Alstom and the Madrid Asperger Association sign an agreement on professional internships

Madrid, 1 october 2019 - Alstom and the Madrid Asperger Association have signed a partnership agreement according to which persons with Asperger’s Syndrome will do pre-occupational professional internships at Alstom sites in Spain. Thanks to this agreement they will improve their socio-occupational capacity and professional skills.

In a first step, for this year, the programme includes two grants for 9-month internships each, which will take place between October 2019 and June 2020. The grant includes both theorical training and practical professional internships at Alstom’s Railway Signalling and Safety Centre in Madrid. The participants, selected jointly between the Asperger Association and Alstom, will focus on Verification and Validation tasks within Alstom’s Engineering Department.

Each trainee will have two tutors. One, appointed by Alstom Spain, will be in charge not only of guiding each participant but also defining, developing and following up on the internship plan. The tutor appointed by Asperger Madrid will be in charge of planning the internship considering the requirements of the position and the individual needs of each participant. This tutor will periodically supervise and advise the students on their internships, while assessing their performance and ensuring their integration in the labour environment.

“Inclusion is one of our corporate values and a strategic priority for Alstom. This agreement allows us to establish a framework of cooperation with the objective of promoting an inclusive corporate culture, while at the same time allowing persons with ASD to do real professional internships in inclusive environments”, highlights Reyes Torres, Human Resources Director at Alstom in Spain.

“Collaboration with companies is essential to facilitate training for the employment of people with ASD so that they can learn tasks and competencies in the real work environment. Thanks to companies like Alstom, committed to inclusion, we’re succeeding in enhancing the faculties of these people to the utmost in different environments, and we’re managing to create a favourable atmosphere for the complete normalization of this group through participation in society and the working world”, indicates Paloma Martínez Ruiz, President of the Madrid Asperger Association.

The Madrid Asperger Association was founded in October 2003 by a group of fathers and mothers concerned about the needs of their children with an Autism Spectrum Disorder. It is a non-profit organization whose objectives include promoting the common good of people with Asperger’s Syndrome through activities or the sponsorship of psychosocial centres, as well as providing information and advice and, in general, representing and defending the interests of people with Asperger’s Syndrome.