The Houses4Autism project has reached a significant milestone in its implementation: the successful completion of both its Learning, Teaching and Training Activity (LTTA) for adult educators and the second pilot phase involving autistic adults across partner countries. These two interconnected events represent the culmination of over two years of collaborative development and mark the point at which the Houses4Autism Educational Toolkit has been tested, evaluated, and validated by its intended users.
Training a Pool of Multipliers: The LTTA in North Macedonia
In May 2025, fifteen adult educators gathered in North Macedonia for a five-day intensive training event — the first formal pilot of the Houses4Autism Educational Toolkit. Participants travelled from Ireland, Cyprus, Denmark, and North Macedonia, bringing with them a breadth of professional experience in adult education, special needs support, and autism services.
The LTTA served a threefold purpose. It introduced participants to the full suite of Houses4Autism outputs — the curriculum, the handbook, and the interactive virtual reality (VR) game — whilst simultaneously functioning as the first pilot test of these materials. Educators were not only learners during this event; they were also evaluators, providing structured feedback on the content, organisation, and pedagogical approach of the toolkit. Upon completion, each participant received a Europass certificate of attendance, formally recognising the competences acquired.
The evaluation results from the LTTA were notably strong. When asked whether they had developed new skills or improved existing ones as a result of the training, 93.3% of participants gave a rating of 4 or 5 out of 5. The same proportion agreed that the training had contributed significantly to their professional development as adult educators. Content clarity received particularly high marks, with 86.7% awarding the maximum score — a result that reflects the care taken by the project partners in developing materials that are both rigorous and accessible.
Crucially, 100% of participants rated their overall experience positively, with 80% giving the highest possible score. Qualitative feedback reinforced these findings. Participants highlighted the variety of activities across the five days, the supportive and professional approach of the facilitators, the opportunity to exchange experiences with professionals from other countries, and the practical, hands-on nature of the sessions — including direct engagement with the VR application. Several participants noted that the networking dimension of the event was among its most valuable aspects, underscoring the importance of transnational exchange in building a community of practice around autism education.
Suggestions for improvement were constructive rather than critical: participants requested pre-circulated presentation materials, more video content, and additional time for discussion. These observations have been taken forward into the final revision of the toolkit.
The LTTA produced a pool of fifteen trained multipliers — educators equipped and certified to deliver the Houses4Autism programme in their home countries, and to train autistic adults in the practical independent living skills that the project is designed to support.
Testing the Toolkit with Autistic Adults: The Second Pilot Phase
Following the LTTA, the trained educators returned to their respective countries to deliver local training sessions with autistic adults — the second and final pilot phase of the project. These sessions constituted the ultimate test of the toolkit: its application with the people it was designed to serve.
Evaluation of the educational materials yielded a particularly striking result: 62.5% of participants gave the maximum score when asked to rate the quality, relevance, and effectiveness of the teaching materials — and not a single negative rating was recorded across this measure. This is a notable outcome for a first iteration of any educational resource, and speaks to the strength of the co-design process that has underpinned the toolkit’s development.
Ratings for the organisation and structure of the materials, and for the usefulness of visual aids, were predominantly in the moderate-to-high range, indicating that participants found the content clear and well-sequenced, whilst also identifying areas where further refinement would be beneficial. The overall learning experience was rated positively by the majority, with most responses in the higher range and no very low scores recorded.
The VR application received consistent and encouraging feedback across three measures. Ease of use during the training session was rated 4 or 5 by 75% of participants, suggesting that the application was accessible even for users without prior VR experience. The simulation’s accuracy in representing home-based independent living situations was similarly well-received, with 62.5% of participants providing high ratings and a notable number describing the scenarios as engaging and believable. Participants recognised the VR component as a genuinely useful tool for understanding how everyday tasks and home adaptations relate to greater autonomy.
Qualitative feedback from the session highlighted the clarity and structure of the educational materials, the combination of theoretical content with practical real-life examples, and the supportive approach of the trainers as the most appreciated elements of the experience. Participants suggested that additional post-session materials, more practice time, and a greater number of real-life examples would strengthen future iterations of the programme.
What the Results Mean for the Project
Taken together, the results of both pilot phases provide strong evidence for the validity and utility of the Houses4Autism Educational Toolkit. The LTTA data demonstrates that the training programme is effective in building the professional competences of adult educators: the project’s own target of 90% of trainers reporting significant knowledge and skills improvement was exceeded, with 93.3% achieving this threshold. The second pilot data demonstrates that the toolkit is accessible, relevant, and positively received by autistic adults themselves — the group whose lives it is ultimately designed to improve.
The absence of negative ratings across the core evaluation questions for the educational materials is particularly significant. It indicates that, at this stage of development, the toolkit does not present barriers to engagement for its target audience — a meaningful baseline from which the final version will be refined.
The feedback gathered across both phases is now informing the final adjustments to the toolkit and the Houses4Autism eLearning platform, which will make all training materials available in five languages to educators, autism organisations, policy-makers, and interested stakeholders across Europe.
Looking Ahead
With the pilot phases now complete, the Houses4Autism project moves into its final stage. The eLearning platform — currently in its content development phase — will serve as the long-term home of the toolkit, ensuring that its reach extends well beyond the partner countries and the life of the project itself. The platform will be available in English, Greek, Macedonian, Danish, and Irish, and will be freely accessible to all.
The project team extends its sincere thanks to all participants in both pilot phases — the adult educators who travelled to North Macedonia and engaged so generously with the training, and the autistic adults in each country who contributed their time, experience, and feedback. Their participation has been indispensable to the development of a resource that we hope will make a lasting contribution to independent living support across Europe.