Private schools and Autismo Sevilla sign an agreement to promote the early detection of autism
The Provincial Federation of Private Educational Centres in Seville (CECE) and the Seville Autism Association have signed a partnership agreement with the aim of promoting the “bbMiradas” project among nursery schools and improving the training of staff at these centres in the early detection of autism.
According to a statement issued by Autismo Sevilla, the “bbMiradas” project is being developed to improve early detection by identifying early signs of autism in children under 12 months of age, using a combination of eye-tracking technology and early intervention aimed at children at high risk of developing Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD). This project is an initiative of the Autismo Burgos association and the Miradas Foundation, promoted by Autismo España, which seeks to facilitate knowledge transfer across a network by implementing the project in different provinces across Spain, through provincial autism family associations.
The agreement, signed by the chair of Autismo Sevilla, Mercedes Molina, and the chair of CECE Sevilla, Rafael Caamaño Aramburu, sets out the terms of collaboration between the organisations to carry out initiatives that promote the early identification of signs of autism in schools and enable earlier access to specialist support, as well as to publicise the project to encourage family participation.
EARLY DETECTION IN BABIES
Thanks to this agreement, the early detection of signs of autism in babies will be promoted, thereby enabling faster and more effective intervention to reduce the impact of autism on their development and on the lives of their families. “BBMiaradas” aims to monitor babies with a family member who has autism from 4 to 36 months of age. Due to the genetic component of autism, a higher proportion of these babies are likely to develop autism, and the project will therefore enable data to be collected from a very early stage of their development, through developmental questionnaires, play observation and the use of eye-tracking methodology.
This methodology has already been shown in other studies to be capable of identifying that babies with autism look at social and non-social stimuli differently; if this study confirms this, it could become a much more effective tool for detecting autism at an earlier stage.
Furthermore, the programme will offer specialist training in early detection to staff at nursery schools. Nursery schools currently play a key role in the early detection of autism, and provided they have the necessary knowledge and tools, this detection can be made more effective and carried out at an earlier stage.
Rafael Caamaño emphasised the importance of schools’ involvement in this process, stating that “education and early detection must go hand in hand to ensure better inclusion and support for pupils with ASD”. He also highlighted the need to increase resources for special education to ensure a comprehensive education for pupils with disabilities.
For her part, Mercedes Molina Montes highlighted ‘the importance of having a partner such as CECE on this journey, as the education sector plays a key role in the process of identifying children with autism’. She noted that it is “a partnership that we are confident will benefit the families participating in the project, and society in general, thanks to all the awareness-raising work carried out by bb Miradas in both the education and healthcare sectors”.
This project is designed to support all organisations and professionals involved in early years education and childcare, enabling them to refer families who, having a relative with autism, wish to closely monitor their baby’s social and communicative development. Through this initiative, CECE Sevilla and Autismo Sevilla, in partnership with Autismo España, “reaffirm their commitment to the early detection of ASD and the improvement of educational quality, promoting innovative strategies that facilitate the identification and early intervention for children with autism”, they concluded.