Acknowledgements
The Autism Toolbox was commissioned by the Support for Learning Division of the Schools Directorate, Scottish Government, as an outcome of the work of the Autistic Spectrum Disorder Education Working Group which was convened following the publication of the HM Inspectorate Report into Autism and the National Autistic Society's ' make school make sense' campaign report.
The multi-professional writing team was led by Professor Aline-Wendy Dunlop, Director of the National Centre for Autism Studies, University of Strathclyde. The writing team included Charlene Tait (lecturer) and Lisa Glashan (teacher), who researched and wrote most of the section on Support for Pre-schools, Primary Schools and Secondary Schools; Alison Leask (Chair, Autism Argyll and Autism Consultant with the Scottish Autism Service Network) who wrote the Support for Parents section and led on the Resources section; Anna Robinson (Scottish Society for Autism) who wrote the section on Working with Other Agencies, and Dr Helen Marwick (lecturer) who wrote the Overview of Interventions in section 5.
We extend thanks to:
- Maggie Smith (Development Officer - Inclusion, Learning and Teaching Scotland), who has shared case study material on Autism Spectrum Disorders with us. We have shaped short vignettes based on this material to include in the Toolbox: the full case studies will be published on the LTScotland website
- Participating schools
- Chris Toon, for Annex 3 on behalf of Moray Council
- Fife Council for Annex 2
- Dr Tommy MacKay (Visiting Professor, National Centre for Autism Studies) for his careful reading of the Toolbox and feedback to the team
- James O'Donnelly, South Lanarkshire Council
- Gwen Carr (Occupational Therapist) for her work on sensory issues
- Tom Malone, for the design and layout of the toolbox, and Léonie Docherty for poster design
- The Scottish Autism Network Team whose research is reflected in the Toolbox, and in particular Andy Soares (Web Developer) for his cover and section designs and Lindsey Watson for her secretarial support
- All who gave feedback on drafts of The Autism Toolbox - we have incorporated your advice wherever possible.