About the Autism Centre for Education and Research

The Autism Centre for Education and Research (ACER) focuses on developing evidence-based practice and provision for autistic people and those who support them; across the lifespan and across the globe. We work with the communities we seek to serve, to ensure that ACER’s work makes a genuine difference to people’s day-to-day lives and real-world practice. ACER is based within the Department for Disability, Inclusion and Special Needs, which is housed within the University of Birmingham’s School of Education.

The last few years has seen us focus our research efforts on where we feel need is greatest and where the voice of certain groups is sometimes not heard:

Public engagement

ACER members undertake a range of public engagement activities. These include providing workshops and professional development to local authority staff and schools, and giving presentations at networking events and practitioner conferences. The AuVision project (led by Dr Andrea MacLeod in partnership with autistic students) has launched its online resource to educate Higher Education staff in Inclusive Curriculum strategies to support autistic students and members of staff within the University of Birmingham. This has also attracted the interest of other Universities.