ANDY’S PROJECT

Our story

“Your son is autistic.”

It all began with those words. I remember feeling lost and helpless, with one question returning again and again: what can we do now?

My son Andrea

I’m Armando. Andrea, known to us as “Andy”, is my second son. Life with him has also meant strain and uncertainty, with choices that work one day and may not work the next.

The difficulty of communicating through speech led us to look for other ways. As a dad, I wanted to understand my son better and give him more opportunities to connect with the world around him.

A tablet, a new possibility

As someone who works in technology, giving Andrea a tablet to help him communicate felt natural. For us, it made an enormous difference: it engaged him and let him interact in new ways.

I suggested using it alongside the tools already involved in his support programme. At first I met resistance, but I persisted because I could see what Andrea was able to do. That experience convinced me that technology’s possibilities were worth exploring further.

I decided to do my part

I’ve been programming since 1985 and run a technology company, digitalCode Sagl. I decided to put time, skills and resources into Andy’s Project: a practical way to do my part, starting from my experience with my son.

I began by observing Andrea’s days, his interests and his difficulties. That led to play, the first ideas and a wish to create tools that could help other people too.

Together we can do more

Along the way, I felt the weight of searching for answers among fragmented information, and how useful it would be to bring our experiences together. That is why I invite families, professionals and volunteers to take part.

The people who have given some of their time and skills to this project are heroes to me. And thank you for reading this far: now you know a part of our story.

Armando OlivieriAndrea’s dad and founder of the project

Let’s talk.

Have you had a similar experience? Do you have an idea or a skill to share? I’d be glad to hear from you.

Contact the project

ANDY’S PROJECT

Privacy

Privacy notice for Andy’s Project. Updated on 4 November 2026.

Controller and contact

The data controller is Armando Olivieri, acting personally. For privacy questions and to exercise your rights, write to info@andysproject.org.

Contact form: data and purposes

The form collects your email, optional name, topic, message, language, receipt date and privacy notice version. This information is used to handle and answer your request. Processing is based on the controller’s legitimate interest in maintaining correspondence requested by individuals and protecting the website against abuse. Providing data is optional; an email and message are required to submit a request. Do not include diagnoses, medical reports or other health information.

Retention and access

Messages are stored on the project’s server, with names, email addresses and message text encrypted. They are accessible to the controller through a protected administration area and, only for technical needs, to infrastructure providers. Messages are not published, automatically forwarded by email or used for marketing or profiling. Automatic deletion takes place 24 months after receipt, with an hourly check; you may request earlier deletion. Backup copies rotate within 7 days and are not used for routine handling. Retention limits are applied again after a restore.

Browsing, security and cookies

Your language is part of the page address. The public website uses no cookies, advertising, analytics or tracking; fonts and images are served by this website. The administration area uses an essential sign-in cookie; sessions end after 20 minutes of inactivity or at most 8 hours. Technical error logs, which may contain network addresses, rotate within 7 days; administration audit records are kept for 90 days.

Abuse prevention

The form uses locally hosted ALTCHA: your browser performs a short computation, without visual quizzes, tracking or sending information to external services. Each check lasts at most 20 minutes and can be used once. Submission limits use a code derived from the network address; the form’s database does not retain the original IP address. Expired counters and checks are removed periodically.

Your rights

You may request access, correction or deletion of your data, restriction of processing and, where applicable law provides for it, portability. You may object to processing based on legitimate interests and lodge a complaint with the competent supervisory authority. Write to info@andysproject.org: only information necessary to verify your request will be requested. Visitors are not subject to automated decision-making.