In the Dutch-speaking specialised education in Belgium, there are about 10,000 children and young people who need an adapted didactic tool to learn to safely deal with the internet and social media.

Therefore, Child Focus launched STAR+, an online pedagogical tool for professionals to guide and support young people aged 10 years or older with an autism spectrum disorder (ASD) and/or a learning disability – for example due to a mental disability – in their online experiences.  

For young people with an autism spectrum disorder and/or a learning disability, the internet can often provide a higher quality of life. Many of the online tools available can be particularly powerful to break down social barriers and support communication.  On the other hand, however, these young people appear to be more vulnerable to online risks because they are more likely to have limited social finesse and intuitiveness when it comes to identifying and tackling online threats. 

Topics such as detecting reliable information online, privacy settings on social media, online and offline friends, online challenges and sexting are covered by STAR+. Dialogue is the starting point and at the same time the stepping stone to lasting and deepening media literacy. This dialogue not only benefits young people with learning disabilities and/or ASD, but is the basis for media literacy for all children and young people.

You can make an account and discover more about the STAR+ project at www.childfocus-star.be.

Find out more about the work and initiatives of the Belgian Safer Internet Centre or find similar information for Safer Internet Centres throughout Europe. On the Better Internet for Kids (BIK) platform, additional useful tools for parents, carers and teachers can be found in the resource repository, in the Guide to apps section and in the Teacher corner.