Training FAQs

We will train everyone and anyone about autism! To build an inclusive society, it is important that everyone understands more about autism and how they can be more inclusive, so we have courses available for parents, carers, families, professionals and groups. You can either book per place on any of our open courses, or book a bespoke training session for a group.

We have a range of topics available for delivery. This includes understanding autism for a range of different audiences, including parents/carers and different professional groups. We deliver courses on topics related to autism, such as anxiety, sleep, sensory processing, social stories and communication. We also have topics related to particular ages and stages of life, e.g. early years, teenagers and transitions. We can also work with you to develop bespoke content for your group based on your needs.  

To find out more about the topics available, see the range of current courses available or email training@autismni.org. 

We deliver courses to a range of group sizes depending on need, but our standard group size is up to 25 people, which allows for an interactive and enjoyable learning experience. We endeavour to be flexible depending on your group’s needs, so get in touch if you’d like to discuss your group size in more detail. 

We also deliver open courses so you can book courses on an individual place basis. 

We deliver a range of different training programmes from 2-3 hour awareness sessions to longer training courses over a full day or multiple days. All our open courses have the duration clearly marked as part of the booking form. 

We are flexible with our delivery times to suit the needs of individuals and groups; this includes weekday training, evening and Saturday training. If we are delivering bespoke training to your group, we endeavour to be flexible with duration and start/finish times to suit your individual needs.

We deliver both in person and online training courses across Northern Ireland, and deliver a range of online training across the UK, Ireland and Internationally. 

We can deliver training to your group within your own venue for ease of access, or deliver interactive training online to reduce travel barriers for individuals. 

Once you have booked an online training course, you will receive the Zoom link at least 48 hours in advance. Please ensure you have checked your spam folder for the Zoom link. If you haven’t received the Zoom link 24 hours before the training, please contact training@autismni.org or phone 02890 401729 option 4 to enquire further. 

Autism NI offer AQA Unit Award accreditations on some of our course topics to demonstrate your professional development and build a portfolio of achievement. If AQA Unit Award accreditation is available as part of your course, there will be an option at the point of booking to register for this. You can also speak to your trainer to register for an accreditation when you are completing your course. AQA Unit Award Accreditations are available at a cost of £40pp, per unit. 

The AQA Unit Award accreditation takes the form of a short answer assessment that is completed in your own time after the course. If you have registered to complete an AQA Unit Award Accreditation, you will receive an email from our training team after course completion, with further information and instructions to help you complete this short answer assessment. Once you have submitted your assessment, this will then be processed with AQA and your certificate will be sent out to you via post. 

If you have any queries about the AQA Unit Award Assessment, please contact training@autismni.org. 

Autism NI is registered with the CPD Certification Service, which provide quality assurance with our training materials and delivery. Receiving CPD certified training allows you to feel confident that you are receiving a high-quality service from experienced trainers, to support you in building understanding, confidence and skills. 

If any of our open courses are fully booked, you can contact Autism NI to be placed on our mailing list, so you can be notified if places become available or when future course dates are released. 

If you have booked on an open course for professionals or booked a bespoke training session for a group, your cancellation policy will be detailed on your booking form. If you would like a copy of the cancellation policy, or would like to cancel your booking or amend details, please contact us as soon as possible. 

If you are booked onto a parent/carer support course and can no longer attend, please contact us as soon as possible to cancel your place. Our parent/carer support courses become fully booked very quickly and we usually have an active waiting list of people who would like to attend. By notifying us of your cancellation, this allows us to offer the place to another family who needs support.