As part of Profesia Lab we have at our disposal a program for social and communication skills in the work place called ASSET.
The ASSET program was developped at Michigan State University originally for people on the autism spectrum. Later, however, it came to be used in the USA for people with all disabilities.
It helps people with disabilities understand situations that occur in the workplace through a unified process. Using immersive teaching techniques it slowly takes us through subjects such as:
- Communication
- Positive Attitude & Enthusiasm
- Teamwork
- Networking & Digital Identity
- Problem Solving & Critical Thinking
- Professionalism
- Disability Awareness & Self-Advocacy
- Time Management & Planning
- Mental Health & Stress Management
- Emotion Recognition & Regulation
- Awareness of Self & Others
- Workplace relationships
The ASSET program is under copyright and the Profesia organization has signed a Memorandum of acknowledgement with the Michigan State University in regards to its usage in Slovakia.
The translation and first adjustment of its contents were produced for Slovakia by Profesia in the year 2022.
The next revision is being planned upon finishing the first course in the year 2023.
For job seekers
For lecturers
Until June 2023 we taught the ASSET program as follows:
- 6 groups in the United Boarding School in Bratislava as part of the curriculum for 3rd grade students.
- 2 groups of our partners – from the institute for work rehabilitation on Mokrohajská street in Bratislava, and in the Regional autistic centre Francesco in Prešov.
- 2 online groups – in the Slovak and English language
- 1 in-person group in OZ Usmej sa na Mňa with the help of an assistant
- 1 hybrid group from our partners at Alternatíva – Centre for independent living in Banská Bystrica and ZSS Lienka in Nitra, coordinated online from Bratislava
We are currently evaluating the results of each group and the ASSET program will be revised based on the practical experiences of our trainers.
Sign-ups for the next year’s ASSET program will be open in October 2023. If you’d like to be informed
We currently have nine certified ASSET lecturers in Slovakia, having completed a three-day training course in January 2023 guided by the Michigan State University.
We will be preparing lecturers for the next year in September 2023. The number of lecturers we’ll be needing will depend on the number of candidates for the ASSET program.
The ASSET program is a good fit for people without a job experience. It is for that reason that our next main goal is to develop our cooperation with schools, so we can reinforce the transition of young people from education to the job market.
It is important while teaching ASSET for the lecturer to be able to use examples from real work environments and to adjust them to the comprehension of their group. Certain examples are more relevant for manual labour, others for skilled labour.
Candidates who would like to talk about the possibility of teaching ASSET in Slovakia can sign up at
anna.podlesna@profesia.sk