Matteo and his wonders

Milan, 5 April 2024 - Matteo and his wonders – how autism becomes art and creativity, photographic exhibition organized by Coop Lombardia, a cooperative society, which can be visited on 1 day2-13-14 April 2024 in Milan, near the Discovercoop space in via Gianella n. 21.

Often autistic people, of any age and any cognitive level, do not feel comfortable shopping in shops organized according to traditional criteria, which may not be suitable for their needs: for this reason Coop Lombardia has worked to ensure that the new Supermarket Coop of Monza in via Marsala 28 was the first "Autism Friendly" in Europe.

Thanks to the collaboration with the PizzAut association, all the employees of the new superstore in Monza followed a course held by psychologists and psychotherapists who are experts in autism which provided them with the tools to recognize its characteristics and encourage communication and the permanence of autistic people in the store. The project was then also extended to the creation of environments more suitable for autistic people, in such a way as to increase the opportunities for inclusion in everyday spaces, improving the quality of their lives and that of their families.

Inside the Monza store, particular measures have been adopted, such as acoustic-light regulation, but the real innovation lies in the use of visual communication within the store; the pictograms were created according to the criteria of Augmentative Alternative Communication (CAA), subjected to neuropsychomotor experts expert in autism and shown, in their functionality, to autistic people, with the aim of offering them the possibility of communicating through channels that complement the one verbal.

The design and graphic study of the pictograms was created in collaboration with Alla3, a non-profit organization made up of three mothers of autistic children with the aim of making the world a more suitable place for their children, thus demonstrating that diversity is synonymous of enrichment; it was therefore decided to extend the Monza experience to other Coop Lombardia sales points as well.

Baggio's hypercoop is an Autism Friendly shop and the exhibition of Matteo's drawings is part of the program of activities in favor of inclusion. The project received the patronage of the European Commission and Municipality 7.

Page content

Matteo and his wonders