People with intellectual disabilities already have their dating and planning app. This is Dinder Club, the first mobile application in the world whose target audience is this group (people with Down Syndrome or borderline intelligence to whom it offers a series of social initiatives to enrich their relational network) and which has been presented today in society.
The app – which has been in operation for just over a month and already has 120 users – has two functionalities: appointments and plans. In the dating section, the user can find the profiles of other users that the algorithm has considered similar. If two people are interested in meeting each other, the application generates a chat so they can start talking and, if there is interest, be able to make an appointment.
As for the plans, the platform includes leisure outings of various types (from going to the cinema to going to the bowling alley or attending a soccer match) where the user can register and participate freely. All plans are attended by a Dinder Club facilitator, who supports the group and the activity.
Montse Lamarca (28 years old) and Héctor Roura (33) are users of Dinder Club (in addition, they have helped develop it). Both have explained that, so far, their experience has been “very positive.” It so happens that Montse has had a partner for just over a year, but she wants to use Dinder to “find friends, go out and talk to people.” She has already made a few plans, such as attending a Barça match in the Women's Champions League.
For his part, Héctor, who does not have a partner, has reported that he has made friends thanks to the plans in which he has already participated. The two attended the presentation of the app, which was also attended by Carles Campuzano, Minister of Social Rights of the Generalitat.
One of the main challenges of its promoters has been to create a safe environment for users, especially taking into account that the app is aimed at a group with a high risk of suffering abuse in other applications and environments. “These people have had bad experiences in conventional apps, where they have encountered people who have wanted to take advantage of them,” said Max Roures, CEO of Dinder Club.
Thus, a strict procedure for accessing the app has been developed, which has a series of preventive measures and action protocols. To access it, it is necessary to be affiliated with a social entity, through which the registration procedure will be carried out. This procedure includes a profile test of the potential user and a second questionnaire that evaluates their sexual-affective knowledge to generate a safe environment. If they do not have this knowledge, the Dinder Club team will train the person so that they can end up registering in the app and enjoying its services.
In Catalonia alone, there is a group of 27,000 potential users who could benefit from this application, "generating a substantial improvement in their quality of life through their social interactions," its promoters assert.
The project was born from the need, expressed by the group, to be able to have tools and spaces that facilitate socialization between people with intellectual disabilities so that their inclusion in society is full in all aspects. This was explained by Gemma Parcerisa, a psychologist from the AcidH entity, one of the organizations that contributed to creating the app, which has seen the light of day after three years of research and development and in which, in addition to AcidH, Dincat has collaborated. Federation, the Aura Foundation and the Catalan Down Syndrome Foundation.
At the moment, the application is available in Barcelona and its metropolitan area. After a period of adaptation, its scope of action will expand, through alliances with leisure entities and companies throughout Catalonia. Their idea is, over time, to end up expanding throughout Spain as well.
Dinder Club has the ambition of becoming a physical and virtual space for connection between people with intellectual disabilities, and that is why it is working on a headquarters (which will have about 1,000 m2 and could be finished by the end of 2024) that will host appointments, plans and will offer courses and workshops for members. For now, the app will be free, but the idea is to make a premium version (which would cost about 90 euros per year) to guarantee its sustainability.
