We are excited to be launching a Duke of Edinburgh (DofE) Award Community of Practice to share good practice and advice on making the scheme more accessible to autistic young people.  

Our DofE Community of Practice will bring people together to share knowledge, experience and learnings, with the aim of upskilling organisations and groups to deliver autism-friendly DofE awards in ways that enable more autistic young people to take part.  

We will also develop a toolkit, offering tips, guidance and different ways to approach the challenges autistic young people may have in accessing and achieving the DofE awards. 
 

Background 

In May 2022, the National Autistic Society launched a pilot Duke of Edinburgh (DofE) Award Scheme, to enable autistic young people to work towards and achieve the DofE Bronze Award in the North of England. 

This pilot scheme was very popular and we received many enquiries on how to make the award more accessible for young autistic people. Parents, autistic young people, schools and youth organisations all came to us wanting to take part or run DofE schemes, but needed guidance on how to make this ‘work’ for autistic participants.    

The next natural step was to find a way to share good practice and knowledge. Thanks to the support of the ZVM Rangoonwala Foundation, we are now launching an autism-specific DofE Community of Practice.  
 

Sign up for virtual events 

Over the next year there will be five DofE Community of Practice events, held virtually via Teams. In July 2024, we’ll hold a face-to-face event to share achievements, launch the toolkit of good practice and celebrate young people achieving their DofE awards.  

If you would like to attend the first Community of Practice event on Teams, Tuesday 26 September, 6-8pm, please email helen.storey@nas.org.uk