Museo Burri launches inclusive guide for cognitive and verbal disabilities

A group of young people aged 17 to 25 with cognitive and verbal disabilities, coordinated by three specialized educators, worked for eight months to create a special guide for the collection of the Museo degli ex Seccatoi del Tabacco in Città di Castello, Perugia. The guide is based on Augmentative and Alternative Communication (AAC), using symbol writing to help people who cannot express themselves verbally. The museum, part of the Fondazione Burri along with Palazzo Albizzini, houses large-scale canvases by Alberto Burri (1915–1995) in a former tobacco drying facility restored in the 1990s at Burri's own request. The initiative is part of the project "Ti illustro la città con la Comunicazione Aumentativa Alternativa," funded by the Agenda Urbana program and involving the Municipality of Città di Castello, Social Services, Usl Umbria 1, the Integrated Service for Developmental Age, and the social cooperative "La Rondine" as implementing body. According to Paola Antonelli, head of the Integrated Service for Developmental Age, the guide's added value is that it was made by people with disabilities for users sharing the same condition. Brunella Bologni, project manager for Social Services of Città di Castello, and expert Letizia Giovagnini stated the goal is to ensure no one is excluded and that the city offers inclusive hospitality.