Specialist teaching team – for professionals

The York Autism Champions are a line of communication between schools and the Specialist Teaching Team for Autism, helping SENDCos and supporting their colleagues to identify and address some of the common concerns for their autistic and neurodivergent pupils.

They are our ‘eyes and ears on the ground’, enabling us all to work towards creating day-to-day autism-friendly environments for our autistic and neurodivergent pupils.

Meetings

Meetings will take place between 1.30pm and 3.00pm on the following dates

• Tuesday 2 December 2025
• Tuesday 20 January 2026
• Tuesday 17 March 2026
• Tuesday 7 July 2026

Topics for the meetings

Topics, as discussed with and suggested by Autism Champions in the 2024 to 2025 cohort, will be chosen from:

• Peer Awareness
• Sensory-Environment audit
• Masking
• Anxiety
• Emotional Regulation

Other topics of concern for 2025 and 2026 can be discussed as needed.

What to expect

When Autism Champions attend the meetings they will:

• be supported to understand and develop the role of Autism Champion within their setting
• hear from other champions about the work they are doing, with opportunities to share ideas and resources
• focus on topics relevant to pupils on the autism spectrum across all the secondary school year groups, including joint transition work with Primary Autism Champions
• receive the ’Supporting the Transition to Secondary’ information with ideas for a process for good practice
• receive information and resources shared in the meetings

Further support

Contact Denise Thomas (Specialist Teacher for Autism) for further information or to enrol a new Autism Champion for your school by email: [email protected].

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