Resources and Information for Inclusive Teachers. Autism, SEND and Pedagogy
I want to thank Elizabeth Jade for contributing this post on her journey into publishing her first book to Inclusiveteach.com. Please support Elizabeth by sharing her story widely and consider buying a copy of Akea – The power of destiny.
this post is specifically focused on strategies that may be effective for autistic children. This post draws heavily on the work of Damian Milton from who’s writing I have learnt so much from over the last year or two. This booklet has particularly shaped my approach to teaching. Most of these strategies are really just aimed at reducing stressors throughout the day. I would like to stress these are interpreted through by teaching experience and context is very important.
Every student has a dream classroom, this Utopia will be different for every child. Some learners may need wide ranging
The interactions, bonds and relationships of a family unit are so diverse that what may help one family will insult another.
I needed something quick and simple to support a young student through a difficult time. She was very reliant on staff to support her with very little idea ways she could help herself without getting overwhelmed. Her actions suggested she needed some prompts to think of ways to ask for help.
This post will outline the role relationships play in behaviour support, I will also outline some of the research led practices I have used. Before I start I do want to say that I have read studies I do not agree with. I also know that a huge number of studies conducted ON Autistic children/adults focus on strategies intended to normalise social behaviours which is a huge ethical issue. Fortunately I have had the opportunity to listen to and discuss elements of my practice with actually Autistic academics and practitioners. This has greatly shaped my approach and ethos towards behaviour support, I will also admit this has slanted my view of a lot of studies that remove the human element from behaviour and reduce the children to purely objects to study. To this end I fully expect some of the approaches in the post and the presentation to be a bit controversial and I am 100% sure that at least some of them will contravene your school (or center’s) behaviour policy.
A Guide to supporting transitions and changes with Autistic students within school.
Transition is a challenge that our students face on a daily basis. These transitions take place on a range of scales. From the micro transition of switching thoughts between tasks to major physical transitions between environments. The number of individual transitions an individual will undertake throughout the day is huge. Each one may well be a source of stress and anxiety for each student. The level of this anxiety and how it is communicated to us will vary dramatically. As with all the actions of our students this stress may not be easy for us to interpret. The quotes are from Autistic people I asked but are anonymised. I know I do not include enough Autistic voice, I will strive to expand this in future posts (I would welcome your comments.)
Written by the then 13 year old Naoki Higashida an Autistic young man from Japan The reason I jump is a fascinating insight into his views on how Autism has shaped his perspective of life. The book answers a series of questions put to Noaki which he answers using an alphabet grid devised by his mother.
This seemed apt to post now as the country simmers slowly beneath the summer sun. This post is based on
Looking beyond “No apparent reason”. Does Behaviour Really come “Out of the Blue?” This article is based on my experiences
Every day teachers, parents and carers are faced with potentially challenging situations. Many of these are defused through skillful behaviour support. These successful resolutions will have certain common characteristics. There are some essential conditions that must exist to deescalate an incident of challenging behaviour.
Autism awareness is an essential concept with ever increasing need for us all to seek a greater understanding of what it means to be autistic. However it must be more than holding an assembly, or watching a video. We must make real and ongoing adaptations to ensure our learning environments and school communities are as inclusive as possible.
Visual supports for Autistic children are vital those with receptive or expressive language delays are often able to process visual
Here are some of the resources I have made and used so far for our new Transport and Journeys topic.
The interactive whiteboard may well be the greatest ICT resource available to teachers today. It can also be the biggest
Andy Bloor recommended JORSEN – The Journal of Research in Special Educational Needs which now has a range of short
The terminology used for an intense episode of challenging behaviour that may be displayed by Autistic children and young people
Many young people I have taught have found efficient and effective ways of communicating a need or a want at
I would like to thank Lynn McCann for writing this post about developing an effective CPD model. Lynn runs a
This blog was prompted after I read this research paper. When you are a teacher of children diagnosed with ASD,
