National Autism Trainer Programme (NATP)

Training was delivered to cohorts of up to 23 delegates. Our experience shows that small cohort sizes have a positive effect on delegates’ experiences and learning, increasing the impact of the training. Our Trainers were able to create safe learning spaces and meaningfully engage with all delegates. This has enabled open, respectful discussions and ensured attendees felt able to share vulnerabilities and challenges from their daily practice.

There were three components to achieving autism Trainer recognition:

1. Attend four-day training

During the training, delegates were required to attend a four-day online training (09:00-17:00) on the same day of the week, over four weeks. The training was co-produced by renowned experts and experienced Trainers from Anna Freud and AT-Autism and delivered by autistic and non-autistic experts in the field. Trainers facilitated safe spaces for reflective discussions and meaningful engagement via a range of presentations, videos and case studies for small cohorts of up to 23 delegates. Delegates were expected to be actively engaged in each session.

2. Join the Community of Practice

Post-training, delegates joined a Community of Practice. This was led by our Community of Practice Lead. Monthly shared learning seminars offered a safe space for delegates to meet with other Trainers, share their experiences and develop their training practice to benefit teams and staff they would be delivering the training to in their own setting. Over the course of the programme, delegates had the opportunity to hear from internationally renowned autistic and non-autistic experts, to extend and consolidate their knowledge.

3. Co-deliver training with Experts by Experience

Qualified trainers were supported to co-deliver the training with autistic Experts by Experience and embed our approach in their own settings.

April 2023 information session for NHS professionals

In April 2023, more than 450 NHS professionals joined an online information session, to learn more about the National Autism Trainer Programme. Tim Devanney and Andrew Carpenter from NHS England Learning Disability and Autism Programme discussed the need for this training, and how it aims to enhance autistic people’s experience of care.

The event was chaired by Co-Lead Programme Directors Dr Ruth Moyse from AT-Autism and Dr Georgia Pavlopoulou from Anna Freud, with a range of presentations and discussions from autistic content developers and delegates who completed the pilot training. The speakers demonstrated the programme's collaborative, experience-sensitive and trauma-informed approach.

We captured these discussions with ‘live sketching’ by our illustrator. You can now also view the presentation slides.

Communities of practice are formed to promote social learning. Our community of practice will support training attendees to engage regularly with each other in a process of collective learning, in order to develop and improve understanding, through discussion, investigation, analysis and evaluation. We believe that thinking together, combining participants’ individual experience and knowledge, reflecting on core issues, and working with a clear vision towards our joint goals, will ultimately produce positive results benefitting not only the community of practice, but also those it serves.

A monthly community of practice ran throughout the programme, led by our dedicated Community of Practice Lead.

The community of practice focused on identifying, discussing, supporting, and disseminating core principles and best practices that promote autism understanding and acceptance. Membership was open to all delegates who completed the NATP course. In conjunction with the wider Community of Practice activities, we also ran a series of specialist refresher training days.

We held our first NATP community of practice meeting in July 2023. NHS staff expressed their positive feedback regarding the ongoing support the community of practice will provide. We also created a training companion document for NATP Trainers, which includes information on working with Experts by Experience, facilitator notes and an e-library of resources as well as advice on how qualified NATP trainers can set up their own local Community of Practice beyond March 2025.