Mobistar employees volunteer to assist people with autism

Brussels – Tuesday 2 April is World Autism Day. The objective of this special day is to highlight autism and to ensure that people with autism and their direct environment are better understood. On that day, several Mobistar employees will be volunteering to assist individuals with autism. Mobistar will also participate in the worldwide “Light It Up Blue” initiative by lighting up its entire building in blue on April 2nd. The staff of Participate!, Mobistar’s autism society, will also be attending the opening of the Brussels stock exchange that day.

Every year sees about 780 more people with autism in Belgium. Autism is invisible and exists in many forms. Problems can arise at three levels, namely at the levels of observation, data processing and attribution of meaning. It’s mostly the social information that people with autism have great difficulty decoding. Mobistar has supported people with autism for many years. The autism issue is close to Mobistar’s core activity: people with autism suffer from a disrupted communication process.

In 2006, Mobistar established Participate!, a non-profit organisation that aims to improve the quality of life of people with autism and their families by providing information about autism and by developing training and awareness tools. All information can be found on its site www.participate-autisme.be. With about 3,000 web pages and over 3 hours of videos, this website is the most complete guide for all those looking for relevant information about autism.

Mobistar employees volunteer to assist people with autism

On 2 April, some Mobistar employees will be introduced to autism and volunteering in a very special way. Several company employees will assist individuals with autism at their facility or family home. The activities will range from going to the market together, exercising, taking a walk, playing a board game, looking after animals,... Because this experience will be a first for most employees, the volunteers will receive assistance from permanent counsellors or family members. The employees will also attend a short training session on autism and how best to assist and support people affected by autism.

Mobistar goes blue on April 2nd

On World Autism Day, the “Light It Up Blue” event aims to raise awareness about autism by having well-known buildings lit up in blue. This initiative was set up by the American organisation Autism Speaks and includes over 180 cities in 35 countries on 6 continents. The Empire State Building, the Niagara Waterfalls and the Sydney Opera House have all been lit up in blue in the past and this year the Mobistar building in Evere and the stock exchange building in Brussels will turn blue as well.

Participate! representatives open the Brussels stock exchange

On April 2nd, the financial stock exchanges in New York, Amsterdam, Brussels, Lisbon and Paris will open in the presence of representatives from autism organisations to raise awareness about autism. The Participate! representatives will attend the opening of the Brussels stock exchange. This ceremony is an initiative by Autism-Europe.