Adeje Town Hall has developed a programme of training and awareness-raising activities to mark International Day of Persons with Disabilities, with the aim of providing information, encouraging reflection, and improving support for people with disabilities from different perspectives.
The councillor responsible for the department in charge of support for functional diversity, Raquel Rodríguez Alonso, stated that “we sought to offer spaces for information, training and engagement with different realities, strengthening access to resources and understanding of the needs of people with disabilities, so that municipal technical staff, as well as staff from other organisations and the public, could update their knowledge in this area”.
As part of this programme, three talks were held, aimed at the public and professionals. The first, entitled “Discapacidad y dependencia: recursos, derechos y acompañamiento” (Disability and dependency: resources, rights and support), was delivered by social workers from the Canary Islands Health Service, Verónica de la Torre de la Rosa and Ana Isabel González Barrios. Their session addressed available resources and the rights associated with dependency care.
The second session, “El autismo desde dentro” (Autism from the inside), was from speech and language therapist Aída Méndez García and offered an insight into autism from both a professional and lived perspective, focusing on understanding and support.
The programme concluded with the talk “Entornos accesibles para personas autistas” (Accessible environments for autistic people), by Alberto Gutiérrez, President of Autism Friendly Club Global. This session provided a practical approach to autism, highlighting the importance of creating public and private spaces that are accessible and easy to understand.
Using real-life examples, the main sensory and cognitive barriers were analysed, and simple guidelines were presented to encourage more respectful and predictable interactions.
Among the proposed improvements, Gutiérrez explained that “accessibility of environments is linked to the use of visual supports such as pictograms, the training of the people who make up those environments, and the understanding that people with autism need small adjustments in protocols and easy-read documents, including public documents and different processes, so that the space becomes friendly”.
Through this programme, Adeje Town Hall places the focus on awareness and training, promoting greater understanding of diversity and improved support for people with disabilities in the municipality.
