Aspaym Castilla y León Foundation

ASPAYM Castilla y León Foundation started working in 2004, twelve years after the establishment of ASPAYM in the region of Castilla y León. Its main aims are to promote autonomy, equal rights and opportunities and to increase quality of life of people with physical disabilities, allowing them a significant integration among the society.

In addition, ASPAYM CyL seeks to be a leading association, providing its target users with the tools to achieve that mission. That goal is reached thanks to the quality of its programs and activities, the research and the proper use of new technologies.

ASPAYM CyL has a youth department focused on activities with young people. This department is an active member of the Regional Youth Council of Castilla and Leon, and also part of the Permanent Youth Council of the Province of Valladolid, where ASPAYM is a member of the board. We are also part of the network of youth information points in the province of Valladolid, which makes it the only entity of young people with diversity that meets everything above. The organization, and also the youth department, has headquarters in different cities in Castilla y León, with a special emphasis on rural areas. It includes Ávila, Burgos, Camponaraya (León), Cubillos del Sil (León), León, Matapozuelos (Valladolid) Palencia, Paredes de Nava (Palencia), Segovia, Valladolid y VIlladiego (Burgos). The youth department of ASPAYM Castilla y León develops many activities for advocacy, non-formal education, employment, leisure inclusive, etc.

One of the most prominent examples is the inclusive camp developed by the entity and which has 18 years of experience and multiple awards, as well as the awareness project “Ponte en mis zapatos” (Put yourself in my shoes), whose main objective is the standardization of disabilities in schools, community centres, youth organizations, etc. During the last few years, the organization has bet for the use of gamification as a methodology in non-formal education activities. In that sense, ASPAYM CyL has developed board games, video games, escape rooms, escape boxes and manuals based on this technique to work with youngsters, always from an inclusive perspective in order to guarantee equal access to youngsters with disabilities to all the resources available.

Natalia Neira Carrión, Roberto Carlos López Martín

Natalia Neira Carrión, Roberto Carlos López Martín