The annual Conference of the European Agency for the development of education for persons with special needs was held in Dublin from 24 to 27 March. The Agency, chaired by the Irishman David Thomas, is an independent body established in 1996. It represents public and private institutions in 22 European countries. Its aim is to promote teaching for persons affected by special disabilities and create the conditions for the introduction of standardised national legislation to permit the integration of these categories of disabled. In collaboration with the European Union, the Conference dedicated a particular session to the theme of autism. It outlined the progress made so far in the sector and analysed, state by state, current proposals to improve access to education through the use of the new technologies, a primary factor in the therapy against autism (see further: http://www.european-agency.org/index.html).
