Autism Peer Education Training

Currently there is patchy provision of autism peer education, but where it is in evidence, its success is determined by an ability to be flexibly accessed by parents and carers, many of whom have other responsibilities, and need access to education and training to fit around other aspects of their life. <br/>Social media is used extensively by family run groups to share information, resources, and support about autism and although these media platforms are incredibly accessible, quality of resources and sources of information can be unverified and subject to wide variation with the operation of different content moderating standards. <br/>Nationally, there is a need to consider how HEE can support families of autistic people through provision of equitable access to high quality autism peer education resources and training, that can be accessed flexibly and consistently in all regions of the country. <br/>There is also a need to ensure that regions develop capabilities in peer education training. Trained peer educators would support the widespread development of capabilities in local areas through the provision of training for parents and carers, and other aspiring peer educators. These widespread capabilities aim to result in improvements in community support and early intervention.<br/>Significant funding (£1.5m annually, for three years) has been requested to support the aims of this project, reflecting the level of investment that would be needed to address the two broad requirements outlined above. <br/>It is proposed that the key outputs for the work will be delivered through three distinct elements which are set out below. Together these elements would constitute the National Autism Peer Education Offer and include:-<br/><br/>1. The development of a national offer of high-quality autism peer education and training resources, that cover a range of topics that help promote/support the health and wellbeing of autistic people and their families/carers. <br/><br/>The resources will be designed, developed, and delivered by people with lived experience and will be curated in a single national portal with arrangements to ensure they are accessible on demand in a range of formats (including online training) which will meet the needs of parents, carers, personal assistants, and small independent care providers. <br/><br/>This will be supplemented by wrap around training provision with support accessible via telephone or live online/coaching sessions to ensure timely responsive access for families to access personalised, expert guidance<br/><br/>2. The development of a National Autism Peer Educators training curriculum that has been co-designed and co-produced with autistic people and their families with associated training materials to support regional delivery.<br/><br/>3. The establishment of 7 regional training hubs that will identify, recruit, and train a total of 200 Autism Peer Educators over the next three years. These hubs will identify, source, and recruit suitable candidates and provide training that delivers the national Autism Peer Educators curriculum. They will also develop a regional system to coordinate, and broker trained peer educators so that they in turn can co deliver training and coaching to others within the region.