NEWS

• 28/04/2010 Azahar, Clinical Practice Guide for the management of patients with autism spectrum disorders (ASD) in primary care.
  Azahar is one of the resources for parents quoted in the recently published Clinical Practice Guide for the management of patients with autism spectrum disorders (ASD) in primary care, developed by the Unit for Health Technology Assessment (UETS) of Lain Agency Entralgo in the framework of the Plan of Quality of National Health System. The guide was presented in Madrid, Wednesday 28th, with a day that served to make known the various resources in health, education and social support that can come with ASD patients, families and professionals. On that day, Azahar was presented by a communication of Veronica Pensosi, project manager of the Orange Foundation and Gerardo Herrera, president of Autism Ávila. In addition, more than 200 attendees received the Azahar pedagogical guides and the Azahar user manual.
• 20/02/2010 Azahar, presented at the Conference on Augmentative Communication DiverTIC (February 2010)
  The Azahar applications were submitted as part of the First Conference on Augmentative Communication organized by the National Association of Educational Technology for Diversity (DiverTIC), together with the Regional Ministry of Education, Training and Employment of the Region of Murcia. The conference was a meeting between education and disability professionals, were treated various aspects of Augmentative and technology, such as multi-sensory communication, communication systems with and without assistance, assistive technology, etc... The Azahar applications guides were distributed to all attendees.
• 23/10/2009 Great interest in the Azahar project presentation.
  As planned, the Azahar project was launched in Avila, on the 20th October. The presentation was held in the auditorium of the Palace of Serrano (Caja Avila), in the Italian Square in Avila. The presentation commenced with a speeches by Montaña Rodriguez, the Deputy Mayor of Social Services from Avila Town Hall, Manual Gimeno, the Director of the Orange Foundation Spain, Gerardo Herrera, the President of Avila Autism and Javier Sevilla, the coordinator of the Autism and Learning Difficulties Group of the University of Valencia. After the introductions, various members of the Autism and Learning Group of the University of Valencia demonstrated practically how the different Azahar applications worked and talked about how pedagogical orientations were considered during the design of Azahar. After the presentation, the Orange Foundation gave the Azahar pedagogical guides to the gathered delegates, a question and answer session followed for the attending media and finally the participants enjoyed a hearty snack.
• 16/10/2009 Presentation of the Azahar Project in Avila. 2009-10-19.
  The Autism and Learning Difficulties Group of the University of Valencia, The Orange Foundation and the Autism Avila Association will present on the 20th of October the first launch of Smartphone applications designed for people with autism and/or cognitive disabilities. This technical aid has been developed as part of the Azahar project, with the collaboration of Autism Burgos, over a period of three years. In this, the first step, participants in the presentation will be shown the HOLA communicator, which allows the communication through pictograms between people with autism; the MENSAJES application, which makes the task of sending SMS easy (again through pictograms) between mobile phones; the mp3 player called MUSICA; the clock TIC-TAC, designed for people having problems using conventional clocks; and the GUIA PERSONAL application, a special visit card that uses pictograms to present the user to everyone. All the pictograms, images and sounds of the applications are fully adaptable to the needs of each user. In the session the organizers will also give the delegates pedagogical guides to the applications.
• 15/10/2009 HOLA communicator presentation in the II Augmentative Communication
  The Autism and Learning Difficulties Group of the University of Valencia will present the HOLA communicator, one of the Azahar project applications, at the II Augmentative Communication National Workshop, that will be celebrated on 17th, 18th and 19th of September, in the University of Zaragoza. In the presentation the pedagogical strategies followed in the HOLA development will be explained, as will the different devices that can run the application and other computer science issues. A demo of the application use will be shown, and different devices will be available on a stand where participants can use the Azahar applications and ask any questions they have about the project.