Autism CRC launches online platform to support inclusive classrooms
19 May 2020
Autism Queensland has welcomed the launch of inclusionED, a new online professional learning community for Australian educators, as a vital step to creating inclusive classrooms for all learners, including those with learning difficulties or neurodevelopmental disabilities.
Launched yesterday (May 18) Brisbane by the Hon Dan Tehan MP, Federal Minister for Education, inclusionED is an online platform that assists educators to support their students, whether they are at school or learning from home.
Delivered through a collaboration between the Autism Cooperative Research Centre (CRC) and Queensland University of Technology (QUT), the platform provides evidence-based and research-informed teaching practices, videos, printable templates, and other resources. Parents can also utilise the free tools to support their children to learn from home.
Autism Queensland has been an essential participant of the Autism Cooperative Research Centre since its inception in 2013 and contributed extensively to the research underpinning inclusionEd.
Manager, Research and Development, Dr Jill Ashburner, said Autism Queensland had contributed to numerous projects including leadership of projects that focused on strategies to help students to stay on task and express themselves in writing.
“Participation in busy mainstream classrooms can be highly challenging and at times overwhelming for many students on the autism spectrum,” said Dr Ashburner.
“Our research focused on strategies and supports that could be seamlessly embedded into everyday classroom practice, benefiting not only students on the spectrum but also other students with additional learning needs.
“For example, we conducted research into a range of visual supports to make it easier for students to transition from one task to another, and technologies to improve their capacity to express themselves in writing.”
