As part of the two year Erasmus+ project DiGiTool, from 20 till 24 September 2021, Autism-Europe attended a training at the Polytechnic Institute of Leiria, Portugal, together with the 5 other partners of this project. DiGitool aims to develop a resource kit for digital technologies to enhance communication with autistic students by teachers.
The learning, teaching and training activity (LTTA) was hosted by Centro de Recursos para a Inclusão Digital (CRID) based at the Polytechnic Institute of Leiria and attended by Inovar Autismo, Instituto Universitario de Lisboa – ISCTE (both from Portugal), Diversamente ODV (from Sardinia, Italy), Autismo Sevilla (from Spain), IT partner InterMediaKT (from Greece) as well as Autism-Europe.
The LTTA aimed at building a mutual understanding by all partners of the needs autistic students have in the classroom, how teachers can support autistic students with technological tools and how teachers can be supported to use them. The training included an on-site visit at a cluster of schools outside Leiria where students with and without disabilities have been learning together from kindergarten till middle school level long before it became the law in Portugal. Students aAfter the remotely held DiGiTool project kick off meeting on 2nd and 4th of June 2021, the LTTA was the first physical meeting of this project, funded by the European Commission. The next meeting will be held at the beginning of 2022 in Sevilla, after that the partners will come together in Cagliari, Patras and for the final conference in Brussels. Next to the LTTA, the meeting in Leiria was also an opportunity to coordinate activities between partners and discuss about the next steps and to agree on the project´s visual identity developed by Autism-Europe.re helped by support teachers. These students also have the possibility to attend specific subjects and learning activities remotely or get individual lessons if needed. Therefore, the school also has an extra classroom where autistic students go for specific learning activities or subjects.
After the remotely held DiGiTool project kick off meeting on 2nd and 4th of June 2021, the LTTA was the first physical meeting of this project, funded by the European Commission.
The next meeting will be held at the beginning of next year in Sevilla, after that the partners come together in Cagliari, Patras and for the final conference in Brussels. Next to the LTTA, the meeting in Leiria was also used to put partners on track regarding the next steps and to agree on the project´s visual identity developed by Autism-Europe.
About the Erasmus+ Programme
Erasmus+ is the EU’s programme to support education, training, youth and sport in Europe. Its budget of €14.7 billion will provide opportunities for over 4 million Europeans to study, train, gain experience, and volunteer abroad.