Tuesday, April 27, 2010

Dr. Liliana Mayo is honored with Defensoria del Pueblo medal

The National Ombusdman’s Office will award Dr. Liliana Mayo with the medal “Defensoría del Pueblo” for her outstanding professional experience of more than 30 years in education and inclusion of people with different abilities and their families.

Dr. Mayo, General Director and Founder of the Centro Ann Sullivan del Perú (CASP), is an outstanding Peruvian professional who has received worldwide recognition for her work on families and her innovation in educational programs for people with autism, mental retardation and Down syndrome, among others developmental disorders.

She founded CASP in 1979 and her educational model is being replicated in countries such as Brazil, Argentina, Bolivia, Spain, Ecuador and Guatemala. 100 students of CASP are currently employed in 33 companies and 59 of our students have been included in 43 regular education schools. In the last two years, 10,000 parents and professionals have been trained in 22 departments of Peru and in 10 Latin America and European countries through an innovative Internet-based distant education program.

Dr. Mayo has also been a pioneer in the School of Families, where 450 families are regularly trained to become the best teachers for their children. She has given a lot of conferences showing the impact of a Peruvian program on the lives of persons with different abilities in several continents.

Dr. Mayo has received numerous awards for her outstanding work. Previous distinctions include Spain’s Queen Sofia Award for Rehabilitation and Integration, Esteban Campodónico Figallo Award from the Universidad de Piura, Distinguished Service Citation award from the University of Kansas, the Honoris Causa Degrees granted by the Universidad Ricardo Palma and Universidad Mayor de San Marcos (Peru). In addition, the Peruvian Government honored Dr. Mayo with the Peru’s Order of the Sun (in the degree of Commander), and with the Medal of Honor of the Congress of Peru in recognition of her work.

 This fifth award-giving ceremony, which was established by the National Ombusdman’s Office in February 2006, express public recognition to those people or national and international institutions that have made a significant contribution to the promotion, defense and strengthening of the constitutional order, the institutionalization of democracy and the validity of the human rights.