National Institute for the Research, Education and Rehabilitation
The I.Ri.Fo.R ETS (Third-Sector Institution) is the National Institute for the Research, Education and Rehabilitation which was established on February 22nd 1991 by the Italian Association for the Blind and Visually Impaired.
The Institute designs and provides training services aimed at people with visual disabilities.
I.Ri.Fo.R’s work has been recognized by the Italian Parliament which, by Law September 23rd 1993, has conferred to the Institute an annual contribution (currently €1.150.000,00). I.Ri.Fo.R, since its inception, and in accordance with statutory purposes, has devoted special consideration to new technologies, in order to identify new professional and work opportunities. In particular, I.Ri.Fo.R has been dealing with the IT sector, both as a personal independence tool and for social and work integration, by designing and establishing educational paths up to unprecedented levels.
The requirement of the access to information and education through available opportunities, with increasingly refined IT technologies, aimed especially to blind or visually impaired, has special relevance within I.Ri.Fo.R’s guidelines for the blind or visually impaired full social integration. Different researches have proved the great potential of initiatives aimed at the professional integration of blind and visually impaired into those sectors, in particular of the high-tech tertiary sector, where IT has taken on a major role, with continuous dynamic evolution of areas of professionalism.
I.Ri.Fo.R is recognized by the MIUR as the referent for the training on visual impairment and is accredited to provide vocational training to teachers (in accordance with MIUR Directive n° 170/2016).
It provides training courses both with teachers present and online. The majority of courses can be payed with a teacher’s card.
It provides, on a national level, free telephone counseling for blind or visually impaired and for those who live and work with them.
I.Ri.Fo.R supports its users also through local training and rehabilitation programs. It has a national headquarters and operational provincial and regional branches which operate throughout the Italian territory.