CONTEXT/BACKGROUND OF PROJECT/OBJECTIVES Autism spectrum disorder (autism) affects about 1 in every 100, and impacts all aspects of the individual’s experience, including how they learn. Children and young people with autism share common education needs with all other children, and are entitled to a high quality education. However, they have specific, special needs resulting from the characteristic difficulties in autism regarding communication, social understanding, inflexibility and sensory processing. Education has been identified as the key area of intervention for those with autism, and meaningful access to effective education is crucial. Teachers need a range of skills and strategies to meet the needs of these learners, and providing effective education has been identified as challenging throughout Europe, and in Central & Eastern Europe and the Balkans in particular. Work undertaken by project partners in previous and current strategic partnerships has identified areas of good practice and training/development needs. This partnership focuses on developing appropriate training to support effective teaching, to ensure the inclusion of learners with autism in Croatia, the FYR of Macedonia and Poland. OBJECTIVES - To map current good practice and areas needing development with regard to the educational inclusion of children with autism in Croatia, the FYR of Macedonia and Poland. - To develop a model training programme and materials for specialist teachers, providing them with skills to effectively support the educational inclusion of children and young people with autism in these countries. - To use these materials to pilot the programme to specialist teachers from the range of educational settings in Croatia, the FYR of Macedonia and Poland. - To evaluate the appropriateness and effectiveness of the materials and the impact of the training using quantitative and qualitative data collection and analysis. • To share the programme, tools and materials with stakeholders and make recommendations to national policy-makers in these countries, and more broadly across Central/Eastern Europe and the Balkans and Europe as a whole. NUMBER/PROFILE OF PARTICIPANTS A minimum of approximately 3000 persons will benefit from/be the target of the project’s activities during its 2-year lifetime. It is expected that this number will increase greatly in the years following the project as a result of the exploitation of the materials. These will include specialist teachers, individuals with autism and their families, professionals and policymakers. ACTIVITIES a) Initial mapping exercise, including survey of specialist teachers b) Development of curriculum/programme c) Testing of materials through provision of training d) Evaluation e) Revision/finalisation of programme f) Dissemination METHODOLOGY The project undertaken by this strategic partnership will utilise a collaborative, action-based methodology, and will be evaluated using a mixed-methods, evidence-based programme evaluation approach to data collection and analysis. This methodology has been designed to meaningfully identify impact and to realise practical and practicable ‘real world’ outcomes. RESULTS ENVISAGED AND BENEFITS This project will produce a model training programme designed to meet the needs of specialist educators supporting the educational inclusion of children with autism, locally adapted to meet the needs of three diverse Central/Eastern European/Balkan countries. The final programme and materials will be made available via the Erasmus+ dissemination platform, as well as via individual partners’ and the project websites. Supporting teachers in these countries to understand autism and effective evidence-based approaches and strategies to effectively include children and young people with autism in education will have significant benefits with regard to educational and social inclusion, educational achievement, equality of opportunity and teachers’ professional competence. As such, this project will contribute to the development of a more equitable and inclusive Europe in the short, medium and longer terms.

2.1.1. CONTEXTAutism is a lifelong condition which affects about 1% of the population (or approximately 7.5m European citizens) as well as those who live with them and care for them. The presence of autism can be extremely challenging to parents and other family members, and autism has been identified as causing greater family and parental stress than any other disability. The condition can challenge traditional parenting styles and cause parents to feel deskilled and disempowered. The presence of autism within the family can negatively affect the educational achievement, employment opportunities and social inclusion of mothers, fathers, siblings and the individuals with autism themselves.Teaching parents to understand the condition, and to work effectively with schools and other professionals, has been shown to be effective in improving outcomes for individuals on the autism spectrum and their families. However, though such parent education (PE) programmes have been developed in e.g. Western Europe and the USA, there was little or no availability of such programmes or materials in many areas within Europe, such as parts of South East Europe.2.1.2. OBJECTIVESTo address this inequity, a strategic partnership was developed involving academics, practitioners and the parents of children on the autism spectrum to:- develop an evidence-based model for delivering parent education in autism that can be used within the project’s target countries and beyond- develop a core curriculum and locally appropriate parent education training materials - use these materials to provide parent education to families living with autism in areas where it was previously unavailable- evaluate the effectiveness of the materials and the impact of the training using quantitative and qualitative data collection and analysis- share the model curriculum, tools and materials with stakeholders and make recommendations to policy- and decision-makers.2.1.3. PARTNERSThere were nine partners in the strategic partnership. These were:- University of Northampton (United Kingdom)- Faculty of Education and Rehabilitation Sciences, University of Zagreb (Croatia)- European University Cyprus (Cyprus)- Target Autism Training and Consultancy (United Kingdom)- Centar za Autizam (Croatia)- Autism Assessment Support Practice (Cyprus)- Macedonian Scientific Society for Autism (FYR of Macedonia)- Autism Concern (United Kingdom) (to November 2017)- Autism-Europe (Belgium).2.1.4. ACTIVITIES- An initial mapping activity in Croatia, Cyprus and the FYR of Macedonia identified parental priorities regarding training content and process (Preece et al., 2017). - Based upon this activity, a review of relevant literature (Preece & Trajkovski, 2017) and the expertise and skill-base of experts in the partnership, the curriculum and materials were developed. - Five cohorts of parents in each of the three counties were trained between March 2016 and March 2018, a total of 335 parents in eleven regions.- A total of 17 local trainers were supported by experienced experts to develop their skills as parent educators.- Recommendations for policymakers regarding parent education were developed.- Four multiplier events were held - in Croatia, Cyprus, FYR of Macedonia and the UK - to share the teaching materials with and obtain feedback from wider groups of parents and professionals.- The project was presented at national and international conferences not only in the project countries but in ten further countries and academic reports and articles were also produced.2.1.5. METHODOLOGYThe ESIPP project utilised a collaborative, action-based and stakeholder-empowering multiphase mixed methods methodology (Creswell & Plano Clark, 2011). It was evaluated via an evidence-based programme evaluation approach (Royse et al., 2016) using mixed methods of data collection and analysis.The project was designed to use methods appropriate to realise practical, real world outcomes.2.1.6. RESULTS EXPECTED AND LONGER-TERM BENEFITSThe final evidence-based model, curriculum and learning materials (in Croatian, English, Greek and Macedonian) is made available via the Erasmus+ dissemination platform, as well as via the individual partners and project website.The policy recommendations are provided in Croatian, English, French, Greek and Macedonian. Helping parents to understand their children with autism and to effectively manage their behaviour will have significant benefits regarding social inclusion, quality of life, educational achievement, employment and equality of opportunity. It is intended that this project will contribute to the development of a more equitable and socially inclusive Europe in both the short, medium and long terms. Sustainability activity within Croatia, Cyprus and the FYR of Macedonia is intended to ensure the continuation of parent education within those settings.