UNA BRECCIA NEL MURO
FIGHT AUTISM
The association “Una Breccia nel Muro” has been active since 2011 and works exclusively with autistic children and their families.
Autism is a serious and widespread syndrome. In Italy, but the level is substantially equivalent in all countries for which there is sufficient data, it is 1% of births and this figure is constantly increasing.
Treatments are long and expensive and most families cannot afford this financial burden. The donation received by APAS made it possible to finance 4 months of treatment for 10 young autistic children in the “Facciamo Breccia” centers in Salerno and Rome.
The treatment is essentially inspired by Applied Behavior Analysis and Verbal Behavior, ABA-VB, Applied Behavior Analysis and takes place in an individual relationship between the child and the specialized therapist. It is supervised by cognitive-behavioral analyses, Board Certified Behavior Analyst, BCBA in order to guarantee its quality. Specific supports are used and also provided for use in the home.
Families are supported in accepting the diagnosis and it is through parenting training they can maintain consistent behavior and reinforce treatment at home.
Report of the activity carried out thanks to the donation received from the Association for Art and Solidarity
Thanks to the donation received, the association “Una breccia nel muro - ODV” provided in the space of 100 days a cognitive-behavioral treatment, essentially inspired by the applied behavior analysis, ABA, in favor of ten boys diagnosed with serious or even very serious autism spectrum syndrome.
The treatments were carried out on four boys at the “Facciamo breccia” Center in Salerno and on six boys at the “Facciamo breccia” Center in Rome. The educational intervention generally took place in a protected environment; sometimes in children's homes and also in schools. All beneficiaries were followed up for individual and group activities by professional therapists: one by one under the direction of a supervisor.
The skills and progressive autonomy acquired are globally consolidated. The objectives set in the educational projects of each of the beneficiaries, prepared and monitored by the supervisors, were achieved, as described in the clinical reports prepared by the supervisors themselves.
We are very grateful for the help we have been given.
Rome, April 17, 2025
Alberto Zuliani, president
The financial contribution granted by the Association for Art and Solidarity to the voluntary association Una breccia nel muro - ODV will be allocated to the realization of part of the project “Relazionarsi - Promoting the relationships of girls, boys and young adults with autism and their integration into work”.
The project is divided into two modules: development of cognitive-emotional and social skills; support in professional placement.
The first module aims to work, first of all, on the seven main emotions: anger, fear, joy, sadness, surprise, contempt, disgust, drawing on the CAT-kit manual — Cognitive and Affective Education, developed by Tony Attwood et al. (https://cat-kit.com/it/), the only one considered to be evidence based on guidelines no. 21 of the Higher Institute of Health. We will also work on basic social skills, such as: eye contact during the communication exchange, greeting, greeting correspondence, communication exchange, modulating behavior according to the level of trust with the interlocutor, etc. We will start from the social skills training manual (Bari et al., 2021). Other techniques in the cognitive-behavioral field will be used.
The second module consists in planning and supporting extra-curricular internships for young people with autism, oriented towards employment. Four actions are planned: information/training on autism spectrum syndrome, ASD, for company personnel; training of beneficiaries on the basic skills necessary to carry out the task; professional coaching in favor of the autistic person within the host company, in order to facilitate the acquisition in the field of skills necessary to perform the job, also taking care of the aspect of interpersonal relationships. The job coach will also help company staff - employer and colleagues of the autistic person - in order to promote an inclusive environment; mentoring in favor of the autistic person, carried out by one or more employees of the company that will host the internship, suitably trained to support the intern in integrating and performing the expected tasks.
The intervention will be supervised throughout its duration by behavior analysts.
