APICO 65th Anniversary
Call for help in integrating people with intellectual disabilities into everyday activities
Stephane Berimbere
On the occasion of their 65th anniversary, the Gatineau Bulletin had an interview with Stéphane Viau, General Director of the Association pour l'integration communautaire de l'Outaouais (APICO), an Outaouais-based organization that provides support to people with intellectual deficiencies and their families. He provided details on different programs provided by the organization and plans they have for the future as well as the different ways the community can support them. Viau indicated that the association, established in 1957, now has 20 programs to support their beneficiaries and their families.
“We often forget that we also have an advocacy focus for people with intellectual disabilities,” said Viau. “Almost two years after the first lockdown, the pandemic is still part of our daily lives. For people with developmental disabilities, the consequences of this upheaval may be felt for a long time to come. We know that people with intellectual disabilities have had a more difficult pandemic. The whole social network that we had to support people and their families has been affected. We will have to be vigilant so that each person can quickly recover all that they have lost during the pandemic.” He added that the association's programs come to the assistance of people with intellectual disabilities and their families and he reiterated that their primary mission is to offer services to these people in order to promote and facilitate community, social and socio-professional integration.
Viau also highlighted that the best way the general population can help the organization is to demonstrate an openness to difference and to help integrate people with intellectual disabilities into everyday activities. “We need to understand that people living with an intellectual disability can often do the same things we do: they can work, have a love life, a social life. We must anchor this in people's minds and break down prejudices. We need to empower the population and talk about it collectively in order to put an end to preconceived ideas about them.”
For more information on the association and their programs, you can visit their website at www.apico.ca.
Photo credit: Courtesy APICO