Creating Autism Champions ─ Autism Awareness Training for Key Stage 1 and 2

Raising awareness and understanding of autism has school-wide benefits, such as helping to improve the attitudes of pupils and staff and allowing children with autism to thrive socially, emotionally and educationally alongside their peers. This comprehensive resource provides a whole school programme for raising autism awareness and promoting inclusion.It includes training for staff in the knowledge and skills they need to support pupils, a sample school assembly, and lesson plans for teaching groups of pupils to be 'autism champions'. This programme also offers photocopiable worksheets and online presentations to use as part of the staff training, school assembly and peer awareness lessons. There is advice for involving children with autism and their parents in school activities. Easily adaptable for different age groups, this is a ready-made resource for schools committed to promoting autism awareness and whole school welfare.

Joy Beaney is an experienced teacher and autism specialist based in the UK. In the course of her career she has run a facility for children with autism attached to a mainstream primary school, been Assistant Head at a special school, manager of an Inclusion Support Service that provided training and outreach support for staff in mainstream schools. She is also a lecturer for a postgraduate certificate course in Autism.