Estimated reading time: 3 minutes, 15 seconds

As the days shorten, we’re wrapping up and knuckling down into the remainder of a fast-paced Autumn Term.

Last month, we shared our September Highlights, and you told us how helpful our round-up was to make sure you didn’t miss a thing. So we’re back to share our AET highlights from October.

At the start of October, we reported the sad reality of spikes in school exclusions once the new academic year was underway.

We know education professionals are seeking ways to create more inclusive learning for their autistic pupils. The topic of exclusions - and how to avoid them - was our focus for October.

See below to recap our top tips and practical strategies for educators.

Read on to discover in bite-sized format...

• What everyone’s been reading about this month
• This month’s most shared social media post
• Our most downloaded resource for education professionals
• Our Team’s highlight of the month
• What’s coming up next month
• A fact that may surprise you!

Exclusions.

With the transition into a new academic year, the challenge of school exclusions and how to avoid them is being discussed throughout our network.

Explore all of the exclusions content on our website here.  

Don’t miss the most relevant and valuable autism education news and content.

Follow us on social media here:

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Our Most Downloaded Resource for Education Professionals

This month, our ever-popular Schools Standards Framework is our most downloaded resource.

The Schools Standards Framework is used by leaders to reflect, plan and implement improvement processes across the school as a whole.

Join the 299 school leaders who are implementing the Schools Standards Framework in their school setting and download your copy today:

We had an excellent experience at the Autism Europe Conference in Krakow, Poland from 7th – 9th October and came away with new contacts and connections eager to take good autism practice to their regions.

The Congress provided a platform for researchers, practitioners, students, autistic people and family members to come together and bring expertise from around the world to promote a positive vision for autistic people and their families.

Our very own Dr. Sarah Broadhurst, AET director, led a symposium session on "Reviewing the evidence: how to create the right environments for autistic pupils and adults in school".

We brought The AET Schools Competency Framework to the event, translating this valuable resource into 5 languages for our European colleagues.

• Polish
• Spanish
• French
• Italian
• German

Next month is busy busy busy!

Keep watching to enjoy a sneak peek at some of the video content that our Autistic Young Experts Panel have been working on ahead of the launch of their BRAND NEW YouTube Channel

The Panel is at the heart of the AET and is made up of 19 young people aged 16 – 25, who come together to share their experiences and contribute to the content that we produce for education professionals.

The autistic voice is at the centre of everything we do, and we’re so excited to be able to bring more from the Panel sharing their experiences first-hand.

Did you know, autism diagnosis is reported as taking six years longer for girls?

The BBC reported that:

Research by Swansea University has found it takes on average six years longer to diagnose autism in girls…

It also found the average age of diagnosis in girls was between 10 and 12 - but between four and six for boys.

In their article, Rhiannon Lloyd-Williams shares her experience of being diagnosed, explaining:

"I thought I had a good knowledge of autism, but it was based on misunderstandings about what autism is…”

Read more on the BBC:

Thanks for reflecting on a busy October with us.

We look forward to an equally busy November!

Your AET Team