Por the children of Milan sport is a powerful vehicle of communication and inclusion. And the associations that make it are growing an opportunity to overcome relationship difficulties about who is neurodivergent. Meneghina Athletics for five years it has in its range of proposals Athletics Together, a free project that aims to integrate children with relational intellectual disabilities. He tells us about it Stefania Morandi, head of the association she founded 10 years ago. And that he organized the Atletica Meneghina birthday party on Sunday 28 May at the Arena with an initiative open to all the children of Milan. Just for support the Athletics Together project.
The party of May 28 for the children of Milan
«The party will be at the Arena, the cradle from which the Atletica Meneghina project was born» explains Stefania Morandi. From 4 pm there will be a succession of games and sports open to all. And it will culminate in Color Race, a one kilometer non-competitive walk/run, around the Arena ring. There will be a version for children up to 6 years old, and one for everyone, starting at 6.30pm. The afternoon activities are free, you can sign up for the race. In addition to the white t-shirt, the kit delivered with registration includes colored powder to throw to cheerfully mark the course. The initiative is sponsored by Municipio 1 of the Municipality of Milan and by the Asst Saints Charles and Paul.
What is the Athletics Together project
The poster of the party open to all the children of Milan.
The Athletics Together project coordinated by psychologist Beatrice Zuffi was born in an association already devoted to a socio-educational reading of sport, for all the children of Milan. “Aim to use athletics as an opportunity to strengthen children’s relational skills with relational intellectual disabilities» explains Stefania Morandi.
Who are the psycho instructors
«Within this project a key role is played by psycho instructors. They are specialists in the psychological field, graduates or undergraduates in psychology or motor sciences, what they do as mediators between the kids in need, the athletic coach and the rest of the group in which they are placed» adds the founder, with her partner Stefano Auletta, of Atletica Meneghina. After 5 years in which the project’s economic commitment was supported within the association they decided to make it known and appreciated by all the others.
The project and autistic kids
Each child is guided in the insertion respecting his times.
I am about thirty boys and girls who have joined this free project in the past five years. Participants range in age from 2 to 14 years. «Today the Athletics Together project and fundraising are dedicated to autistic children and teenagers, because it is mainly their families who turn to us. But it is not a project dedicated exclusively to them» specifies Morandi.
A team effort
The psycho instructor is a new figure in the sports team, which characterizes the Athletics project together. «Its primary task is to guide children with problems to enter the Atletica Meneghina environment, to make themselves known and to get closer to others. And so in an initial phase of adaptation, which lasts as long as necessary for each person’s needs, he works with the child in a one-on-one relationship. But the project aims to weave good relationships between all the children in the group, the psycho instructor therefore then inserts himself with targeted interventions. Leaving that the sports instructor becomes the point of reference for the entire team» says Stephanie. Psycho instructors also work together, as a team, through a continuous exchange of experiences and reflections.
The summer camps
The sport and inclusion proposal that Atletica Meneghina addresses to all the children of Milan is also articulated with summer and winter camps open for ages 2 to 13. Athletics Together is an opportunity for growth in sport for all the children of Milan involved. «This is why we are waiting for you on Sunday 28 May at the Arena» concludes Stefania Morandi.
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