UC Down Syndrome Center to Create Chile’s First Simulation House for People with Cognitive Disabilities
22/May/2021
UC Down Syndrome Center and SQM signed an agreement today in the context of World Down Syndrome Day, celebrated on March 21st. The donation will fund Chile’s first simulation house for people with cognitive disabilities, a place where they can prepare for independent living.
UC Down Syndrome Center and SQM signed an agreement today in the context of World Down Syndrome Day, celebrated on March 21st. The donation will fund Chile’s first simulation house for people with cognitive disabilities, a place where they can prepare for independent living.
“The house project is like a dream come true because we, the young people, dream about living independently,” were the words María Jesús Rudloff used to express her gratitude for the new simulation house where she will learn her last life lessons before living “alone” in an apartment.
This new house, which is currently being remodeled, has been made possible thanks to a donation by SQM to the UC Down Syndrome Center. The project is part of the center’s independent living skills program and will enable young people with cognitive disabilities to continue learning to be autonomous.
“In the independent living program, I’ve learned everything: from my rights, to cooking, to how to maintain a household and make repairs. I have also learned to get around, even though we can’t do it now because of the pandemic. This year, I want to learn new and challenging things, not just basic, simple things. We are adults now, and we already have some experience. I want to learn to garden, pay household bills and live in an apartment with my friends, without our parents, like my sisters have,” said María Jesús.
She shared her testimony at the signing ceremony held at UC’s Campus Oriente. Patricio Contesse, Vice Chairman of the Board at SQM noted: “For years, SQM has encouraged employees to wear different colored socks on March 21 as an expression of our commitment to diversity and inclusiveness. Everyone is equal in terms of dignity and rights. The symbolism in the socks must be coupled with concrete commitment. This agreement with UC Down Syndrome Center reaffirms our commitment to a pluralistic society where all voices are welcome.”
UC Rector Ignacio Sánchez noted: “This center has enabled us to train and hire people from the center.”
“This year, our university will begin offering a degree in occupational therapy. Those students will be able to support the center at this new simulation house. We can work as a team so that the university can contribute to this and other centers through its programs of study. That is the synergy. The university has a great deal to contribute,” emphasized the rector.
Special house for learning
The special advanced program for persons with cognitive disabilities preparing for independent living was offered for the first time last year. The purpose is to provide more extensive training to adults with cognitive disabilities through practical courses so that they can make progress toward an independent life plan, including job searches, personal finance and performing basic and instrumental daily activities.
The UC Down Syndrome Center is aligned with the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities and responds to the necessity of creating and opening spaces for people with cognitive disabilities to acquire the skills and tools that enable them to, in the future, exercise their decision and right to live independently. The program includes support strategies that enable them to seek, access, select and keep dignified employment and manage personal finances to reach independence and participate in their community as economically and socially active citizens.
Practical activities include the overnight stay module, in which participants spend the night at the UC Down Syndrome Center simulation house three days a month in the second semester of the program. The simulation house will be specially equipped so that the young people can spend the night there with a supervisor close at hand.
Macarena Lizama, pediatrician and director of the UC Down Syndrome Center explains: “The house remodel, which is still underway, has made it possible to install one-way mirrors in some spaces. This enables supervision from the outside so that the young people feel more independent as they resolve daily life situations autonomously.”
“It is designed as a two-bedroom apartment. One room has a single bed and the other is a shared room with two beds. It is set up this way so they also learn to live in a shared space and respect another person’s private space. The house has a laundry room and an ironing room, an open-concept kitchen and a living/dining room,” added the director.
“The work began in February, and it should be ready at the end of May. It all depends on the quarantines. SQM has supported us with funding for the remodel, but we need to raise money to set it up. We want it to be beautiful, welcoming, modern and decorated for young people,” she said.
The program includes spending a few nights at the house, but the house will not be used as housing for an individual person. A third room or residence was designed to be “outside” the apartment. That is where the supervisor will be. “We began offering the independent living program last year with four girls who are now in the second year. We have done this in small groups and gradually added more young people. The idea is to make this simulation house available for many projects with the same goal,” said the doctor.
See the agreement signing ceremony here: