Autism, education

Autism and Behaviour from a Neurodiversity Affirming Perspective

Autism is a complex neurodevelopmental difference that is characterised by a spectrum, or fruit salad of different elements. These can include difficulty with social interaction and communication. Increasingly this is looked at through the lens of "Double Empathy". You can read more about this in Pia Hämäläinen's book here. However, autism is not a disorder… Continue reading Autism and Behaviour from a Neurodiversity Affirming Perspective

Autism, education

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… Continue reading Flow State: Applying the Theory in the SEN Classroom

star wars teaching resources
Autism, behaviour, Blogs, CPD, education, inclusion, research, special education, special needs, Teaching

Research, Relationships and Reality.

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.

free teaching resources
#SpEdSC, education, special education, special needs, Teaching

6 Essential Special Educational Needs Research Resources

Research SEN Teachers Should be Using. During an online Special Education discussion I asked: What Research/Journals should those interested in SEND be reading? Here are the top 6 answers for recommended SEND research into special education. Some of these are free to access, others require a subscription. I would be interested to hear what your… Continue reading 6 Essential Special Educational Needs Research Resources