IPA2 multiplier events

Next February 19 at 16:00 (Spanish time) will take place the conference “Autism in the classroom”. The event will be organized by Autismo Burgos in collaboration with the Polibienestar Research Institute in the framework of the Erasmus IPA 2 project.

The event will be online and open to all those interested in the subject. Several experts in autism will speak about the challenge of teachers in the prevention of absenteeism and school failure in students with ASD in the transition from primary to secondary school. It is expected to have a large number of attendees from Latin America and Spain. So far more than 500 people has been enrolled.

Registration is open at this link!

Next February 26th at 09:00 (GMT) will take place the National Seminar “The school transitions of students with autism”. The event will be organized by FPDA – Federação Portuguesa de Autismo in the framework of the IPA 2 project, funded by the Erasmus+ program of the European Union The event will be online (Zoom platform) and open to all those interested in the subject.

This Seminar has as main objectives to present this project, the pilot online training course and its implementation in Portugal and to present its results. Moreover, with this Seminar, FPDA wants to share examples of good practices in school transitions for students with autism. To this end, we will have the participation of several experts with professional experience on this subject. In addition, we will also have testimonials from autistic youngsters and parents.

It is expected to have a large number of attendees. So far more than 400 people have been enrolled!

Here you can find the complete agenda!

The Serbian workshop was aimed at presenting all results of the project as an opportunity to exploit the products achieved during the project lifetime. Also this event was a scenario to promote the sustainability of the project and help to attract other potential stakeholders. Specifically, the the national workshop in Serbia (E3) was held online.

A total of 50 participants attended the workshop. The profile participants were teachers from primary and secondary school as well as professionals working ASD students.

The workshop has duration of 3 hours. During the ME it was introduced the project, the intellectual outputs and how to access them. In addition, it was introduced ASD students school problems and strategies to help them. Time for sharing experiences and reaching conclusions between participants was included.

People with autism spectrum disorder often have difficulties in communication and social interaction. At the school level, students with autism spectrum disorder have specific needs at different educational stages. In particular, the

transitioning from primary to secondary school can lead to stress, depression and anxiety. These consequences can affect their academic performance, which in some cases can lead to school failure or even dropout or absenteeism.

These facts show the need to introduce changes in the educational context by providing training opportunities for teachers and classmates in order to improve their interaction with students with autism spectrum disorder by understanding their needs and developing empathy.

For several years the European Union has supported the implementation of inclusive projects and it is thanks to EU funds that the Erasmus + IPA2 project was born, with the aim of reducing the school vulnerability of students suffering from autism spectrum disorder during the transition from school. primary to secondary. This event was born from the desire to share and disseminate the results of this project. The event will be held online.

To participate, connect using this link.

Here you can find the complete agenda!

On February 25th 2022, Autism-Europe (AE) hosted the final online international multiplier event of the IPA2 project. Participants from across Europe, had the chance to learn more about its results.

First, Sandra Martinez Molina, the project coordinator from Polibienestar Research Institute presented the results of the final survey of education professionals conducted after the co-creation sessions carried out in Spain, Portugal and Serbia. The survey results (co-validation sessions) were used as a basis to develop the curricular content for the pilot training course for teachers on improving scholar transitions from primary to secondary school for autistic students. She also presented the guidelines and supporting videos developed by the consortium.

The videos designed by Autismo Burgos feature testimonies from autistic people to help highlight the difficulties they face at school and help non-autistic peers and education staff better understand their experiences. They are also meant to trigger a reflection on how to better support them. All videos can be found here: IPA2 – Improving School Transitions – YouTube. The videos received positive feedback from the attendees, as they highlighted that they are realistic and beneficial for students and teachers.

IPA2 project partners also conducted a pilot training with teachers and professionals working in the education field in order to test the developed curricular contents. Dr. Fernando Campilho, from Federação Portuguesa de Autismo, presented the results of the implementation of the pilot course in Portugal. The results highlighted that education professionals found the training overall effective and useful.

Furthermore, an e-learning platform has been developed to host and share all the materials created during the project. Maddalena Sebastiani, from Social IT, introduced the various features of the platform. The e-learning platform and the materials can be freely access in several languages here.

Guest speaker, Dr Ruth Moyse (AT-Autism) closed the event. Dr Moyse shared results of her research on understanding persistent absenteeism from the perspectives of autistic adolescent girls who stop attending school, highlighting their recommendations to inform practice and make schools more inclusive.