A parent training on using the Teaching Interactions Procedure through digital tools to teach Social Skills to their children with autism

As described in application, Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) is a public health problem due to the increase in its prevalence in recent decades. According to recent information available from the World Health Organisation, one in 160 children has ASD, with higher rates in some countries like France and Denmark. Evidence-based psychosocial interventions, such as behavioural treatment and parent skills training programs, can reduce difficulties in communication and social behaviour, with a positive impact on well-being and quality of life for children with ASD and their caregivers. In many countries, e.g. Greece and Cyprus, no action prior to this project has been taken to raise awareness and inform parents, the public and health professionals. Prior to the project there were no educational programmes dedicated to the parents of these children, therefor these particular needs are addressed within TIPS project. All partners shared a common interest; improving the trainers’ professional skills and the support parents of children get. By exchanging good practices and ideas, the consortium gained valuable knowledge and experiences, resulting in creating an innovative and comprehensive training package for professionals and parents.

As described in application; In 2009, the teaching interaction procedure (TIP), was empirically evaluated for individuals diagnosed with ASD indicating the TIP was successful at increasing targeted social skills of all participants. Since then, studies have been evaluating the effectiveness of the TIP for teaching individuals with ASD and shown it to be an effective teaching strategy. In this context, TIPS project aimed to improve life and social skills of children with ASD and their families. Considering how important learning social and life skills from an early age is, we proposed the target group being parents of children with ASD, with the following objectives: *Designing, testing and publish an innovative Educational package for educators guiding and supporting training on parents of children with ASD on how to use digital tools; a digital game and digital comic strips, as tools for social and life skill development of their children. Both digital tools are based on the evidence-based procedure of the TIP. *Delivering training courses to train educators on how to use the digital tools with children with ASD and delivering these courses to parents of children with ASD to amplify and perpetuate the ripple effect.

Regarding the project management of the project and for the successful implementation of the project, procedures and actions was implemented from the very beginning of the project. Implementation regarding management and quality monitoring and evaluation of the project activities through the guidance on the agreed Project Management Plan, the Evaluation and Quality Assurance Plan, the Dissemination Plan and the Sustainability and Exploitation Plan. All the material was developed with the contribution of all partners, establishing a strong foundation of the consortium and the project. These Plans clearly stated and set the rules of the project, the obligations of the partners, the allocation of tasks and responsibilities, the processes of mitigating risks, and many other management actions for the partnership and were agreed on upon the kick off meeting in Aarhus, Denmark, where all partners were able to attend physically, except for STANDO who attended online. Ongoing monitoring was achieved through regular online and 3 face-to-face meetings, as well as ongoing mailing correspondence. The face-to face meetings were kick off in Aarhus, Denmark, 2nd Transnational Project Meeting (2nd TPM) in Skopje, Macedonia, Train the Trainers learning (C1) event in Burgos, Spain, Teaching Social Skills to children with autism via the Teaching Interactions Procedure and the use of digital tools (C2) in Skopje, Macedonia and final Transnational Project Meeting (Final TPM) in Larissa, Greek. For each activity, the participants were selected according to their abilities and the needs of the activity. For transnational meetings, the project coordinator and a member of the organization assigned to work on the project were always present. The partnership developed the project results, starting by the development of Result 1: Social Skills Curriculum for children with ASD, and at the same time, the digital tools; the digital game as well as the digital comic strips (Results 2-3) was created to supplement the training course. All developed results were incorporated into the e-learning platform (Result 4) of the project, which is not the only the online platform of the project. We also created a network platform for parents/carers which include newsletters, articles etc as well as the project results. After the completion of the first drafts of the results, the partnership pilot-tested them during the two LTT activities; C1 was organised for adult education trainers. During the C1 training, the trainers was trained on how to utilise the Project Results to teach children with ASD social skills, so that they can then teach the parents how to use them. Access to the material was given to the trainers, in order to test it in their home environment, work etc, in order to improve and create a ripple effect of the use of the material soon as possible in the course of the project, as well as optimising the conditions for a successful C2 as much as possible During C2 all Project Results were pilot-tested by trainers and parents during the training activities, and access to the material was given to both trainers and parents for future use, testing and feedback even after C2 was over. The pilot testing of the developed Project Results started after the completion of their drafts to allow improvements and modifications during the C1 and C2. The participants with the completion of the training event gave verbal and written feedback with suggestions for improvements, which were passed on to the project consortium to continue improvements and customisations of the project results. Finally, towards the end of the project 6 Multiplier Events were organised, one in each partner country to promote the project, its results and outcomes among its target groups and stakeholders. Throughout the project, newsletters, dissemination posts, articles etc were created and uploaded on the platforms of the project as well as shared by social media, internal and external channels, at conferences etc. to continually ensure the project's impact and sustainability.

The project outcomes are directly linked to the project results and activities: 1. “TIPS” educational Package including 3 interconnected educational material: R1: Social skills curriculum for trainers. The training curriculum has been complemented by R2 and R3, two different digital tools with a common aim, provide tangible and concrete material for trainers and parents to improve the social skills of children with ASD. The training materials are public available through the online platform (R4). The platform features an “Open badges” system which is automatically linked with the assessment process of the courses for recognition and validation of the learning process 2. 18 trained adult education trainers (3 from each partner organisation) who acquired theoretical and practical knowledge of autism with a focus on social skills through the training activity, during which they learned how to plan and implement a parent training, focusing on social skills of their children with autism. The training consisted of a 3-days face-to-face training (C1) (approx. 20 hours of training) 3. 30 parents of children with autism participated in a blended training activity, during which they learned how to use the two digital tools to help their children with autism acquire important life and social skills. Furthermore, they received education on the Autism Spectrum Disorder based on the developed curriculum. 4. 6 multiplier events was held to promote the project, its results and its outcomes among trainers, families of children with autism and other stakeholders in order to increase the sustainability and impact of the project for the future. Other outcomes of “TIPS” project was: 1. Staff and associates of the partner organizations (trainers, educators, etc) learned about the educational tools created within the project. 2. Children with ASD being taught by the trainers involved in the C1, participated in the activities suggested by the project and used the digital tools developed. This also created a ripple effect of the use of the digital tools to colleagues of the trainers in their teaching of children with ASD. 3. Children with autism, through their parents’ involvement in the project, participated in the activities suggested by the project and used the digital tools developed. 4. Increasing everyone’s awareness on autism and the importance of explicitly teaching social skills based on the tangible and concrete digital tools developed throughout the project. Moreover, the project helped children with ASD: • learn how to act in different situations • make friends more easily • expand their interests • improve their overall quality of life • improve their TIPS skills (i.e. taking turns, sharing etc) • improve their conversation skills • learn how to manage their emotions • acquire problem solving skills • indirectly improve their digital skills Additionally, the project also included a set of project management, dissemination, monitoring and evaluation initiativs, and coordination results