Več športa za otroke s posebnimi potrebami

With the project, both partners wanted to strengthen adapted sports programs for participants - children, adolescents and adults with severe intellectual disabilities, autism and combined disorders. The fact is that such programs open the door to society, to greater inclusion, to the possibility of spending quality active free time, socializing, and developing their self-worth. Both partners know from experience that these individuals are faced not only with their own physical limitations, but also with many socially determined ones and as a result are often deprived of many activities that are available to the majority population and are consequently pushed to the margins of society. Like every human being, they also have the right to socialize, to sports, to quality education, to developing their own potential, etc. We also registered the project due to the desire to share experiences, practices, methods and knowledge between the two associations, and at the same time to upgrade the existing activities with a manual that is helpful to all those who come across or will encounter people with special needs in sports. The long-term goal and effort of both partners is the inclusion of people with special needs in regular clubs.

With the project, we exchanged mutual knowledge, experiences, practices, work methods and approaches of coaches, sports professional staff, volunteers and assistants who carry out adapted training in both countries. In this way, we ensured the professional development of the staff of both societies, which had a positive effect on the development of skills, knowledge and competences also among teachers, sports teachers, special ed. teachers, occupational therapists and other professionals in the field of work for persons with special needs. Both assosiations closely cooperate with schools, and this way teachers from schools also took part in the mobility. In addition to the fact that the project was primarily aimed at participants in professional staff exchanges, we also wanted the project to bring effects to trainees - children, adolescents and adults with severe intellectual disabilities, autism and associated disorders, in whom we gained concrete insight into their movement abilities, as we carried out measurements and thus indirectly and directly influenced the aforementioned project participants. We are convinced that their greater involvement would significantly contribute to the improvement of their quality of life.

During the project, we carried out all the planned exchanges of professional staff, in which we combined the staff of the two associations and schools with which they cooperate, and in this way ensured important synergies between the two. Another important activity was testing motor skills of children who only attend exercise at school and those who also participate in additional exercise. Based on the results, we found that additional sports training has a positive effect on the progress in the movement state. The testing and exchanges of professional staff were followed by the preparation of a manual as a practical tool that can be used not only by the project's closest collaborators, but is also intended for coaches, teachers, sports teachers, special education workers and many workers in the field of sports for people with special needs. An important activity of the project was related to the dissemination of results we held two round tables, where we attracted experts from the field, relevant stakeholders from the field of sports, teachers, coaches, and parents. In this way, we managed to expand the project beyond the partnership itself, which was also its purpose.

The main product of the project is a manual, which contains examples of exercises from the practices of both partners, measurements and test results, examples of good practices, challenges and possible solutions. The manual is supported by many practical examples and photos. It is prepared in the languages of both partners and in English. It is available in digital and print formats. The result of the project is also a pilot adapted measurement battery, which has not yet been developed in standardized forms for this population, and which we developed on the basis of experience and opinions given at exchanges, and a questionnaire for parents, and both still have plenty of potential for development and more detailed research. The result of this field is the confirmed hypothesis that additional exercise has a positive influence on the movement state of children and enables greater movement (and all-round) development. As an extremely important result, the round tables were held, where we not only presented the activities and results of the project, but through debates raised awareness of the importance of exercise for the mentioned population, larger and broader solutions, and it is extremely important that the debates were supported