Autism

The Power of Co-Regulation: A Letter from a Parent of an Autistic Child

The letter below was written by a parent of an autistic child who read one of our recent posts on the importance of co-regulation. Too often our schools can be aversive places for children. As parents and teachers, as humans, we want our children to be happy and fulfilled at school. It should be a …

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SEN Teacher: Proving The Value of Learning

Showing Autistic Pupils that Learning Has Value: A Guide for Special Education Teachers Any new special education teacher faces the unique challenge of catering to the diverse needs of your students. I have spent my career supporting Autistic pupils who will require specialised approaches to learning. One of the most important tasks, and one that …

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Best Practice for Communicating with Autistic Children

Best Practices for Communicating with Autistic Children for ECTS When it comes to education and early years development for children who have a diagnosis of autism, simple techniques and strategies can be the most effective. In fact, we often overlook the basics because we tend to overcomplicate things when communicating with autistic children. In this …

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Sensory Sound Buttons in EYFS: Communication and Engaging play

Sound and Play Sensory Sound Buttons are a type of sensory toy designed to provide children with a fun and interactive way to explore sounds and textures. These buttons are typically made of durable materials and feature a variety of textures, colours, and shapes that are designed to engage the senses and encourage exploration. When …

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Flow State: Applying the Theory in the SEN Classroom

What is Flow State? Flow state, as described by Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi, is a mental state of operation where a person is fully immersed in an activity, characterised by a feeling of energised focus, full involvement, and enjoyment in the process of the activity. During the state of flow, individuals experience a sense of control over …

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Play Your Way to Better Self-Regulation: Tips and Strategies

Teaching self-regulation skills to children with SEN is a vital part of their education. It also presents real challenges depending on the complexity of their needs. Pre-Verbal children or those with communication difficulties need our constant focus on this. Many of our children have disorganised nervous systems that are always seeking out sensory stimulation to …

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Developing Communication Skills For Pupils in The Classroom

One of the most significant challenges for teachers supporting children with a diagnosis of Autism is the development of language skills. This is not necessarily verbal communication. As teachers we seek to develop communication to a point where the child can intentionally communicate with as wide a range of people as possible. Yes – this …

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Writing a Personal Statement for a Teaching Assistant Post

Introduction. A key part of the application process for a Teaching Assistant job is personal statement. A personal statement is a document that tells the panel who are doing the shortlisting about your motivations for wanting to become a Teaching Assistant. This guide will teach you how to write an effective personal statement for a …

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How can teachers and teaching assistants motivate pupils to learn?

Developing pupil motivation using 10 evidence based strategies. Teaching Assistants (TAs) play a vital role in supporting pupils with Special Educational Needs (SEN) in the classroom. One of the most important aspects of their work is to help these pupils develop a strong motivation to learn. This is crucial because pupils with SEN may face …

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Functions of behaviour text. Escape and challenging behaviour

Functions of Behaviour: Fear and Escape

A Reformed Functionalist. Acting in a certain way to get out of something is commonplace for many children and young people. And adults come to that. If you have attended a PBS (positive behaviour support) course or any behaviour training you may have heard the term “functions of behaviour”. Attempts to get away from, out …

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Reward Systems: Rewards and Natural Consequences

Personalisation and Purpose of Reward Systems at Home and School I am a fan of personalised reward systems at school as a way to achieve a very specific goal. As a behaviour modification strategy, I have struggled to find a suitable system. I have found star charts or token economy systems a good way for …

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Teaching Emotions: 6 Picture Books

Stories about Emotions Teaching emotions and explaining feelings to children is essential. A child cannot self regulate without recognising and starting to understand how they feel. It is also important for children to start to understand how their actions affect others. There are many ways to approach this but one of my favourite ways is …

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5 apps chosen to support SEN pupils with virtual learning

5 Interactive Apps Geared Towards Special Needs Students

A guest post on great SEN apps. For many children access to school ended in March 2020 due to the coronavirus. Now that the spread is slowing down, however, they’re allowed to reopen fully. But a survey conducted by the National Foundation for Education Research found that 60% of school leaders feel ‘unprepared for some aspects of …

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Control, Anxiety, and Oppositional Behaviour at Home and School.

All children have a tendency to display oppositional behavior at times. After 13 years working with children with Autism, ADHD, ODD and other needs I have seen a range of reasons for opposition. With my own children I can identify factors that can lead to oppositional behaviour. This doesn’t make it easier to deal with, …

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Supporting children with health and hygiene routines

Hygiene Routines and SEND

This post outlines the questions and suggested strategies from the #SENexchange discussion on Life Skills: Health and Hygiene routines. You can download a PDF of the collated discussion below. Please share if you think this will help someone. What barriers do people with Sensory Processing differences face with common hygiene routines? Update: check out this …

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