A virtual tour application is available on the OPA site, which enables a person with sensory processing problems to check from his home which areas have natural light or are loud or usually crowded.
How does the world change? One step at a time. This "mantra" is applied by Christos and Maria Karakasidi, the two brothers behind the non-profit organization The Happy Act, who have set a goal to make public space friendlier to people on the autism spectrum. With their latest project, the step seems bigger.
A virtual tour application is available, which provides the visitor with the possibility of navigating the university premises with an axis of accessibility. An autistic person who wants to visit the university can check from his home which places have natural light or are loud or usually crowded. "This way he can get acquainted with the space, know what he will see and where he can relax, removing the stressors", explains Christos Karakasidis.
At the same time, special signs will be placed on the campus to warn the visitor of the stimulus (made of special anti-graffiti material). Also, the staff was trained for the correct contact and service of people in the autism spectrum, while training of the teaching staff will follow.
The first contact was made last summer on the initiative of Christos, who is a graduate of OPA. "When I explained to the university authorities what we wanted to do, the response was immediate. In fact, we did this project for free, as a minimum return for what this place once offered me ". The co-founder of The Happy Act immediately got in touch with Nikolas Sopylis, a founding member of the VitrinaBox startup that specializes in virtual tours. Before I finished my sentence, Nikos said "let's do it". He gave us the platform for free, he was also a student at the University of Economics. We both returned 20 years later to make it the first accessible university in Greece ". Eventually the cost was higher than they had anticipated, as the virtual tour crews had to come back again and again to get the spaces unpainted by slogans. The virtual tour application at AOP was implemented in the framework of the Study in Greece action.
"We are happy and blessed to have been given the opportunity to achieve our goal of creating accessibility conditions for people on the autism spectrum and for people with sensory processing problems at a symbolic university for Greece, the Athens University of Economics and Business," he said. Christos. "Joy, emotion, nostalgia for all the beautiful moments I lived there and a responsibility to offer back what was generously given to us during our studies. As for The Happy Act, we are slowly creating a new reality. A reality that fits us all. "
