Excellence in autism practice

Autistic children and young people make up 1.7% of the school population and nearly three quarters of those are educated in mainstream schools. In England, autistic children are three times more likely to be regularly and unlawfully excluded from school than children who do not have any special educational needs.

Researchers at the University of Birmingham have made substantial contributions to developing autism education founded on both the knowledge base of research and practice. Through extensive research we now have an advanced understanding on how autistic people learn and ways in which teachers and senior leaders can demonstrate inclusive attitudes and ways of working to increase autistic pupils’ opportunities to succeed.

Through ‘good autism practice’, a term developed by the ACER team, and now referred to nationally; staff in education have adopted new and improved practices and methods in teaching autistic pupils. In collaboration with the Autism Education Trust (AET) partnership, professional development programmes and frameworks are now in place as approved key training. Beyond the UK the enhanced delivery of professional services has impacted on understanding, learning and participation in autism education in a number of countries.