Autism: Spectrum of Employment Skills

Studies suggest that approximately 1 in 59 children is diagnosed with autism, and less than 10% of individuals with autism are employed, often in low-wage jobs. Barriers to employment include limi...

The main objectives of the ASES project were: To provide management and HR members with a recruitment and career development methodology suitable for staff with Autism; To offer a distance learning solution for training SME management staff in exploiting the qualities of staff with Autism; To increase the productivity of employees with Autism in the workplace; To increase the recruitment and retention rate of staff with Autism; To reduce the employment gap between people with and without disabilities by increasing employment opportunities for people with Autism; To eliminate the exclusion of people with Autism in the workplace; Ultimately, the project aimed to benefit the European economy through increased productivity and employment levels of people with Autism. The focus was on enhancing the role of VET in the career development of staff with Autism. Training SMEs is essential for recruiting and retaining autistic people in the labour market, valuing their skills and promoting their autonomy, self-determination, and independent living.

Administrative and Organizational Activities: Drafting Partnership Agreements; Delivery of signed Consortium Agreements; Sending copies of all core documents to the Project Coordinator (e.g. staff contracts of employment, staff and travel, etc); Developing an internal budget report to assure a full understanding of the Erasmus+ rules and a correct use and justification of the project funds; Sending the financial documents to the Project Coordinator, such as Timesheets and financial reports every 6 months; Payments to partners as per the agreed-upon plan. Project Management and Implementation Activities: Project Management Handbook Preparation; Setting up a collaborative working area in Google Drive; Progress monitoring and Bi-annual Progress Reports evaluation, with regard to the activities and outputs detailed in the Application Form; Updating Erasmus+ Platform and compiling Progress and Final Reports; Submitting progress reports and an interim report to the Portuguese National Agency; Daily project management within respective organizations; Delivering Bi-annual Project Reports to the Project Coordinator; Building a stakeholder database, including VET providers, businesses, and Autism stakeholders; Coordinating Transnational Project Meetings (TPMs) with support of the Partner Organisation that will be hosting the meeting, in Lisbon, Portugal; Thessaloniki, Greece; Copenhagen, Denmark; and Riga, Latvia; Organizing periodic online meetings for continuous progress monitoring; Conducting TPMs and monthly online meetings; Monitoring project indicators and ensuring high-quality deliverables; Undertaking various tasks related to survey preparation, quality assurance reporting, financial document preparation, and dissemination. Quality Assurance and Evaluation: Creation of a Quality Assurance Handbook designed to assess the project's achievements, effectiveness, quality, and impact, which includes tools to evaluate aspects of project implementation, activities, communication, cooperation (e.g., TPM, C1 activities, online meetings), as well as the quality of outputs and project impact; Implementing a Quality Evaluation Plan; Contributing to the Quality Assurance Plan (QAP) and conducting project evaluation; Monitoring and assessing project dissemination and promotion activities; Creating and distributing online surveys for project quality control; Producing quality assurance reports based on partner feedback. Coordination and Communication: Collaboration using the ASES Google Drive, TPMs and online meetings; Actively participating in online meetings and discussions with partners; Coordinating internal work allocation for the ASES project; Corresponding with partners through video conferences and email; Reaching out to project stakeholders to establish communication channels. Serious Game Development Activities: Conducting base research and structuring the game development phase: Conducting 60 'Learning Needs' survey questionnaire, using an interview methodology; and producing 6 National 'Learning Needs' Reports; Completing the game design, defining requirements and goals; Creating the game scenario format for effective writing; Developing the different scenarios for the serious game; Developing the alpha version of the ASES serious game; Conducting internal testing, with an alpha test. VET Curriculum, Toolkit & E-Guide Development Activities: Conducting base research and structuring the game development phase: Conducting 60 'Learning Needs' survey questionnaire, using an interview methodology; and producing 6 National 'Learning Needs' Reports; Completing the PR2 VET Curriculum for SME Managers; Developing 6 modules for the training course, which includes the theoretical component of the module, a powerpoint presentation and a trainer's guide for the practical application of each module; Contributing and Developing of PR3 activities, including the development of the Toolkit and the E-guide. Dissemination Strategy: Elaboration of a Dissemination Strategy Handbook; Monitoring and compilation of communication and dissemination activities such as technical tasks to provide logos proposals to the consortium and technical tasks to set up the project management tool for the consortium google Drive; Dissemination and promotion of ASES project activities; Performing communication and dissemination activities; Leading in creating the visual identity of the project; and developing project-related templates (logo, letterhead, presentation, etc); Designing, developing and managing the project website; and creating and maintaining social media pages for project dissemination; Starting a social media marketing campaign on various platforms; Organization of 6 Multiplier Events for project dissemination and its results in Portugal, Greece, Cyprus, Latvia, North Macedonia, and Denmark.

The ASES partnership, Specialisterne (Denmark), DEKAPLUS (Cyprus), OECON (Greece), LAS (Latvia), 8D Games (Netherlands) and Business Confederation of Macedonia (The Republic of North Macedonia), coordinated by FPDA- Federação Portuguesa de Autismo (Portugal), had concrete and ambitious goals. The ASES project has achieved significant milestones in line with its original objectives namely: - The ASES PR1 Serious Game; - The ASES PR2 methodology and blended Training Curriculum and Corresponding Training Materials, plus translated versions; - The ASES PR3 e-Guide plus translated versions; - The ASES Project Management Handbook (developed and shared by FPDA) in English; - The ASES Quality Assurance Handbook (developed and shared by OECON) in English; - The ASES Dissemination Strategy Handbook (developed and shared by BCM and LAS) in English; - The PR1/PR2/A1 survey questionnaire template for SME management (10 completed samples by each partner, 60 total); - 6 x National Reports of SME management survey findings; - 1 x Final Findings Report with conclusions of PR2/A1 findings (developed by DEKAPLUS); - PR2 PowerPoint presentations plus additional translated versions; - PR2 Trainee Handouts plus additional translated versions; - 1 x PR2 Trainer guide plus additional translated versions; - PR2 Training Assessment tools plus additional translated versions; - PR3 e-Guide plus translated versions; - 1 x PR3 external evaluation template; - 1 x ASES Project KPI monitoring Sheet; - The ASES C1 Activity, contributing to capacity building and knowledge transfer; - The ASES project website; - The ASES social media page; - 6 x Multiplier Events in Portugal, Greece, Cyprus, Latvia, North Macedonia, and Denmark with at least 30 physical participants in each country, plus 20 virtual participants in Portugal; - 4 x ASES Project e-Newsletters, 1 every 6 months of the project implementation.