The Autism Champions course supports organisations in working towards fulfilling the Autism Strategy aims in England and offers colleagues from other nations and countries some best-practice suggestions in supporting autistic children and adults.

The course is:

• CPD accredited
• Meets underpinning knowledge for Tier 2 of the Core Capability Framework for Supporting Autistic People

The first of the six key themes of the National Strategy for Autistic Children, Young People and Adults 2021 – 2026 is –

“improving understanding and acceptance of autism within society”

Autism Champions can cascade the learning to their teams, colleagues and organisations making it a cost-effective way of spreading autism awareness and understanding and fulfilling the above key theme.

The Autism Champions course can also lead to the Autism Inclusive Badge Award.

The National Strategy states: “We want many more businesses, public sector services and different parts of the transport system to become more autism-inclusive, so that autistic people can access these spaces and services, just like everyone else.”

Autism Champions can work towards gaining the badge for their teams, departments or organisations.

Objectives

The course content is as below –

• Autism legislation, statutory guidance and values
• The autism spectrum
• Autism and social communication
• Autism, rigidity and repetitiveness
• Autism and sensory difference
• Supporting an individual with autism using a person-centred approach.

Objectives of the course are –

• To gain an understanding of individuality in autism with an introduction to creating an individual profile to form the basis of a support plan
• To gain an understanding of the subtleties of social communication differences and rigidity using theory of mind, executive functioning and sensory difference exercises
• To develop autism knowledge to inform and improve own practice and devise an action plan going forwards
• To explore how best to manage effective communication between autistic individuals, families and professionals
• To be aware of responsibilities within legislation, including the Mental Health Act, the Mental Capacity Act plus DoLS and the Equality Act 2010
• To be aware of the NICE Guidelines for the diagnoses and pathways of autistic children and adults
• To develop an action plant for cascading the learning to colleagues and teams

Facilitation

The Autism Champions course is delivered in two parts –

• Part 1 – CPD accredited eLearning – needs to be completed prior to Part 2.
• Part 2 – two Zoom sessions (the sessions are two weeks apart) – leading to the CPD accredited Autism Champions certificate. The 6 September session is Zoom Session 1 and the 20 September session is Zoom session 2.

The course is delivered by a Living Autism trainer with input from an autistic expert by experience.

The Zoom sessions are interactive, with active participation from attendees.

Cost

The cost of the course is £209 per person, inclusive of VAT. The cost covers one eLearning licence and two Zoom sessions.

Upon completion, attendees will receive an Autism Champions certificate and a Powerpoint presentation for a half-day training so they can cascade the learning to their teams.

To register, visit autismconference.co.uk