In 2012, the Rafael del Pino Foundation signed a collaboration agreement for the granting by the Rafael del Pino Foundation of a scholarship for a person with Down's Syndrome during the 2012-2014 biennium to study one of the university programmes developed in the "Family and Disability" Chair. Specifically, these are two training programmes "Tecnodemos" and "Educademos" taught at the Cantoblanco campus.
Intellectual disability is a changing, dynamic, multifactorial and multidimensional circumstance resulting from the interaction between the individual and the environment. In short, it is a complex phenomenon that requires the coordinated efforts of many different disciplines; psychology, pedagogy, sociology, medicine, economics, and law, among others.
Studies on intellectual disabilities have increased significantly in recent decades, largely driven by the progressive incorporation of people with intellectual disabilities into the different spheres of society in an increasingly normalised and inclusive way.
The university environment, as a space for research and training, is a natural ally of the entities dedicated to the intervention addressed to people with intellectual disabilities. The entities of the sector, in their daily work, detect over time new realities that emerge in the group of people with disabilities; access to ICT, physical and mental health, adequate preparation for working life, etc. For its part, the university contributes to the scientific and contrasted approach to these needs, generating explanatory models, validating intervention practices and providing spaces for training, reflection and innovation.
For all these reasons, the university is, on the one hand, a powerful agent for amplifying advances in the field of disability and, on the other, an agent for raising awareness in society as a whole through a wide range of actions, such as scientific conferences, publications, training programmes, research, etc.
