During the past ten years QAC has welcomed an increasing number of learners with autistic spectrum disorders. People with Asperger syndrome and higher end autism have joined the college to study a wide range of programmes at all levels. QAC staff have developed many different teaching and learning strategies which enable people with autism to maximise their achievements within a structured learning environment whilst developing strategies to cope with situations that they will later encounter in later life. Progress in study, social skills and independent living as an autistic young adult are key to success and is achieved across a range of diverse environments. These include the curriculum within traditional classroom and workshop groups, guided learning in staffed residential houses and participation in many social and leisure contexts.
Many people with autism and Asperger syndrome have benefited from individualised learning plans, residential and day provision, which have led to success in future study and employment beyond QAC. Learners are often referred from schools which speciliase in autistic spectrum disorders but also from people for whom mainstream schools and colleges have proved too much of a challenge at that particular time in their lives.
Learners who have Aspergers syndrome are enabled to progress within a structured timetable where individual learning plans respond to each individual’s personality and interests. Amongst QAC’s ASD learners are also people with high end autism. Supporting learners with ASD, particularly those with Aspergers Syndrome, has become a growing part of QAC’s work in recent years.
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