Summary
Trainees will learn about what political participation is and why this is important for people with intellectual disabilities (PwID).This module will focus on strengthening the exercise of citizenship, namely on voting rights, how to exercise the right to vote, and how to look for relevant information about politics and political parties.
Target Group
People with intellectual disabilities and supporters, including disability professionals, relatives and/or other stakeholders who can play a role in the exercise of rights of persons with intellectual disabilities. Their involvement in the training activities could be adapted to each scenario.
Aims
- To know what political rights are.
- To know what political and civic participation is.
- To know how they relate with citizenship.
- To know what are the legal instruments that address this right.
- To learn about democratic systems.
- To learn how to make a decision.
- To know how to exercise the right to vote (in general and country specific).
- How to look for ways to contact politicians.
- To learn how to use digital media in this context.
Key Competences
- Civic skills (e.g. civic knowledge, cognitive civic skills, participatory civic skills, civic dispositions).
- Decision making (e.g., masters the 7 steps of decision-making – needed to master the voting process).
- Social media and politics (setting a twitter account and using twitter).
Training Contents
- Democracy and democratic participation – key concepts.
- Brief approach to political participation of persons with intellectual and developmental disabilities.
- Articles 12 and 29 of the CRPD.
- The European Disability Strategy.
- National legal framework (just referring that trainers must have this knowledge and prepare materials or, asking partners for input so it can be already inserted in O3).
- The decision-making process
- Step 1: Identify the decision. You realise that you need to make a decision.
- Step 2: Gather relevant information.
- Step 3: Identify the alternatives.
- Step 4: Weigh the evidence.
- Step 5: Choose among alternatives.
- Step 6: Take action.
- Step 7: Review your decision & its consequences.
- Skills to exercise citizenship
- Identifying and describing information about politics and civic participation.
- Search, analyse and explain information.
- Talking in public and defending positions – support needs.
- Critical thinking.
- How to improve political and civic participation.
- Discovering common interests and building social networks.
- How to influence and lobby – e.g. digital tools.
- Taking actions to improve political and civic participation
Session Plan (for trainers)
