In general, persons with autism have difficulties in terms of communication, interpersonal and behavioral relationships, and they can often also have cognitive disabilities. At school, these difficulties, as well as the difficulties of understanding, concentration and motor skills, create disadvantages for people with autism. Besides that, in most of the cases, the regular education is still not adequate to the specific needs of these persons. The lack of access to technological resources, digital materials and skills, as well as the scarce or even non-existent support for students with autism / neurodiversity in general, are problems that intensified during the confinement period. In that way, COVID-19 brought to the institutions' agenda the importance of the use of ICT for the field of inclusive education, as the inclusion of ICT in the development of the curriculum expands the opportunities for the learning process of these students (Autismo Sevilla, 2020). According to the recent diagnosis made by the different partners, as well as by a joint literature review, it was possible to verify that the social problem consists in the lack of preparation of the majority of teachers in the use of ICT tools in an autonomous and effective way (Inovar Autismo, 2020). As a way to mitigate this problem, the partners designed the project “Inclusive Digital Tool” (DiGiTool) which aims to train teachers (regular and special education), to work with autistic students, using ICT tools. Through this training, DiGiTool will also allow the training of students with autism to use these tools. For that, a new inclusive ICT approach in the scope of autism will designed and tested in Portugal, Spain and Italy. This new approach is essential to promote the communication, socialization and learning of these students, enhancing their school success. The project will train up to 90 teachers (up to 30 for each implementing country), trying to cover as many primary and secondary schools as possible in each country. After the end of the project, trained teachers in each school (focal points) will be encouraged by the implementing associations to replicate training sessions with their colleagues (at their school and others). The training will focus on inclusive ICTs, which are important for the teachers in order to learn and produce their own content as well as implement new teaching and assessment methodologies. The DiGiTool project will also have as a final product an inclusive ICT Multi-resource KIT, an user manual and an integrated app, materials that will be available for free download. These materials can be translated into several languages and disseminated at European level at the end of the project. The project consortium includes Inovar Autismo (coordinating and implementing entity), Diversamente ODV and Autismo Sevilla (implementing entities), CRID-IPLeiria and InterMediaKT (experts in the area of inclusive ICT), ISCTE-IUL (assessment) and Autism-Europe (dissemination).
The DiGiTool project aimed to mitigate a social problem that was accentuated at the time of the pandemic (Covid-19), as teachers did not demonstrate sufficient skills to use digital tools, which was reflected in the lack of support for autistic/ neurodiverse students. In order to address this problem, the consortium of partners committed to train up to 90 special/regular education teachers (up to 30 per implementing country) to use ICT in their work with autistic learners, through the provision of learning-enhancing digital materials/resources. This pilot project has been tested in Portugal, Spain and Italy, promoting a new approach to ICT in learning and also enabling communication and socialization skills for these students, enhancing their school success. Through this training, Digitool allowed, indirectly, to qualify and prepare autistic students for the use of these digital tools. With the implementation of the project, a Multi-resource KIT was also produced, available through the web app on the project website.
Autism is a neurobehavioral syndrome and a developmental condition that persists throughout life.In general, autistic people have difficulties in communication, behavior and interpersonal relationships. These difficulties have been accentuated in the period of confinement derived from COVID-19, resulting in a lack of support for autistic/neurodiverse students.The pandemic has brought to the agenda the importance of using Information and Communication Technologies (ICT) in the field of inclusive education.ICT are excellent tools that enhance learning, communication and social interaction for autistic students. Through the needs diagnosis carried out, it was possible to verify that there was a lack of preparation of most teachers in the use of ICT tools in an autonomous and effective way.The lack of access to technological resources, the lack of accessible materials and the lack of digital skills, were some of the needs observed. The inclusion of all in school remains an urgent need and, therefore, the consortium designed the "Digital inclusive Tool" project through the implementation of an innovative methodology, in which teachers (regular education/special education) were trained to work with students with autism, using ICT.