• This project, in collaboration with Auxadi, represents a shift in early care by transferring learning to real environments, allowing children to acquire greater autonomy in the basic skills of their daily life.
  • Up to 200 children with disabilities or developmental delays will benefit from this space – a house, (kitchen, bedroom, bathroom, and living room) and a commercial space (supermarket, cafeteria, clothing store, and a stretch of street) all built to child scale.

With the aim of improving the early care of children with disabilities or developmental delays and teaching them to function in a natural environment, Down Madrid, in collaboration with Auxadi, has launched ‘My Little City’ (‘Mi Pequeña Ciudad’ in Spanish). This project was made possible through funding raised at our 2021 Annual Charity Football Tournament and it’s incredible to see this initiative come to life. The space, located in the Early Care Center of Down Madrid, was inaugurated by Auxadi’s CEO, Víctor Salamanca, and talent director, Lidia López.

“When Down Madrid presented us with the ‘Mi Pequeña Ciudad’ project, we didn’t hesitate to dedicate the funds raised in our 2019 charity football tournament to this cause. Companies are one of the most important engines of society and, with our tournament, our intention goes beyond helping financially. The tournament is like a loudspeaker, amplifying initiative and sparking interest. With it we reach more than a thousand people, including customers, employees, collaborators, and more. We can all help. It’s easier together.”

Lidia López
Director of Talent, Auxadi

“Down Madrid has always pursued the goal of the greatest possible autonomy and full social inclusion of people with Down syndrome or other intellectual disabilities. With this project, which is a reality thanks to Auxadi, up to 200 children and their families will benefit from this new methodology that will allow them to learn in a meaningful way and generalise learning in their daily lives.”

Elena Escalona
General Manager, Down Madrid

A pioneering project

As its name suggests, ‘My Little City’ recreates real environments adapted to the size of the children within the Early Care Center of Down Madrid. In this case, a house (with a kitchen, a bedroom, a bathroom and a living room) and a commercial space (with a supermarket, cafeteria, clothing store and street) have been built on a child’s scale, in which children will work on basic life skills and acquire adaptive skills that allow them the maximum degree of personal autonomy, with the aim of integrating them into the real world.

For the implementation of this project, Down Madrid has specifically trained the technical team to promote the implementation of this new education system. In addition, ‘My Little City’ will train families, so that this system is transferred to the activities of their daily life (kitchen, bathroom, school).