Translation

We are interested in the ACIA being translated into languages other than English, so that the materials are made widely available to support the assessment of adults with possible autism. Languages the ACIA has been translated into or that are in progress can be found at https://research.ncl.ac.uk/neurodisability/ourstudies/autismclinicalinterviewadultstrainingacia/  Where there is no translated version, the requirements for working with us on translation are listed below:

• A contract is required between Newcastle University and your employing organisation (such as university/academic centre, clinical service) to undertake the definitive translation of the ACIA into the official spoken and written language of your country.
• We require the person or people undertaking the translation to have experience and knowledge about autism or be working with a team that has experience and knowledge about autism: clinical and/or research experience or other expertise in autism, experience of adult diagnosis, mental health, and neurodevelopmental conditions, and experience of using the ACIA. Ideally, they should have been involved in translation of other measures, but this is not a requirement.
• We require the translation to be completed in Adobe InDesign, which is the format the original ACIA is available in.
• Once a contract is in place, the process of translation can begin: your organisation would arrange for the ACIA to be translated into the official language of your choosing.
• Then, your organisation would arrange for a separate person to undertake an independent back translation into English. You would then send this version to the Newcastle University ACIA team.
• The Newcastle ACIA team would then check the back translation against the original published English version of the ACIA and associated documents for accuracy. Once this checking work is completed, any changes required would need to be made by the translating team, and the revised wording reviewed again by the Newcastle ACIA team. This collaborative process will be completed when all queries have been resolved.
• The translated version will be owned by Newcastle University and protected by Copyright. The translation team will be acknowledged in the translated version: © Copyright Newcastle University [YEAR]; Translation of the ACIA from English to [your language] was undertaken in collaboration with [your organisation]

Requirements for people wanting to become an ACIA trainer

We are interested in training others to deliver ACIA training, so that the materials are made widely available to support the assessment of adults with possible autism. The requirements for becoming an ACIA trainer, and details about the process of becoming a trainer are listed below:

• To effectively run courses, a minimum of two trainers are required per country. A contract with one of the employing organisations (such as university/ academic centre, clinical service) is needed with Newcastle University around running future courses.
• Those interested in becoming an ACIA trainer should send a 2-page CV to the ACIA training team based at Newcastle University, outlining their clinical and/or research experience, expertise in autism, adult diagnosis, mental health, and neurodevelopmental conditions, information about what other measures they have trained on/used previously, experience of training and teaching, and experience of using the ACIA.
• Once contracting is complete, there is then a process of training. First, this involves being trained on the ACIA and conducting clinical/research ACIAs. Second is attending a training the trainer course. The details of this course depend on the experience and circumstances of the trainee trainers, but training is completed in one or two half day sessions and could be online or face to face. Once training is complete, the trainee trainers will initially co-deliver course(s) led by qualified ACIA trainers, or then deliver course(s) observed by the UK team (with translation provided for the UK team if that is required). The number of training courses that are co-delivered or observed will typically be 1-2 courses and then the trainer will be certified to train people without the Newcastle ACIA team and run their own courses. Training will cease if the individual has not reached the required standard after 4 courses, and the trainee trainer will not be certified.
• The ACIA training programme is designed to be low cost regardless of who organises and undertakes the training and where the training course is taking place. Delegates are then provided with materials free of charge for their own clinical/research work. Organisations undertaking ACIA training are also required to follow this principle. Organisations are able to recover their costs associated with translation, and of training as trainers, and expenses associated with running the ACIA online/face to face courses but ACIA trainers and/or their employing organisation are not permitted to make a profit on the course. Costs for delegates should be in line with those for the UK courses (or cost less). In order to support further ACIA development and evaluation, revenue sharing arrangements will be made between Newcastle University and trainer organisations, so a proportion of the funds from a course will be received by Newcastle University – the details of this will be outlined in the contract.