The Organisation for the Protection of Persons with Autism and Pervasive Developmental Disorders of the Prefecture of Kastoria, is a non-profit body, established in March 2006 by three families of children with autism that live in the area. The Organisation is overseen by the Ministry of Health through its inclusion in the “National Register of Non-Profit Institutions of the Private Sector providing Social Care Services” and the “Special Register of Voluntary Non-Governmental Organizations”.

Goal

The goal of the Organisation is the provision of support and protection to people with autism and their families, both at local and national level, to better achieve the purposes of social inclusion. For its purposes the Organisation is operating for:

1. The mapping out of autism related issues and needs in the prefecture of Kastoria
2. The setting up of facilities and services to meet the needs of people with autism and their families
3. The training of mental health professionals and educators (in both public and private sectors)
4. The setting up of volunteering schemes
5. The support and participation in  research projects and actions for the empowerment of people with autism

Initiatives and actions

Since its creation in 2006 the Organisation has undertaken a number of initiatives, the most notable of which include the following:

• Establishing and running a Day Centre for Children, Adolescents and Young Adults with Autism (since 2012)
• Running volunteering schemes like 'Befriending' (since 2008)
• Promoting positive awareness about autism in the community (including festivals and theatrical performances)
• Providing training (seminars and workshops)
• Actively participating in local and national actions for the protection of rights of people with autism (i.e. petitions, public representation)

The Organisation and the Municipality in synergy

One of the most central objectives of the Organisation is the establishment and operation of structures that support education, work and welfare of persons with autism in Kastoria. To this end, the Organisation has created and put into operation in November 2012 the “Day Center for children, adolescents and young adults with autism“. The Center is hosted in an property ceded by the Municipality of Kastoria in the Municipal District of Maniakoi .

The financing plan of this structure took into account both the functional needs of the Center and the modulation needs of the Center’s facilities, along with its equipment needs.

During its first two years of operation the Centre was financed by the Operational Programme "Human Resources Development" NSRF 2007-2013. The Act was implemented by the Organisation with the method of self superintendency, since it has managerial capacity of type B. As of January 2015 the Centre is partially supported by the Hellenic Ministry of Health. Private funding, in the form of donations and philanthropic gestures, is an essential prerequisite for securing its long-term existence and quality of services provided to people with autism and their families.

The project of the modulation of the Centre’s facilities was undertaken by the Municipality of Kastoria through the Operational Programme "Human Resources Development" NSRF 2007-2013. Under this Act, the municipality of Kastoria signed a programmatic agreement with the Organisation and in close cooperation, jointly decided and helped shape the physical object of the Act, completing the project in time so as the Center was able to accept its first beneficiaries in March 2013.
So far the Day Centre has provided services to twenty four (24) children, adolescents and young adults with autism. Each person's program was planned on the basis of his/her individual needs and in close collaboration with the family, the school as well as every other important person in his/her life. At the same time, support was provided to family members in the form of individual counseling sessions as well as regular group meetings (parents and siblings' support groups).

Furthermore, an important part of the activities of the Day Center is 1) the establishment of links and programs that create positive awareness about autism in the community, 2) the promotion of relevant knowledge by contributing to autism-related research (conducting relevant studies, developing intervention tools e.t.c.) while 3) offering placement and training opportunities to health, mental health and education students.

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