Mirability Protocol
Andrea Di Toppa
The purpose of the outcome research is to assess the presence of any improvements in the day-to-day activities and social participation of people with cognitive and behavioural neurodiversity after an autonomy education course carried out within a peer group. The sample was recruited from users enrolled in the social cooperative «Mirability Cooperativa Sociale» (LT) and consisted of 37 participants divided into three age groups (pre-adolescents, adolescents and adults). The recruited subjects have a neurodiversity condition due to neurodevelopmental disorders and genetic syndromes and an age of over 10 years. All participants underwent the Mirability protocol, which provides training to increase the three macro-areas of autonomy (personal, social-behavioural-relational, and movement) and improve participation within a group. Each subject was assessed at baseline and at outcome, after four months of intervention. The outcomes were recorded by the cooperative’s multidisciplinary team through the administration of four scales to assess the level of activities of daily life and social participation. Caregivers were administered two questionnaires to measure their integration into the community and the overall impact of perceived physical, cultural and political barriers.The results obtained showed significant improvements in socialization, participation and involvement skills pertaining to social autonomies. Significant changes were reported in movement autonomy, while personal autonomies showed less significant changes. Pre-adolescent and adolescent subjects achieved the best scores; the adult group remained stable overall. The protocol also positively influenced perceptions of the overall impact of some barriers pertaining to community services. This is the first study to measure the effect of a social education and integration programme in a heterogeneous group of neurodiverse people. Therefore, it is necessary to test its applicability and reliability in different environmental settings and conduct further research to confirm the results obtained.
Keywords
Mirability protocol, Autonomy education, Inclusion, Social participation, Neurodiversity.
