INTRODUCTION
ASPASSIM
Therapeutic craft workshop dedicated to the integration of the mentally handicapped.
On 10 July 2004, the Artesà and ASPASIM foundations joined forces to set up what was the first therapeutic craft workshop in El Poble Espanyol, intended to encourage the integration of mentally handicapped people.
As well as making it possible for them to learn craft work, the workshop has another basic aim: to take a further step towards eliminating the social barriers between these people and the rest of society. Located on the Plaça Major, the workshop is open to groups of mentally handicapped people who, with the help of two monitors, perform various craft tasks.
This venture by the two foundations is making progress in bringing about their full social integration, and has the added value of also promoting communication between those attending the workshop and both the residents and visitors at the Village.
The workshop operates with groups of 12 individuals aged between 18 and 65, with one monitor from each organisation, on a rotating basis. The workshop is classified as therapeutic because its aims go far beyond what it offers simply in terms of integration in the workplace. Through crafts, other skills are developed (spatial and colour awareness and motor skills, among others). The workshop has different areas: traditional nativity scenes, macramé, needlecraft, painting, ceramics and jewellery.
ASPASIM was created in 1946, and is based in Vallvidrera. As well as a special education school, it has an occupational centre and residential units around the town, and deals with a total of 160 individuals with severe mental disability.
The Artesà foundation was born out of the Association of Parents of Mentally Disabled People of the Poble Sec district of Barcelona, created in 1978. The foundation itself was set up in 2000, and it has an occupational centre, a special employment centre (cleaning apartment blocks, offices, etc., and handling work focused on the field of electrics) and a residential service. Its deals with a total of 103 individuals with mental disability ranging from mild to severe.
