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Description
When the Covid-19 pandemic forced the educational process to be made remotely / online, children with ASD / SEN, that were already at risk of exclusion, became victims, authorities failing in their mission to ensure inclusive education (set as strategic objective of the 2019-2030 Action Plan for Education). The problems have been reported by non-profit organizations working in the field both nationally (https://bit.ly/2VcukLd) and internationally (UNICEF, World Bank - https://bit.ly/2Wzyttz).
In order to correct this situation (which can be extended in the next school year, but also in other critical situations) and to give children with ASD / SEN a chance to education, the project proposes an integrated approach, in two directions:
- Advocacy for inclusive distance / online education addressed to institutions with responsibilities in the field to adopt measures that allow children with ASD / SEN to participate in appropriate distance / online learning activities; it includes specialised training programs for teachers and therapists after a methodology for distance / online education for children with ASD / SEN. We will involve in this actions organizations from the RO TSA network (85 organizations active in the field of autism at national level), but also other organizations whose beneficiaries are children with ASD / SEN / disabilities.
- Increasing the access of children with ASD / SEN to distance / online education by creating a guide of good practices and providing seminars specially designed for specialists, teachers and parents to support them in these activities. The good practice guide will be developed by Help Autism specialists and the seminars will be provided free of charge to project beneficiaries, on a platform specially designed for this purpose. The platform will also be used after the project, for courses provided by the association for the three categories of beneficiaries.
Summary of project results
Starting from the dramatic situation of the reduced participation of children with ASD / SEN in school activities during the period they took place online, the project aimed to address the problem in 3 directions, acting at the level of decision-making institutions (through activities advocacy), teachers (through specialized webinars and guides to increase their abilities to work with children with ASD / SEN in online / distance learning activities), as well as parents and specialists who can support children with ASD / SEN in online learning activities (through tailored webinars and guides).
The activities proposed for achieving these objectives were carried out according to the approved plan, as follows:
- petitions were initiated and addressed to the Ministry of Education, the Ministry of Health and others Authorities
- advocacy activities were based on the consultation of parents of children with ASD / SEN on subjects related to participation of children with autism / SEN in online school activities
- for training teachers, parents and specialists (therapists) in their effort to support children with ASD / SEN in online educational activities, specialized content was designed, adapted to each category. This content was the basis of the webinars held on the online platform HelpEdu.ro (https://helpedu.ro), created within the project for this purpose.
- 2 good practice guides have been designed for working with children with ASD / SEN in online educational activities
The visibility of the project and of the donors was ensured through visual elements and text on all the elements published within the project: posts on social platforms, press releases, the online platform HelpEdu.ro, and the guides of good practices. The project was presented, including donors and financial aid, in webinars held on the platform. Online news platforms also published information about the project in articles after the project''s press releases.