About

Acer is an international centre of excellence in research and teaching focusing on education and care across the lifespan. We draw out key implications for good autism practice arising from research and this informs the development of our teaching and training programmes. We work collaboratively with our community of practitioners, carers, policy makers and individuals on the autism spectrum to improve the lives of people with autism and their families.

A note from the Editor

Welcome to the ACER blog! We hope that you enjoy looking through its contents which we are starting to build. Not only will the site provide an additional forum for information about the work of ACER, but it is also a means by which discussion and debate on autism-related topics – especially in the field of education – can take place.

A few words about me. I am a Research Fellow in the department of Disability, Inclusion and Special Needs and the Project Manager of Transforming Autism Education  which involves setting up teacher training programmes to facilitate the inclusion of autistic children in mainstream schools in Greece and Italy. I am in the second year of my doctoral studies at the University of Birmingham where I am supervised by Dr Guldberg and Dr Wittemeyer of ACER. My topic is the extent to which autistic children in mainstream schools access tests and exams, with overarching considerations about how autism is perceived by different people (including – and perhaps especially – those who are autistic) and the longer term outcomes of autistic people. I am very interested in issues around inclusion and how this is defined in different arenas and experienced by individuals.

Disclaimer

The posts in this blog demonstrate a diversity of views on autism and related issues which may not always reflect those of the members of ACER and their associates.