THE MACEDONIAN SCIENTIFIC SOCIETY FOR AUTISM ON FIRST MEETING AT THE UNIVERSITY OF NORTHAMPTON IN ENGLAND, AS PART OF THE PROJECT "EQUALITY AND SOCIAL INCLUSION THROUGH POSITIVE PARENTING"

Abstract

Between 28 and 30 September 2015, Prof. Dr. Vladimir Trajkovski (President of Macedonia Scientific Society for Autism) and Jasmina Troshanska MA (Vice-president of the Society) visited the University of Northampton in England. This was in order to attend the project "Equality and Social Inclusion through Positive Parenting (ESIPP). This project is intended to create a scientifically-proven model for providing training for parents of children with autism at the European level
ESIPP is part of the European Commission's Erasmus+ program (project number: 2015-1-UK01-KA204-013397). The project has been funded under Key Action 2 - cooperation for innovation and exchange of good practice - and is a Strategic Partnership in the field of Adult Education.
The project coordinator is University of Northampton and partner organizations are: Faculty of Education and rehabilitation University of Zagreb, Croatia; Center for Autism in Zagreb, Croatia; Autism Europe, Belgium; Autism Assessment Support Practi¬ce Center, Cyprus; European University, Cyprus; Macedonian Scientific Society for Autism, Macedonia; Target Autism, UK; and Autism Concern, UK.
The project budget is 432,210 euros and duration is 36 months, from 01.09.2015 to 08.31.2018.
The objectives of the project are:

• To develop an evidence-based model for delivering parent education in autism that can be used across Europe.
• To develop a core curriculum and ecologically valid parent education training materials.
• To use these materials to provide parent education to families living with autism in areas where it has been previously unavailable.
• To evaluate the effectiveness of the materials and the impact of the training using quantitative and qualita¬tive data collection and analysis.
• To share the model curriculum, tools and materials with stakeholders and make recommendations to policy- and decision-makers.

During the first meeting, coordinator presented the project, starting from that led to project's development and identifying the expected results at the end of the project. Representatives of the Republic of Croatia, Republic of Macedonia and Cyprus gave presentations outlining the characteristics of their countries (with regard to cultural, geographical and political perspectives) and spoke about the organizations from which they came. They then went to discuss issues relating to the treatment of children with autism within these countries. This included information relating to the numbers of children with autism; opportunities for early intervention and treatment; the education systems; and the problems facing children with autism and their families.
Working in groups, and facilitated by Target Autism and Autism Concern, the partners started developing models of education of parents for Republic of Macedonia, Republic of Croatia and Cyprus. Each model was presented to the group and all the positive and negative aspects were considered by mutual discussion. Dates were set for future international project meetings, and planning commenced for the first training sessions for parents of children with autism in the Republic of Macedonia, Republic of Croatia and Cyprus.
Six training sessions for parents will be held in each of these states (18 in total). Educators and rehabilitation staff from the partner organisations (e.g. MSSA in Macedonia) will also receive training to work with the parents of children with autism. Four conferences for parents and professionals will be held as part of the project, including one in September 2017 in the Republic of Macedonia. The project partners will also have opportunities to attend national and international conferences, such as the Autism-Europe Congress in Edinburgh, Scotland (September 2016). These will provide opportunities to share and produce scientific papers and reports. The project will be monitored by a reference group of experts on autism in Europe. The hosts for the next international meeting in January 2016 are partners from Cyprus, and the first training for parents and training for coaches is expected to be in March 2016 in Skopje. There is an ongoing international competition for the logo of the project, through the collection of drawings by children with autism from states participating in the project.