Il Tortellante is a therapeutic and qualifying lab where autistic teenagers and adults learn to make fresh pasta by hand. The project was started in January 2016 and was integrated with educational and qualifying activities to encourage autonomy. But it also turned out to be a good practice of inclusion by involving the whole community.
Il Tortellante is one of the projects of the Aut Aut association and its main targets are:
- to promote educational activities to help autist people enter the professional world.
- to promote team building , involving also people who are not specifically trained about autism
- To help autistic guys building their lives as adults in order to be independent when their parents will not be alive anymore
- To support families of autistic people entering the adult age
- to promote inclusion and integration of autistic people in their community,
- to increase the community awareness about autism
The first pilot project was started in 2016-2017 at the Aut Aut headquarters and involved 21 people aged 15-27 with different skill levels and divided into 3 groups, for 2 hours a week. This experience showed to be rewarding and functional for autistic people, even for the ones who were less autonomous. In many cases, autistic people turned out to be more constant and more skilled than non-autistic people of the same age, showing talent and passion for what they were doing.
Qualitative evaluations made at the end of the project showed that autistic people improved their self-perception and self-assurance, as well as critical aspects such as team work , respect for rules, management of waiting time.
Families and volunteers also detected this improvement.
executive commetee:
Erika Coppelli, President
Silvia Panini, Vice President
Simona Gozzi
Andrea Lipparini
Maria Teresa Fiorini
Stefania Seidenari
Massimiliana Bianchi
Maria Cristina Giacobazzi
Francesco Giangrande
Lara Troy Gilmore
Pier Paolo Ferrari