through international exchanges and thanks to the plethora of people and institutions interested and involved in developing new concepts or concrete means and resources. We submitted an application for preparatory visits with the European Commission, which was approved straight off. This spelled the beginning of enriching meetings with 6 partners from 5 countries. The fact that ALL of them are actively involved in the EU project speaks volumes for the NEED for such cooperation arrangements.

On 1 March 2002, we submitted an official application for a Socrates Programme Comenius 2.1. In September we received the positive expert opinion of the EU Commission and then the requested budget. Georges Heck waxed somewhat lyrical in summarising the entire endeavour: “Euphoria and need had to meet one day; no one had issued an invitation – at least not consciously so.

They were both able to express themselves, one listened attentively to the other…sensing that they belonged to each other and that they really wanted to set off together. In exchanging thoughts along the journey through life, they both felt the joy and the need to create a project for the development of all people from birth to adulthood. Blissfully happy with these conditions, they named it, full of hope: “Exodus.”