The school environment is one of the most important environments in the lives of children and adolescents. As a rule, children and adolescents with autism are included in the regular programs of preschool, and primary and secondary education organizations.

In our work with people with autism and their families, we notice great hardships that arise both on the part of professionals and on the part of people with autism and their families, which arise as a result of a non-supportive environment and weak knowledge of the condition of autism.

Pedagogical workers do not have enough relevant skills to teach people with autism. Kindergartens and schools often ask the Ministry of Education, Science, and Sports for a companion for a child with autism who should be by their side while they are at school. This is one of the good choices, but only if the companions are properly trained to carry out this mission. However, the current situation in Slovenia does not guarantee this, and hardships are often deepening, often also on the side of the companions.

Autism is a condition that is extremely demanding and unpredictable, and this only becomes more potent in a non-supportive environment where the child or young person feels misunderstood. Therefore, with our project, we want to address educational institutions across the entire vertical to initially participate in a survey on the needs of pedagogues when working with children and young people with autism. In the following, we kindly invite them to numerous educations and trainings, which will bring them the necessary knowledge about autism. Since with this project, we will develop an effective learning support model for people with autism, professionals who will test it will be able to acquire valuable knowledge that can help them understand the child’s behaviour, recognize the condition early, establish a quality relationship with parents and work together in the direction of developing good programs and strategies for the well-being of people with autism.

And last but not least, the fact that professionals who are equipped with knowledge about autism perform their work much better, with better quality, and above all, the working environment is less stressful for them as well.