A house will be built near Olsztyn, where autistic adults will live with their guardians and will be able to work. It will be called Warmińska Kuźnia Pracy Modraszek – said Agnieszka Jabłońska, the director of the Complex of Educational Institutions in Olsztyn.
The house, which will be built in the Olsztyn poviat, is to be inhabited by 5 to 20 people. We are at the stage of searching for land for construction, we want to find it by the end of the summer holidays, and next year we are already planning to build a house. We are talking about this matter with the president of Olsztyn, the starost of Olsztyn, but also with business representatives – emphasized Jabłońska.
We want to obtain land for investment at the lowest possible cost, preferably either in the form of a donation or a loan. We estimate that the entire investment will cost from PLN 2 to 5 million. The money is to come from tax deductions transferred to public benefit organizations, individual and collective donations – she added.
The assumption is that the Modraszek house will be inhabited by autistic adults who, despite completing the vocational training school, have little opportunity to work on the open market. Therefore, they will not only live in the Modraszek Labor Forge, but also have the opportunity to work. They will be able, because this is what they learn in our school, to take up handicrafts, for years they have been preparing Christmas cards and ceramic products at our facility to order from various companies – added Jabłońska.
The center is to receive graduates of the Complex of Educational Institutions in Olsztyn, where disabled people up to 24 years of age study. Our mission is to assure parents of disabled children that they will be well looked after in the event that they run out, because this is the parents’ biggest pain and keeps them awake at night – added Jabłońska.
400 children attend the Educational Institutions Complex in Olsztyn. There are integration and special kindergartens, a special primary and middle school, and a vocational training school. The charges are mostly autistic people who react to external stimuli differently than the average person. The environment perceives their everyday behavior as unusual.
Autistic people’s senses, that is taste, sight, hearing and touch, may be either hypersensitive to external stimuli or too insensitive. Therefore, depending on the degree of sensitivity, these people need enhanced stimulation to be able to react to information from outside, or on the contrary – stimuli that convey neutral information for ordinary people are very strong for them.
Autistic people may be hypersensitive to touch and temperature, they may perceive simple sounds from outside as too noisy, they may not like bright colors or, on the contrary, they may stare at the light of an incandescent lamp, they may like sharp smells, e.g. of paint or gasoline.
Autistic people are often very sensitive and intelligent, although they may not be able to say it. They can express their emotions by singing, dancing and even writing poetry. (PAP)