“Those 5 minutes changed my outlook”

Insieme Switzerland is a Swiss organization representing people with intellectual disabilities and their families.  The organisation did an experiment. The experiment goes like this: two people that do not know each other meet, and they have a conversation. One of the two people is a person with an intellectual disability and the other person does not know this before the meeting. What follows next can be seen in a video the organisation made about the experiment. When people see the video, it makes them think about how people with intellectual disabilities are often socially excluded in daily life. The video shows that people with intellectual disabilities are just as easy to talk to as other people, and they deserve an equal role in society.

Inclusion Europe member Insieme Switzerland officially kicked off a new PR-campaign, proving that perceptions about people with intellectual disailities can change in as little as five minutes. The PR-campaign was the result of a social experiment undertaken by the Swiss organisation.

The experiment involves a conversation between several pairs of people who never met each other before, each time one of them being a person with an intellectual disability. The other one is not aware of this fact before striking up a conversation. What followed was beautifully filmed and turned into an inspiring video that makes viewers reflect on the position of people with intellectual disabilities within society and the major difference between how people are perceived and who they really are.

If you would like to see the video, click please here.
For more information about Insieme Switzerland and its activities, please click here.