<< Objectives >>Create a curriculum on a new figure to support the legal capacity of people with autism, regardless of the representation figures, and thus comply with the provisions of art. 12 of the Convention, already transposed into the Spanish legal system and soon to other European countries, based on the identification of good practices and participation of affected parties. Facilitate, in the future, the inclusion and full participation of people with autism through trained professionals<< Implementation >>Activity 1 Kick-off meeting (online)Activity 2- ResearchActivity 3- Meeting in BurgosActivity 4-Curriculum DefinitionActivity 5-EventsActivity 6- PM and dissemination<< Results >>There will be a curriculum for the figure to support the legal capacity of people with autism, generating a necessary reference after the transposition of art. 12 of the Convention to Spain and in the immediate future to other countries based on referents and participation of affected parties. Basis for the training and recognition of future professionals to support decision-making, inclusion and the full life of people with autism (approx. 1% European population)

"<< Objectives >>The project ""Care4Autism"" aims at:1) Reducing stigma and discrimination towards adults living with autism and their family caregivers by sharing successful awareness campaigns.2) Highlighting effective practices in digital health care services for adults living with autism.3) Easing caregivers' level of depression, stress, insecurity and anxiety about the future of adults with autism.4) Bringing together high functioning adults with autism who wish to develop their digital skills.<< Implementation >>The activities we are going to implement are:1) Good Practice Guide for Adults with Autism and their caregivers with emphasis on digital interventions.2) National Awareness Events during World Autism Day - April 2022 & 2023.3) Project meeting in Spain at the Mirandas Foundation and Autismo Burgos - Q&A session with professionals at the University of Burgos (UBU).4) Final meeting in Brussels with the cooperation of the Université Libre de Bruxelles (ULB) and the European Brain Council (EBC)<< Results >>The results that we expect to bring about through the project are: 1) contribute to an “autism-friendly” environment.2) reduce stigma and discrimination towards adults living with Autism and their family caregivers3) share successful awareness events.4) share effective practices in digital health care services for adults living with Autism.5) cooperate at a transnational level6) Improve the implementation of educational activities in the field of Autism for all partners."

<< Background >>Different research studies (Courtenay y Perera, 2020; Amaral, de Vries, 2020; Ameis et al., 2020) show the negative effects COVID19 is bringing up for autistic people, in areas such as physical and emotional health, employment, family context, and the risk of loss of social skills and development setbacks. Therefore, it is urgent to address the need of designing /reinventing educational services delivery using on line/virtual tools. First observations (Narzisi, 2020) on already developed online attention initiatives, showed up that communication and cognitive difficulties of people with greater support needs, is an extra barrier towards an effective online support implementation.These barriers in accessing digital technologies are mainly caused by a lack of accessible tools; lack of competences (teachers, people with disabilities and their families); poorly adapted educational methodologies; and few technological resources. More specifically, digital tools are often designed for the general population without taking into account the needs of autistic people with lower cognitive levels (levels 1 and 2, according to the American Psychiatric Association, 2013). Tools adapted to the cognitive needs of such individuals through the incorporation of easily readable texts, and use of pictograms and graphic resources are strongly required.Such needs are similar to in relation to training, capacity building and online care methodologies. Another important obstacle is the lack of skills for the use and management of digital technologies by the professionals who attend them, for which adapted training is also required. In this sense, autistic people with lower cognitive levels need to improve their digital skills in order to bridge this gap and successfully use digital resources and technologies. Likewise, support and training for families is also essential. In addition, many autistic people and their families lack from the technological resources to autonomously access digital services such as online training and care.The GAMESS project is in line with the Decree-Law No. 3/2008 and the goals of special education in Denmark. Since 1993, public schools in Denmark, Folkeskolen, have been obliged to differentiate education according to students’ needs in general and not by transferring students to special needs education. However, the development has shown that there is a need for tools to help schools to engage with ordinary teaching to really differentiate the use of methods, educational materials and curricula for students with differences in development, abilities, language and culture. (https://www.european-agency.org/country-information/denmark/systems-of-support-and-specialist-provision). Similarly, in Finland, inclusion is the official educational policy, and since 2018, a new systematic way of organizing support, a so-called three-tiered support model, has been implemented. Rehabilitation and new technology give more opportunities for early rehabilitation and Finland puts attention for new possibilities. For CZA and Miradas organisations, actively working with children with autism, the main motivation to join this project is related to the need to improve quality of life of their students with ASD and fulfil one of the rights from Convention on the Rights of the Child which is related to achieving fullest possible social integration and individual development. STANDO offers teacher trainings to teachers from all over Europe, therefore, this project will help them to bring together the skills of such a diverse set of partners in creating new curricula and expanding their training offer.At the same time, through an exchange of good practices and ideas they will gain valuable knowledge and experiences which will not only contribute to the personal and professional development of their staff, but also to the creation of an innovative and comprehensive training package<< Objectives >>One of the characteristics of children with ASD, ADHD, learning disabilities and other neurodevelopmental disorders is social skills deficiency. Given the idiosyncratic difficulties in the social and emotional understanding of pupils with ASD, teachers may face considerable difficulties in managing their needs, thereby affecting the quality of the teachers’ relationship with these pupils (Emam and Farrell, 2009). Within this context, and considering how important learning social skills from an early age is, and the challenges teachers can face, we propose a project with target group general pre-school /primary school teachers that have in their mainstream classes children with ASD, with the following objectives:*To design, test and publish an innovative Educational Package on GBL for mainstream education teachers (primary school) *To design and create a variety of games- a VR game, and a booklet with a number of group classroom games that promote social skills development in children with autism but also in their neurotypical peers*To deliver a training course to train general primary teachers on GBL and how to use and create a variety of games to teach social skills to children with autism in the mainstream classroom<< Implementation >>The mission of the project is to develop a GBL package for Social Skills specially designed for young children with autism. An integrated approach will be used to accomplish this task. The consortium will start by creating the Social Skills Curriculum (IO1) for primary school teachers complemented by 2 types of games- VR game (PR2), and group classroom games (PR3), as an educational package, which will set up the pathway for teachers effectively teach important social skills to students with autism. Apart from the aforementioned project results, 1 5-day LTTA (C1) will be organised for teachers. During the C1 training the teachers will be trained on how to utilise the PRs to teach children with autism social skills they need to integrate in the community. All PRs will be pilot-tested on the teachers during the LTTA. The pilot testing of the developed PRs will start after the completion of their drafts to allow improvements and modifications during the C1. The teachers with the completion of the training event will give feedback with suggestions for improvements. Besides the PRs and the LTTA, 5 ME will be organised towards the end of the project to disseminate the project results.<< Results >>The project outcomes are directly linked its project results and activities carried out within the project implementation period:1. Project Results: The GBL for Social skills Curriculum, a VR game promoting socials skills, and a booklet with group classroom games promoting social skills, all interconnected. 2. LTTA: 1 training activity for teachers (3 from each country +another 3 at local level) and therefore, at least 18 teachers trained to use GBL (including VR technology) to teach social skills to children with ASD in the mainstream classroom3.5 multiplier events to promote the project, its results and outcomes among teachers and other stakeholders (organisations for people with SEN, teacher organisations, SENCOs, policymakers, and reformers) (E1-E5)Other expected outcomes of the project include:-Each partner will have the opportunity to learn about different aspects of GBL as well as VR technology as an educational tool, as practiced in each partners’ country, exchange good practices and experiences, develop common recommendations and guidelines and improve their competencies in the field of GBL and teaching social skills to children with ASD.-Formation of friendly relations between teachers from Denmark and the other partner countries, exchange of experiences and challenges they face and mutual support regarding the social inclusion of pupils with autism in the mainstream classroom-The project will facilitate the collaboration between key people (trainers, specialists, experts, representatives of local authorities) and teachers from each partner-The project will facilitate the social integration of children with ASD in the mainstream classroom-European international mobility of project participants (field professionals, representatives of target groups) -Social media campaigns -Project participants’ language and social competencies through active transnational communication and participation in project activities-It will raise autism awareness at local and EU levelIt is expected to improve children with ASD’s and their neurotypical peers’ social skillsAdditionally, the project also foresees a set of project management, dissemination, monitoring and evaluation, and coordination results. Once the project is completed the partnership will disseminate its results and will transfer the developed practices and educational products in other contexts and educational fields. Moreover, the PRs will be used in partners' institutional activities with other teachers working with children with ASD.

<< Background >>The core initial group merged University of Burgos as well as Fundación Miradas (Spain), Fondacija hiljadu želja (Serbia) and FPDA-Portuguese Federation for Autism (Portugal) as assistance, protection and VET providers of people with autism spectrum disorder and their families. These organizations carried out a research study oriented to the needs identification and analysis of the target group, and the results showed the difficulties in relation to the confinement situation and the challenge faced by autistic people and their families, highlighting greater difficulties in managing daily life activities, increased levels of family stress and an increase in behavior problems. In relation to positive aspects, the role of online support received and its potential was remarked upon. In the same line it revealed the lack of support and the feeling of helplessness while many of them were capable before the pandemic. Conclusions of the mentioned research showed that the pathway to digital readiness of autistic people, their families and education professionals demands, on one hand, accessible digital technologies (training platforms) that facilitate training, learning and personal development for people with lower cognitive levels. On the other hand, specialized training for education professionals in the use of these technologies.The conclusions and perspectives of this research and the solid background (research activity related to practical application of intervention programs and on the ground permanent contact with organizations and VET providers) of University of Burgos, paved the way to set under the spotlight the Vocational and Educational training framework, the need of purposeful use of digital technologies in that educational scheme and development of digital skills and competences of people with autism spectrum disorder through appropriate programmes and initiatives, as underrepresented group in the digital scene.Together with the core initial group, Tady to mám rád, z.s. TTMR (Czech Republic) VET provider as project partner and the Associated Partners (see Associated Partners section) highlighted the following needs and challenges, which were compiled and shared during scheduled meetings in the project preparation phase:•Lack of accessible tools.•Lack of competences (teachers, students with disabilities and their families). •Lack of adapted training for professionals in the use and management of digital technologies. •Poorly adapted educational methodologies and few technological resources. As a second step, the mentioned needs analysis on the digital divide, lead to a broader vision by reviewing and ranking the Learning Management System LMS platforms that exist, selecting an educational platform of free and open source software, according to objetive criteria.IDEAL Project aims at addressing the mentioned needs through the provision of an adapted Learning Management System (LMS) following accessibility requirements for autistic people within VET contexts, the integration of educational methodologies that allows evaluating different digital tools according to their usefulness for people with autism, in a personalized manner for each individual development; and finally the provision of a methodology for digital training of people with ASD, families and education professionals.<< Objectives >>According to most research studies on the negative effects on the collective of autistic people, and in anticipation of the pandemic extending over time (or new similar situations arising in the near future),it is urgent to address the need of designing /reinventing educational services delivery using on line/virtual tools. First observations (Narzisi, 2020) on already developed online attention initiatives showed up that communication and cognitive difficulties of people with greater support needs, is an extra barrier towards an effective online support implementation.These barriers in accessing digital technologies are mainly caused by a lack of accessible tools; lack of competences (teachers, people with disabilities and their families); poorly adapted educational methodologies; and few technological resources. More specifically, digital tools are often designed for the general population without taking into account the needs of autistic people with lower cognitive levels (levels 1 and 2, according to the American Psychiatric Association, 2013). Tools adapted to the cognitive needs of such individuals through the incorporation of easily readable texts, and use of pictograms and graphic resources are strongly required.Such needs are similar to in relation to training, capacity building and online care methodologies. Another important obstacle is the lack of skills for the use and management of digital technologies by the professionals who attend them, for which adapted training is also required. In this sense, autistic students with lower cognitive levels need to improve their digital skills in order to bridge this gap and successfully use digital resources and technologies. Likewise, support and training for families is also essential. In addition, many autistic people and their families lack from the technological resources to autonomously access digital services such as online training and care.GENERAL OBJECTIVEThe objective of the project is to eliminate the digital divide suffered by autistic people with lower cognitive levels in VET contexts, facilitating autonomous equal access to digital technologies that would guarantee the continuity of their educational processes and their social and personal development, even in situations of lockdown.OPERATIONAL OBJECTIVES1. To adapt a Learning Management System (LMS) following accessibility requirements for autistic students within VET contexts.2. To design educational methodologies that allows evaluating different digital tools according to their usefulness for students with autism, in a personalized manner for each individual development. 3. To deliver a methodology for digital training<< Implementation >>The project methodology follows the 3 phases organizing the development of the Project Results and all complementary activities which are:PHASE I,PREPARATIONEach of the four VET organizations working with autistic people, will set up a mixed work group, made up of people with ASD with lower cognitive levels who are the final target group of the actions (5 students), education professionals (5 people) and families or caregivers (5 people). This group will participate as a discussion group for the definition of development areas and in the design and development of adaptations, methodology, tools, etc., validating the results obtained.PHASE II,DEVELOPMENTIn this phase, the educational platform of free and open source software selected by all partners will be adapted within the framework of the project. A schedule for the implementation of the adaptation and subsequent validation works will be drawn up. Adaptation at cognitive level, usability (attractive) and flexibility (adaptable to the profile and needs of each individual). The already identified needs will be categorized and an intervention proposal will be delivered, including the definition of the areas .This intervention proposal will be the basis for the compiling of virtual educational resources (technological applications) for online capacity building purposes of people with cognitive difficulties/ASD. These virtual educational resources will be validated by people with autism who are one of the target groups of the project in order to form this repository of accessible virtual educational resources. The intervention proposal will also be the basis for one of the methodological guides, aimed at autistic people, in which objectives, methodologies, and proposals for activities will be defined in each of the areas. A general proposal on the educational platform would also serve as the basis for designing individualized itineraries or educational processes, containing a combination of different activities and proposals so that the person with ASD will be able to achieve the different objectives of each area of development.Each application (virtual educational resource) will be analyzed to find out the required level of the individual: cognitive, functional, social and attitudinal levels.The evaluation (and the virtual matchmaking of both figures) of the cognitive level of each person and the required level of each resource bring up a new methodology that will be materialized as a tool, that will allow evaluating the adequacy of different virtual educational resources according to the abilities of autistic people, thus selecting those with the greatest relevance in terms of accessibility, usability and educational value to meet the needs of each user. PHASE III,VALIDATION AND DISSEMINATION<< Results >>The proposal faces two specific challenges that will be materialised:- Usability of the Learning Management System so that the main results will combine cognitive accessibility and appealing design, leading to (not only understandable but also) captivate and motivate the whole range of VET students with ASD even those facing stronger barriers.- Custom-made solutions, so that the main results will match/filter already existing technological applications in regard to autistic student cognitive level, among other criteria.The tangible results that will be obtained through the project and that will facilitate the access and use of digital technologies by autistic students are:2 Project Results will be developed during the project:R1. An educational friendly LMS usable autonomously by students with ADS with lower cognitive levels (level 1 and 2) adjustable to each individual. It will include an online repository of adapted and appropriate digital educational resources selected by a methodology framework (R2) that allows filtering which educational software would be the most appropriate one for students with autism and intellectual disabilities, taking into account their cognitive level and the characteristics of the software themselves.R2. A methodology for digital training of people with autism, their families, and VET professionals in the use of the educational platform.In regard to the Project Results workflow, the completion of R1 will sequentially lead the development of R2.Likewise, an extract on the lessons learnt and recommendations to face lockdown situations in the format of a protocol guide will be producedIn addition, one Learning, Teaching, Training Activity LTTA and 4 Multiplier Events will be conducted:• C1: Training exchange: To train and support in the use of R1 and R2 Project Results. • E1, E2, E3 and E4: Multiplier events in each partner country (Spain, Serbia, Czech Republic and Portugal) at local level.• E5: Final conference in Brussels (Belgium), organized by Autism Europe.The project will be developed with the involvement from the beginning of professionals, families and students (co-creation): A mixed work group will be set up by each of the four VET providers organizations working with autistic people (Czech Republic, Portugal, Serbia and Spain). This group, hereinafter Validation Group, will participate in the design and development of adaptations, methodology, tools, etc., validating the results obtained.

The main goal of DIAMOND is to guide individuals from vulnerable socio-economic backgrounds on their pathway to employment, by tailoring learning programmes to individual needs, and bolstering employability. This is achieved by developing two unique solutions: 1) the Employability Growth Index (EGROW Index) - a comprehensive taxonomy of individuals employability growth, including their empowerment and transformative (digital & green) capabilities (objective 1). The EGROW Index will act as a measurement tool for classification and segmentation of user groups regarding the content and format of learning programmes. 2) the Modular and Versatile Platform for Engagement and Employability (MOVE) – a digital platform for lifelong learning with person-centered micro-credentials and learning formats (objective 2). On MOVE individuals can grow their employability based on EGROW and skill forecasts by participating in concise skill programmes recommended by an AI-supported system. To benchmark the impact breadth of the EGROW Index and MOVE, econometric cost-benefit analyses and a stochastic life-cycle model are applied (objective 3). The objectives are enabled by a vibrant research and innovation environment – the Grassroot Living Lab. State-of the art social innovation experiments, iterative research and stakeholder integrated co-creation will validate the DIAMOND solutions. DIAMOND targets directly the main impact goals associated with the call. The EGROW Index will help individuals to assess their employability growth and to empower them to self-manage their skill development on MOVE. The increased engagement due to tailored learning programmes will facilitate an increased labour market participation. The economic analyses and model provide an improved understanding of macro-economic effects. DIAMOND contributes to inclusive growth, reduced vulnerabilities and strengthened economic resilience due to its person-centered and data/technology driven grassroot approach.