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New communication tool for autists

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Who are we?
Allow us to introduce with a few words a project that is very close to our hearts. We are 3 students (Gianluca Marinelli, Tina Leurs & Alessio Weber) from the Luxembourg School of Business and Management, and we’re building a social project for people with Autism Syndrome.
As a part of this, we had the opportunity to participate in the Young Enterprise Project contest organized by Nyuko and Jonk Entrepreneuren. From thirty competing projects, we were among the first 7 groups elected for the national final to be held May 3rd at the “Banque International de Luxembourg”.  

Update:
We are proud to let you know that we won the  final of the Young Enterprise Project! We are now looking forward to flying to Riga to represent Luxembourg in the International final.
What started as a school project, has turned into a dream we are committed to turning into reality, because of its significance and potential to transform lives.


The Problem:


In the 1990s, one in 10,000 people suffered from autism syndrome. In 2017, there are more than one in 150 people (out of which approximately 5,900 people in Luxembourg and 5 million in Europe).
In the United States, the ASD (Autism Spectrum Disorder) has reached another magnitude: 7 million people, which equates to one in 48 individuals.
Autistic people often have great difficulty communicating and expressing themselves. They need, more than others, tools to manage their daily lives. The big known problems are expression and communication. Today, people with autism use paper pictograms to communicate with those around them. These physical pictograms are time consuming to handle, dull, bulky, easily damaged and quickly lost. Production and acquisition also require a great psychological and financial effort on the part of the parents. 


Our Solution:


Replace the paper pictograms with a simplified application that will facilitate communication. On the digital pictograms the parents can save voice recordings for their child. Parents will also have the possibility to plan the day-to-day activities of their children.
Here you can see a draft of the parent's interface :
Option to buy a tablet integrating the application, with a protective shell in the desired color.
Here you have a draft of how the child's interface will look like:
This application gives them the means to be part of the technological world and enables them to express their needs therethrough. This is not a plain application. Our goal is to create a whole community around it. Our subscribers (parents & people with the syndrome) will benefit from a range of advantages. Through our events, members of our community can exchange experiences and support each other as a family. Starting from a simple idea that was to replace paper with digital, we have developed a whole concept that will increase the quality of life for our subscribers.


We are supported by and in collaboration with many institutions as well as by doctors.

“This is a big promise for helping young people and families to communicate in a fresh and new way using modern technology.”

“I think that it is really inspirational that young people have come up with this idea that could really make a difference to many families who deal with this very difficult condition.”

Quotes from Dr Oluwafemi, London, from one of our interviews.


To transform our dream into reality, we have initial financial needs of 40.000 €, of which 15.000 € for the development of the application and 17.500 € for the stock of tablets and protective shells. To promote our project we would like to write a booklet explaining in more detail the syndrome, the needs it requires and especially the solutions we would like to offer to parents and children. For this we need your financial support. Each contribution, no matter the size, will increase hope for a better quality of life for all people with Autism Syndrome. Let's fight together for them. Together, we can do this! Thank you in advance for taking the time to read about our project.

Team SOVI Solutions





Version francaise

Partant d’un projet scolaire nous en sommes à un rêve qu’on voudrait réaliser à tout prix car l’envergure est importante, considérable et sérieuse.

Quelle est la problématique :

Dans les années 90, une sur 10.000 personnes était victime du syndrome de l’autisme. En 2017, on compte plus d’un individu sur 150 (dont approximativement 3.900 personnes au Luxembourg et 5 millions en Europe). Aux États-Unis le TSA (trouble du spectre de l’autisme) a atteint une autre ampleur : 7 millions de personnes, ce qui équivaut à un individu sur 48. Les autistes ont souvent de grandes difficultés pour communiquer et pour s’exprimer. Ils ont besoin, plus que les autres, de repères pour arriver à gérer leur quotidien. La grande problématique connue sont l’expression et la communication. À ce jour, les personnes autistes utilisent des pictogrammes en papier pour communiquer avec leur entourage. Ces pictogrammes physiques sont lents à manier, tristes, encombrant, s’abîment et se perdent vite. La production et l’acquisition requièrent également un grand effort psychologique et financier de la part des parents.

  Notre solution :

1. Substituer ces pictogrammes en papier par une application simplifiée qui facilitera la communication. Sur ces pictogrammes digitaux pourront donc être sauvegardés des enregistrements vocaux des parents. Les parents auront aussi la possibilité de planifier le déroulement de la journée quotidienne de leurs enfants.

2. Possibilité d’acheter une tablette intégrant l’application avec une coque protectrice dans la couleur souhaitée.

Cette application leur donne le moyen de faire partie du monde technologique en leur permettant d’exprimer leurs besoins. Ce n’est pas une simple application mais nous envisageons de créer toute une communauté autour.
Nos abonnés (parents & personnes atteintes du syndrome) pourront ainsi bénéficier d’un ensemble d’avantages.
Lors de nos événements les membres de notre communauté peuvent s’échanger et se soutenir entre eux comme une famille. Parti d’une idée simple qui était de substituer le papier par le digital, nous avons élaboré tout un concept qui apportera de la valeur à nos abonnés. Nous sommes également soutenus par de nombreuses institutions ainsi que par des médecins.

Ci-après la citation (lors d’un interview) du Dr Oluwafemi de Londres :

“This is a big promise for helping young people and families to communicate in a fresh and new way using modern technology."

I think that it is really inspirational that young people have come up with this idea that could really make a difference to many families who deal with this very difficult condition”.

Pour réaliser notre rêve, nous avons des besoins financiers initiaux de 40.000 €, dont 15.000 € pour le développement de l’application et 17.500 € pour le stock de tablettes et des coques. Pour promouvoir notre projet nous voudrions rédiger un manuscrit expliquant plus en détails la maladie, les besoins dont elle nécessite et surtout les solutions que nous voudrions apportées aux parents et aux enfants. Pour ce nous avons besoin de votre soutien financier. Chaque contribution, aussi moindre qu’elle sera ferait croître l’espoir d’une meilleure qualité de vie de toutes les personnes atteintes du syndrome de l’autisme. Combattons ensemble pour eux car l’union fait la force. Merci d’avance d’avoir pris le temps de nous lire.

Team SOVI Solutions

Donations 

  • Anonymous
    • €20 
    • 6 yrs

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SOVI Solutions
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BelvauxLU

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