Neurolien
Phase 1
Type of project: Prototype
Disability concerned: Autism and Pervasive Developmental Disorders, Neurodevelopmental disorders
Topics: Digital accessibility, Autonomy, Equality at work, Employment support
Status: Completed
The aim of the project is to develop a mobile application that will put neuroatypical people in direct contact with work assignments. Neurolien will enable people with neurodivergences to promote their professional skills while indicating their specific characteristics. The application will initially be created for adults with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD).
This project was initiated as a result of two personal observations:
- job-seeking among our peers is problematic and often subject to discrimination,
- when people share their experiences, they often deplore the lack of consideration given to the skills of neuroatypical people.
There are already a number of applications offering exchanges of services or work assignments (Indeed, Jobup, Yoojo, HelloWork, Side, LinkedIn, etc.), but at present none of them take into account the specific characteristics of people with any kind of disability or are adapted to their way of working. Existing applications are based on the attractiveness of the profile, implying potential multiple discrimination (appearance, writing quality, experience, etc.) and propose a one-sided search. Yet people with NDD find it difficult to promote themselves and enter the current job search system (Auticon, 2022).
Neurolien, with its reverse search system, stands out clearly from existing applications and will also be a job search facilitator for neuroatypical people in the future.
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This project helps to preserve their mental health by ensuring that their specific needs are respected. This is in line with the objectives of the Law on Equality for the Disabled, LHand (Federal Department of Home Affairs, 2023).
Support from this call for projects has enabled us to:
- draw up a more precise timetable and budget for producing the application,
- develop our visual identity,
- create a promotional video,
- develop our partnership network
identify possible sources of funding.
The response to the call for projects was extremely beneficial for the development of our idea. On the one hand, it enabled us to clarify everyone’s expectations, but it also allowed us to think in more detail about the methodology we needed to adopt to achieve our final objective. It was also this call that enabled us to think about an appropriate academic partnership network and the creation of our association status. It also helped to raise the profile of our project and our own skills.
This encouragement allows us to pursue the project with serenity and makes us feel that we have a place as people with disabilities who are the driving force behind an inclusive project. The training day and the team’s follow-up have been particularly useful and have given us a clearer direction for the future.
We’re still in the very early stages of the project, and there are still many steps to take before we can bring it to fruition. The next big step is to create the visual skeleton of the application, adapted to our visual identity. To do this, the team’s graphic designer will be working with the coordinator, who is also an occupational therapist. This will enable us to work directly on the accessibility and ergonomics of the application for the target group. At the same time, our team will be making other funding applications, depending on the foundations under consideration. To support our application, we will also be writing a detailed presentation of the project. Finally, we will be continuing our collaboration with academic partners.