Developing parent education in autism in south east Europe

Autism can challenge traditional parenting styles, causing parents to feel deskilled and disempowered, especially when little information or support is available to them. The provision of accurate information about autism and teaching parents how to adapt their parenting using good autism practice has been shown to be effective in improving personal, educational and social outcomes for individuals with autism and their families. However though parent education programmes exist in parts of Europe, in others they are extremely limited or non-existent. This presentation reports on a three year project (September 2015-August 2018), funded by the European Commission, in which family members, professionals and academics from five European countries are working together in a strategic partnership to address this inequity. This partnership is seeking to: • develop a core curriculum and ecologically valid parent education materials and methods • provide parent education to families living with autism in three south-eastern European countries where previously it has been unavailable • evaluate impact using quantitative and qualitative methods • share the curriculum and materials with stakeholders, and make recommendations to decision makers The presentation reports on the project’s first year. Barriers and problems to parent education in these settings are identified; the curriculum and training methods are outlined; evaluation methods and tools are discussed; and experiences and data from the first parent courses (held in Spring 2016) are shared. This project is a work in progress and we value this opportunity to present our work to and receive feedback from delegates at this congress.