SMART-ASD: Matching Autistic People with Technology Resources is a recent, online course resulting from a partnership between FutureLearn and experts in autism, intellectual disability and technology assembled from Universities of Bath, Valencia and Necmettin Erbakan. The course is free and aims to provide those (interested in) working with children with autism, learning or intellectual disability with a better understanding of

• how can technology best support children
• how to choose the best and most suited supporting technologies
• how recommendations can be made specific to each child

The course materials are distributed over a four week time period and include the following topics:

1. Week 1- Introduction to Autism and Intellectual Disability (ID)
   1. What is autism
   2. What is intellectual disability (ID)
   3. Autism and intellectual disability
2. Week 2 – How can technology best support children with autism and intellectual disabilities
   1. What types of technologies are available
   2. What are the potential benefits of using technology
   3. What are the potential challenges of using technology
3. Week 3 – Choosing the most appropriate technology to support children
   1. Knowing your Apples from your Androids: where being when thinking about hardware
   2. Protecting your technology
   3. Using your technology
4. Week 4 – How to choose the best app
   1. Apps for smartphones and tablets
   2. Good and evidence-based practice
   3. SMART-ASD

The course is aimed to all those interested in finding out about autism, intellectual (or learning) disability in children and how technology can support them but perfect for parents, carers and practitioners. No prior experience is required in taking this course.

A brief introduction to the course is provided by Prof. Mark Brosnan in this video.

You can register to take this course for free by accessing the following link: https://www.futurelearn.com/courses/supporting-autism.

with thanks to Sue Fletcher-Watson