On Tuesday, April 23rd, the first Multiplier Event of the European Project F.A.C.T.S. took place at Panteion University in Athens, Greece. The event was organised by the organisation Ploes E.Psy.Me., leading partner of the consortium, and supported by the Research Center of Biopolitics (RECEBI) of Panteion University.
On Tuesday, April 23rd, the first Multiplier Event of the European Project F.A.C.T.S. took place at Panteion University in Athens, Greece. The event was organised by the organisation Ploes E.Psy.Me., leading partner of the consortium, and supported by the Research Center of Biopolitics (RECEBI) of Panteion University. The F.A.C.T.S. project aims at developing educational practices on sexuality and gender identity issues for professionals working with autistic people.
The purpose of the Multiplier Event was to raise awareness and inform regarding the main principles and goals of the F.A.C.T.S. project. Firstly, an introduction was made to the concept and main deliverables of the project by Olga Romanou, the project manager of F.A.C.T.S and psychoeducator for Ploes. Then, all partners of the consortium were introduced with short videos presenting their organisations.
As the first part WP2 of the project is now concluded, the first results of the literature review were presented by Anna Daskalaki and Dimitris Tourlidas, sociologists for RECEBI. After a short break, participants were able to taste delights hand-made by KOISPE Plori and a presentation was made on the topic “Expressing ourselves, autistic identity, gender and sexuality” by Ioannis Voskopoulos, psychologist and neuroaffirming therapist.
Activity during the first ME in Athens
The thorough research conducted by the Research Center of Biopolitics for the needs of the project and the in-depth presentation by Mr Voskopoulos sparked a vivid conversation on gender issues and sexuality, expression, and identity. This was enabled by the experiential workshop coordinated by Mary Ioannidi, playtherapist and psychologist for Ploes. The aim of the workshop was to explore the sexuality of autistic people through activities, and enable the dialogue on related matters.
Overall, the first Multiplier Event of the F.A.C.T.S. project was a successful and fruitful experience for the organising partners, and also for the more than 80 participants, health professionals, and organisations that support autistic individuals’ rights, who attended both in-person and online.
We are looking forward to the next promising steps of this challenging yet auspicious project!
