It is widely accepted by the scientific community that children and adults with ASC (Autism Spectrum Conditions) are likely to have accompanying sensory difficulties. It is also scientifically proven that there are three major type of difficulties for ASC individuals: difficulties that are associated directly with their senses (sensory), cognitive difficulties & social difficulties (social interaction). These difficulties have - undoubtedly - a significant impact on their ability to function, process information, and often lead to raised anxiety and stress levels. It is therefore essential to know the specific type of difficulty for a ASC individual in order to comprehend fully the sensory difficulties; equally important, these difficulties need to be thoroughly taken into account in the Life Planning process of the ASC individual. 'A holistic approach of person-centered planning for people with Autism' ('AUTISM_PCP') aims to equip ASC individuals and those in support of them with the necessary knowledge and Life planning tools to deal with 'transitional' periods and/or situations which often result in raised levels of stress & anxiety; these transitions can be short term, such as Home to school, home to shops, class to class or long term, such as school to University, school/university to working environment. The Life Planning tools developed within AUTISM_PCP will include also planning where to live, how to live, how to get about, and the steps required to make hopes and personal goals happen, including employment, housing and independence. The main objectives of the 'AUTISM_PCP' can be summarised as follows: - Empowerment of individuals at risk of social exclusion and more specifically empowerment of ASC individuals - Strengthening of the overall effort for social inclusion and integration of ASC individuals at mainstream education & society at large - Enhancing competences of professionals and all those individuals, such as family members & relatives, etc., involved in the life of ASC individuals One of the innovative elements & strengths of 'AUTISM_PCP' is the large number and diversity of key stakeholders who will actively participate in the project. These stakeholders include people with Autism Spectrum Conditions (ASC), educators/teachers in Special Education & Autism, adult education & VET teachers, experts in SEN & ASC and facilitators/mentors. It is expected that more than 150 participants will be directly involved in the various activities of the project, throughout the implementation period. 'AUTISM_PCP' project will deliver three important & innovative intellectual outputs, which target directly those individuals with Autism as well as those professionals in support of those in Autism Spectrum Conditions (ASC), including their immediate families & relatives. 'AUTISM_PCP' will also develop a training manual for all those in support of ASC individuals, which will be used as a basis of training courses, which are scheduled to be delivered in three different 'AUTISM_PCP' participating countries. The methodology applied for the development of intellectual outputs within the 'AUTISM_PCP' project will be based on the following elements: - Literature research/study - Expert knowledge (external & internal) - Feedback from participants - Expert review/validation The results expected by 'AUTISM_PCP' during the project and on its completion are as follows: 1. It will strengthen the social inclusion' of individuals with Autism Spectrum Conditions (ASC) 2. It will improve and extend the supply of high quality learning opportunities tailored to the needs of individuals due to the tailor made training manuals to be developed during the implementation of the project and the trainings to be delivered after the official end of the project by consortium partners as well as stakeholders outside the consortium 3. It will improve educators' competences', that is, all those with the role of facilitator for individuals with ASC 4. It will promote the empowerment and active citizenship with focus on individuals with ASC 5. It will develop mechanisms to monitor the effectiveness of adult learning policies or to track and monitor the progress of adult learners. 6. It will support the overall effort of combating Early School Leaving (ESL) by reducing the risk of social exclusion for vulnerable groups, such as those with ASC. From all above, it is clear that 'AUTISM_PCP' is an innovative cross sectoral strategic partnership project that aims to make a significant contribution towards the development of a harmonized approach with regards to Life Planning Tools for Autism Spectrum Conditions (ASC) individuals across Europe.
It is widely accepted by the scientific community that children and adults with ASC (Autism Spectrum Conditions) are likely to have accompanying sensory difficulties. It is also scientifically proven that there are three major type of difficulties for ASC individuals: difficulties that are associated directly with their senses (sensory), cognitive difficulties & social difficulties (social interaction). These difficulties have - undoubtedly - a significant impact on their ability to function, process information, and often lead to raised anxiety and stress levels. It is therefore essential to know the specific type of difficulty for a ASC individual in order to comprehend fully the sensory difficulties; equally important, these difficulties need to be thoroughly taken into account in the Life Planning process of the ASC individual. 'A holistic approach to person-centered planning for Autism'* ('AUTISM_PCP') aims to equip ASC individuals and those in support of them with the necessary knowledge and Life planning tools to deal with 'transitional' periods and/or situations which often result in raised levels of stress & anxiety; these transitions can be short term, such as Home to school, home to shops, class to class or long term, such as school to University, school/university to working environment. The Life Planning tools developed within AUTISM_PCP include also planning where to live, how to live, how to get about, and the steps required to make hopes and personal goals happen, including employment, housing and independence. The main objectives of the 'AUTISM_PCP' can be summarised as follows: - Empowerment of individuals at risk of social exclusion and more specifically empowerment of ASC individuals - Strengthening of the overall effort for social inclusion and integration of ASC individuals at mainstream education & society at large - Enhancing competences of professionals and all those individuals, such as family members & relatives, etc., involved in the life of ASC individuals One of the innovative elements & strengths of 'AUTISM_PCP' is the large number and diversity of key stakeholders who have actively participated in the project. These stakeholders include people on the autism spectrum, educators/teachers in Special Education & Autism, adult education & VET teachers, experts in SEN & ASC and facilitators/mentors. Through the project, we managed to reach more than 1200 people, and the activities were supported directly by more than 200 people throughout the implementation period. The 'AUTISM_PCP' project delivered three innovative – for the partner countries – intellectual outputs which are: 1. PCP System for Autism: A publication explaining autism and the difficulties of life transitions, accompanied by a series of practical tools that aim to support planning specific life domains. 2. Guidelines for PCP facilitators: A publication which offers specific guidelines and approaches to facilitators of autistic individuals. It is addressed to educatos, trainers and the support circle 3. Masterclass of facilitators: A piloted 5-day educational course that addresses all previous project results in a more practical way while also offering additional resources and answering questions not included in the previous results The 3 project results begin from the same starting point but have been developed in a way complementary to one another, focusing on the more direct needs of their intended target groups its time. All results are the result of collective work of all involved partners and aim at offering an approach as holistic and adaptable as possible to different contexts and realities. --- *Original Title: “A holistic approach of person-centered planning for people with autism” - through our research and involvement we found widespread opposition by activists on references to individuals in the autism spectrum as “people with autism” (person-first language) and instead they promote more the reference “autistic people” (identity-first language). Ideally we would like to be able to change it to identity-first language but because of the cultural differences within the partners’ countries and the different approaches of the respective systems, we assessed that it is better to remove the words “people with” from the original title, as a compromise between the two references. Throughout the project’s results, we use the two references interchangeably as a way to make it more inclusive to all partners’ contexts.