European Connections

As World Autism Acceptance Month draws to an end, it can be useful to think about what we might have learned – if anything – from the whole exercise. This year, the media attention paid to WAAD (World Autism Acceptance/Awareness Day) seemed greater than ever, but it can be difficult to measure what difference this might have made to the lives of autistic individuals and their families. Not only this, but the actual nature of what we are increasing awareness of, or asking others to accept, is not always clear, a point explored in this piece in Perspectives magazine, by the TAE Project Manager, Becky Wood.


Dr Paola Molteni talks about the TAE on WAAD, in Milan, Italy

An important aspect of WAAD which is often lost is that autism is not limited by national boundaries, and that to understand autistic people, we need to think beyond the cultural references of our own countries. In a small, but we hope significant way, we hope that by working across three countries of Greece, Italy and the UK, we can learn from each other in order to improve the practice of teachers in schools, and so further the inclusion of autistic children of primary school age.


Ryan Bradley


Ryan Bradley, who works on the TAE and is leading the development of the project website (which will be the source of teacher resources), expressed the issue in the following way:

‘The project has developed a methodology for collaborative working that is significant in attempting to establish a unified language and understanding of autism and inclusion across three European countries.’

As the project moves forward and the training materials are further developed and refined for Greece and Italy, we know that they can only be enriched by collaboration across borders. While it can be difficult to quantify the impact and achievements of WAAD, we hope that by informing and empowering teachers, autistic school children will have better educational experiences and outcomes.


Katerina Laskaridou, pictured here with Dr Damian Milton, talks about the TAE during a WAAD event which included many autistic adolescents and their families