News archive

Autism Update: How to help children with autism cope with change at school  18/05/10
The AET, with the help of other autism organisations, has sponsored a supplement due for publication in Education Guardian on Tuesday 18 May 2010.

NASEN Live 2010  20/04/10
We are launching a new resource for teachers on Stand B28 at Nasen Live on 26 and 27 May 2010 at the Reebok Stadium in Bolton. The resource, called Tools for Teachers: Practical Resources for Classroom Success, brings together all the relevant information a teacher supporting a child or young person with autism might need.

Live online chats with Annette Brooke MP and Diana Johnson MP  26/03/10
Next Tuesday TreeHouse will be hosting live online chats with Annette Brooke MP (at 10am-11am) and Diana Johnson MP (at 11.45am-12.45pm)

New resources to help teachers support children on the autism spectrum  23/03/10
The AET, England’s only umbrella organisation for autism education, is publishing two new online resources for teachers to support teaching practices for children and young people on the autism spectrum.

Helen's film  16/03/10
Helen Wood is a member of The Autism Education Trust Youth Council. She is on the autism spectrum and uses communication aids. This is a film she and her team of support have made to show what she likes and dislikes at school and the challenges and successes that she faces on a day to day occurence.

Meet the AET team at The Education Show  04/03/10
We are exhibiting at The Education Show from 4 – 6 March 2010 at the NEC, Birmingham (Stand E74). Visitors to the show will be able to find out more about our work.

The AET welcomes landmark Government strategy to transform adult autism support  03/03/10
The AET, England’s only umbrella organisation for autism education, welcomes a raft of new measures in the landmark adult autism strategy published today aimed at tackling the isolation, ignorance and inequality routinely experienced by the over 300,000 adults with autism in England.

Listen to Schools Minister, Diana Johnson’s speech at the AET Roadshow in Hull  25/02/10
Diana Johnson MP, Schools Minister responsible for Government’s Special Educational Needs policy, was the special guest at the AET Roadshow in Hull on 25th February.

AET and Commissioning Support Programme work together to improve the commissioning of services for children and young people on the autism spectrum  10/02/10
Autism services commissioners: complete our questionnaire by the end of February to access free and impartial advice and support. The AET and CSP are working together to improve the commissioning of services for children and young people on the autism spectrum.

Web competition winner announced  09/02/10
Alex Devlin has been chosen as the winner of the competition to name the new AET website for teenagers. Alex’s entry ‘The Den’ was selected by the AET Steering Group as the winning name.

AET and Commissioning Support Programme work together to improve the commissioning of services for children and young people on the autism spectrum  08/02/10
The Autism Education Trust (AET) is working with the Commissioning Support Programme (CSP) to improve the commissioning of services for children and young people on the autism spectrum. All local authorities [can we include specifics here?] in England have been contacted with information about how the AET and CSP can help the commissioning process and have been asked to fill in a questionnaire about current procedures and access to information and advice.

AET London Conference - 'Transition: practical steps for moving forward'  28/01/10
The AET is holding a one day conference presenting a range of keynote speakers and practical workshops sessions. The event will focus on "transition", which is a crucial issue in the education of children and young people on the autism spectrum.

Take part in the My Way! online survey for a chance to win £300 of vouchers  27/01/10
The First News My Way! campaign has been launched to raise awareness of the different ways children and young people like to learn and the importance of allowing them to learn in a way which is right for them. One in five school-aged children need extra help due to a learning difficulty which may include being on the autism spectrum. The AET is in full support of the campaign. My Way! would like to get children and young people’s views on their school, how they like to learn, and about their friendships.

AET SUPPORTS MY WAY! LAUNCH AT 10 DOWNING STREET  12/01/10
The Autism Education Trust has given its support to a new campaign which hopes to add weight to the growing awareness that all children learn differently. The First News My Way! Campaign was launched at 10 Downing Street on 6th January by the Prime Minister’s wife Sarah Brown and Henry Winkler, best known for his role as The Fonz in TV show Happy Days.

Sentence Trouble - New resources launched to help improve communication with young people in the youth justice system  20/11/09
Sentence Trouble, a new guide for the youth justice workforce to help them communicate more effectively with young people, particularly those with communication needs has been launched by the Communication Trust, in partnership with the AET.

Autism conference in Leeds addresses issue of transition  22/10/09
The first in a series of AET events has taken place in Leeds and highlighted that now is a crucial time for improving services for children and young people on the autism spectrum.

AET Leeds Conference - 'Transition: practical steps for moving forward'  22/10/09
The AET is holding a one day conference presenting a range of keynote speakers and practical workshops sessions. The event will focus on "transition", which is a crucial issue in the education of children and young people on the autism spectrum.

Good practice presentations now available online  07/07/09
Downloadable presentations from a broad range of professionals who work closely with children and young people on the autism spectrum are now available on the AET website, as part of the AET’s aim to promote and share examples of good autism education practice.

'CHOOSING A SCHOOL FOR YOUR CHILD' BOOKLET NOW TRANSLATED INTO EIGHT LANGUAGES  18/06/09
A new resource to help parents of children on the autism spectrum choose the right school for their child has now been translated into eight different languages. Produced by the Autism Education Trust (AET), this informative booklet can be used by teaching staff as a resource for parents whose first language is not English. Just belonging to a minority ethnic community in addition to being on the autism spectrum could mean that some children face double discrimination while accessing services.

NASEN conference on autism Friday 12th June  09/06/09
This one-day conference is aimed at teaching staff and anyone working with or likely to work with children and young people on the autistic spectrum. The keynote presentation will be delivered by Mary Daly who was the Programme Lead in the creation of the new autism specific resources under the Inclusion Development Programme (IDP), as part of the National Strategies.

Increased funding secured for AET to support commissioning of children's services  21/05/09
The Autism Education Trust (AET) is to extend its remit in 2009/10 to work with local authorities and primary care trusts to improve the commissioning of services for children with autistic spectrum disorders. In order to carry out this extended range of activities, additional funding from the DCSF was announced by Sarah McCarthy-Fry, Minister for Schools and Learning, in the House of Commons on Friday 15 May, bringing the total funding for the AET to £580,000 in this financial year.

Look out for a special AET supplement to be published in The Guardian newspaper this Tuesday 19th May  14/05/09
The supplement will provide an in-depth look at autism education in England, with case studies from teaching staff, families and young people on the autism spectrum across the country.

New autism specific resources for early years and schools  01/04/09
New web and DVD resources on the autism spectrum are now available. Produced by The Department of Schools, Children and Families (DCSF), one is designed for those working with children under five years of age and the other is for those working in mainstream primary and secondary schools.

New learning resources for teachers  27/03/09
A series of web-based resources to support practitioners working with all children and young people on the autism spectrum in both Early Years settings and primary and secondary schools are now available to access on-line.

Sarah McCarthy-Fry speaks at AET conference  02/03/09
The Autism Education Trust held its first National Conference, ‘Sharing Good Practice’, at Central Hall in Westminster, London on Thursday 26th February 2009. Sarah McCarthy-Fry, Minister for Schools and Learning gave the keynote address and spoke about the Government’s ambitions for improving autism education provision across England through better collaboration and information sharing.

The AET road shows  01/01/01
Following the success of the first Autism Education Trust (AET) ‘road show’ event in Liverpool this month, the AET is holding a further five free events across England during March, April and May 2009. These events will mirror the recent AET National Conference and in addition will address some of the more local issues in each area.

AET brings 'Sharing Good Practice' to cities across England  01/01/01
Following the first Autism Education Trust (AET) National Conference 'Sharing Good Practice', which will be held in London in February, the AET is running a series of roadshow events across England during March, April and May.

AET National Conference 2009: 'Sharing Good Practice'  01/01/01
The Autism Education Trust (AET) is holding a one-day conference to promote collaboration between the various stakeholders in autism education. The event will bring together educational providers, local authority representatives, health professionals, adults and young people with autism, parents and carers

New research highlights the lack of specialist support for autism education practioners  01/01/01
New research carried out for the Autism Education Trust (AET) by the University of Birmingham has highlighted the lack of specialist support for autism education practitioners, including speech and language therapists and occupational therapists.

2008 Party Conference Round-up  01/01/01
Autism has been high on the political agenda recently. Many voluntary organisations working with and on behalf of the autism community around the UK attended the main political party conferences in September with some successful and interesting debates and events.

AET roadshows feedback and evaluation  01/01/01
We held six awareness-raising roadshow events during April and May 2008 at locations around England (London, Newcastle, Birmingham, Bristol, Manchester and Hull). The events were held following the launch of the AET in November 2007 to spread the word about the organisation to a wider audience. We wanted to encourage involvement from parents, professionals and young people with autism in the future work of the AET.

AET roadshows - thanks for making them a success  01/01/01
Thanks to your support, the series of roadshow events we held during April and May were a great success. For those of you who found time to attend an event, thank you very much for your valuable contributions. And for those of you who were not able to come, please keep in touch and let us know if you have any specific thoughts about the future development of the AET.

Autism Education Trust granted £35,000 to extend work programme in first year  01/01/01
The Autism Education Trust (AET), which was launched in November 2007, has been granted an additional £35,000 by the Department for Children, Schools and Families (DCSF) to extend its work programme in the first year.

Autism Education Trust launched in Parliament  01/01/01
The Autism Education Trust (AET) was launched this month in the Houses of Parliament at an event hosted by Barry Sheerman MP, Chair of the newly established Children, Schools and Families Select Committee. Schools Minister Andrew Adonis also spoke at the event.