PictoLab
so intellectual disabilities and illiteracy are no longer handicaps
Mission Statement
PictoLab will seek to operate with a mission to:
Actively contribute towards promoting and facilitating the social inclusion of persons with intellectual disabilities;
Actively contribute towards making illiterate persons socially less vulnerable and empowering them to be better equipped to realize their potential.
Advocacy by example is an essential PictoLab activity and a natural extension of the above mission.
On-going Projects
A research-action on the use of pictograms as autonomy tools, coupled with a study on :
professional care-givers’ perceptions of social inclusion, its facilitators and obstacles, and the impact of the use of pictograms as autonomy tools on caregivers and the disabled person;
Conducted at the Kamayani Society for Education and Research (Pune) with 12 special-ed teachers.
The development of the Social Identity Model of Care and Support designed to assist the disabled person in identifying their life choices and in helping make them a reality.
The design phase of the Symbolese Project to create the rules and resources of an efficient, scalable pictogram-based communication system. It will be common to all PictoLab applications and solutions.
The development of a comprehensive solution for Inclusive libraries to make all its resources and services available to illiterate persons and those with intellectual disabilities.
The design and development of a method to teach spoken and written French to students from recently arrived migrant families. It is based on the innovative Pictolire method that associates pictograms and color-coded sounds. The method will be accessible via the online literacy platform.
Strategic goals
Develop a care and support model designed to allow persons with intellectual disabilities to lead the lives of their choice, whether in sheltered environments, in society, or a combination of the two.
Design and develop autonomy and accessibility solutions so persons with intellectual disabilities can overcome the obstacles that keep them from leading the lives of their choice.
Develop language learning and delivery solutions to provide every illiterate person with a solution to their needs.
The Strategic goals are grounded in the Growth Mindset concept, the belief that, given the right resources and environment, each one of us can progress.
Collaborations
PictoLab is an international initiative that seeks to establish partnerships with people, institutions, and organizations around the world, with a view to leveraging its actions and creating an eco-system of autonomous, interconnected projects to maximize the synergy between them.
We are presently working with participants and researchers in four countries (France, India, USA, and Canada) and plan to expand to other countries in the near future. Current participants include :