The purpose of the AET is to improve the education of children and young people with autism.
The Autism Education Trust is a unique partnership supported by Department for Education of over 35 major organisations working specifically on autism education across the voluntary, public and private sectors including 20 local authorities across England.
The Autism Education Trust is dedicated to coordinating, supporting and promoting effective education practice for all children and young people on the autism spectrum.
The AET now offers the largest national training programme on autism for education based staff with nearly 100,000 staff being trained by 2016. There are three separate programmes for schools, early years settings and post 16 provision. The programmes are delivered by 29 training hubs across England. There are three broad levels to each training programme:
- General awareness for all staff
- Practical approaches for staff working with young people with autism
- Training for leaders who have a responsibility of coordinating and developing provision
Amongst a range of free online, downloadable resources there are 3 online frameworks :
- Autism Standards which allow provisions to self-review and are hyperlinked to resources.
- A Competency Framework to guide professional development hyperlinked to resources.
- A Progression Framework which supports staff to plan and track the progress of children and young people with autism
The website also contains a range of other free and purchasable materials for education staff in all phases, for parents and for young people with autism themselves.