Spotlight

Welcome to Spotlight

About Spotlight

Across Europe, many autistic young people face barriers when it comes to building social confidence, communicating with others, and accessing meaningful opportunities. At the same time, youth workers often lack practical tools and approaches that are inclusive, engaging, and tailored to neurodivergent needs.

SPOTLIGHT was created to bridge this gap. By combining youth work, non-formal education, and improv theatre, the project offers a creative and supportive way to build social, communication, and emotional skills. Rather than focusing on theory alone, SPOTLIGHT encourages learning through experience, helping young people grow in confidence while exploring self-expression in a safe environment.

Our Aim

SPOTLIGHT provides a range of accessible and practical resources designed to support both autistic young people and youth workers. Through creative, theatre-based approaches, the project promotes inclusion, confidence, and real-life skill development.

We want to:

– Support autistic young people to build confidence and express themselves
– Strengthen social, communication, and emotional skills through creative practice
– Equip youth workers with inclusive, ready-to-use tools and methods
– Promote participation, inclusion, and equal opportunities
– Create engaging, accessible learning experiences that can be applied in real-life settings

Why theatre?

Theatre is a powerful, practical way to build social and communication skills in a safe and structured environment. Through drama and improvisation, autistic young people can explore emotions, practise social interaction, and develop confidence in a way that feels engaging and supportive. Activities such as role-play, movement, and collaborative tasks encourage teamwork, self-expression, and non-verbal communication, while clear structures and expectations provide a sense of comfort and predictability. Most importantly, theatre allows young people to practise real-life situations in a meaningful way, helping them transfer these skills into everyday life.

Results of the project

The Spotlight project will produce a comprehensive Theatre Production Toolkit to empower autistic youth to engage in theatre and the performing arts to build core social skills, a Training Programme & Facilitator’s Handbook for youth workers
to engage youth, a series of Performance Sessions, and a Lessons Learned report summarising outcomes and lessons learned. These resources will enhance training for youth workers and support social skills development for neurodivergent
youth across Europe.

Co-Funded by the European Union. Views and opinions expressed are however those of the author(s) only and do not necessarily reflect those of the European Union or the Foundation for the Development of the Education System (FRSE). Neither the European Union nor FRSE can be held responsible for them. Project Number: 2025-1-PL01-KA220-YOU-000350985