Type of Project: Funded project Model project
SchülerPool

As part of the three-year SchülerPool project, a specific pool of assistive products is intended to ensure the technical and optical consultation, supply and support of students with the special focus of vision in joint learning from grade 8. In the project, a consultant is available for many questions relating to the provision of assistive products, technical installation, instruction at the internship site and in everyday school life, as well as delivery. In the Rhineland, there is a special pool of aids for visually impaired and blind people at the Düren site, but the focus here was on the workplace in the general labor market and, as a result, the special features for schoolchildren were not taken into account in the equipment. The supply from the previous assistive device pool consisted only of the provision of technical and optical assistive products. Since this alone is not satisfactory for young people, the project will also provide personnel resources to support the provision of assistive products over a longer period of time and to act as contact persons for all those involved in problem situations. Once recommendations for assistive products have been worked out, the student must learn how to use these assistive products or special working techniques optimally and to integrate them into his or her everyday life. This is a special challenge for the student (and, if applicable, his or her integration aide). On the one hand, the student can compensate for his or her disability to a certain extent, but at the same time he or she will signal a special role to his or her environment, which may have a problematic effect during adolescence (role of special education teachers, the general school, parents, etc.). Once the student has accepted and also learned to use his or her assistive products effectively in everyday learning, it is also a matter of creating acceptance and allaying technical concerns in the various company placements. The advisor must help here and take over or accompany the communication in the internship company, so that reservations are reduced. The goal must be that the student is technically integrated into the system of the internship employer and thus given a fair chance to perform valuable internship tasks under realistic conditions and thus gain a real insight into the world of work. The description of the tasks for the advisor shows that close and constructive cooperation with the Integrationsfachdienst Sehen, the LVR Integrationsamt and the special education teachers is indispensable. Regular discussions, clarification of tasks and coordination of appointments are necessary here.