A.S.D Adapting the curriculum Michelle Young. All about me……. Qualified in 1991 370 NOR one site 3 buildings Head of Foundation Phase Leader of Literacy.

A.S.DA.S.DAdapting the curriculum

Michelle Young

All about me…….

• Qualified in 1991• 370 NOR one site 3 buildings• Head of Foundation Phase• Leader of Literacy• Year 1 teacher

All About You ….

• Share your background with colleagues

• Time for a chat….Brain break!!!

HELP!!!!• No formal ASD training.• Two children in Foundation phase with diagnosis• Returned from Maternity leave 2006 to discover I am going to teach child with P.D.D?? What do

I do?• ‘I am mainstream teacher in mainstream school’

• I need help…. ANCo on Maternity leave

Autism Cymru

• Attended training school based research project with NNEB

• (Head forgot to mention homework when asked to attend course)

• Inspirational, humbling and even a little guilt .

Magic Wand …….

Where are we?• ASD meeting scheduled -audit of staff

• Are we ASD friendly school?• Shocked to discover didn’t know what A.S.D was

even though there are 3 pupils with diagnosis• Do we know who they are? • Undiagnosed but displaying autistic tendencies ?

• Applied for GTCW funding to begin to compile resource bank and offer support to staff.

QuestionnaireKnowledge of ASDs determines response rather than Knowledge of ASDs determines response rather than responding as we would to neurotypical children.responding as we would to neurotypical children.75% working toward well developed practice. Can we name 75% working toward well developed practice. Can we name the children? Aware of them in assembly/yard etc.the children? Aware of them in assembly/yard etc.

Staff acknowledge importance of playStaff acknowledge importance of play95% positive-How? What opportunities do we provide? 95% positive-How? What opportunities do we provide? KS2?KS2?

Staff have considered how to reduce stress for staff and Staff have considered how to reduce stress for staff and childrenchildren90% working toward well developed practice – What do we 90% working toward well developed practice – What do we do?do?

Where do we need to go?

• Raising Awareness – departmental

• Identification• Inclusion • Curriculum• Resource implications

How are we going to get there?

• Collectively………not just the classteacher!

• Review current practices

• Staff meetings

• Sharing good practice

• Get to know your child

• Likes, dislikes, special interests, personal issues

• Planning – a pupil with an asd is able to participate in majority of activities, it is careful consideration that is needed to make the activity a success.

• Not all strategies are necessary or appropriate for all asd children.

Case Studies• School Sports day is fast approaching. Thomas

hates it. What could we do to help him to cope..

• Possible remedies…..• Social stories, prepare with support staff,

practice run of races with a small group. • Visit the venue• Consider type of race

Case Studies

Discuss scenarios with group

• Issues?• Why are there triggers?• Sensory issues?• Possible remedies/solutions.

Case Studies

• Owain becomes very agitated and disruptive during gym sessions.

• Difficulty with instructions and movement.• Directional issues finds it confusing with

movement and noise information overload.

• Focus is auditory – need for visual references.

Gymnastics• PE mats

• Using the mats gives visual clue and personal space

Whole School Issues

Assembly• Whole school Awards R – Y6

• Planning – songs, noise• Be mindful of the questions you ask – you may

get an answer!!!• Preparing for any visitors/speakers• Close to pupil , security for them. They are able

to ask discretely if they are unsure or upset.

Playtime• Areas• Designated a quiet area• Explained where to go if… what to do if….• Social stories – use to explain why other children react• Playground peacemakers/Buddy System

• Lining up• Rotation of leaders• Give a job to do – playground equipment• Is it always necessary –dismiss group at a time

Visitors• Often cause an upset as it meant a change in routine.

• Weekly calendar displayed

• Surprise card in visual timetable and social stories in circle time

• Where possible inform parents and allow time to explain who/what/why.

• Supply teachers- where possible we aim to use the same supply teachers to avoid unnecessary upset.

Whole school initiatives• Brain breaks• Caused difficulty –focus became the break and found it

very difficult to return to the task in hand

• Talk Project • careful consideration needed as it was a noisy activity

which affected concentration.• Phased in gradually• Group and paired work.• Uniform posters throughout the school to remind of

activities.

Building Learning Power

• Vehicle for learning – pupils encouraged to develop learning capacities which will enable them to become confident, capable creative learners.

• Children love the terminology the four R’s Resilience, Resourcefulness, Reciprocity, Reflectiveness

• Assisted them with learning to learn

• Helped children empathise – we all like to learn BUT in different ways

• Management of distractions

• Taught skills-perseverance,teambuilding,questioning,collaboration,noticing.

• Prof. Guy Claxton

Language Links Screening

• Early identification at Nursery/Reception• Used across LEA will enable teachers to

monitor language development and processing.

•Smart Moves• Enable gross motor development.

DCD. Provide a programme of support for co-ordination difficulties.

ELKLAN & SULP

• Elklan

• Whole school training to be undertaken 2008

• Assist with communication difficulties and provide practical strategies to support ASD pupil.

• SULP

• Social Use of language

• Devised to assist children with development of pragmatic awareness

• Small group 10 week block

S.E.A.L.• Use Social Emotional Aspects of

Learning (dfes)• Excellent resource to develop self

esteem. Address issues home/school

• Use picture stimulus to discuss what we think is going on

Kerbcraft Intiative• LEA funded• Small groups to raise awareness of road

safety in our town• Had role play sessions to practice crossing

road, looking for safe places to cross.• In class discussion then transferred

knowledge to the actual road/crossing etc

Review classroom practice

• Physical environment• Educational visits• Activities, resources• Classroom organisation• Everyone happy!!!!

What can I do?• Be sensitive to

communication/understanding

• Picture Exchange Communication System.

• Treatment and Education of Autistic and Communications handicapped CHildren

• Involve parents, support staff, lunchtime staff

Sensory Issues• As part of K.U.W

we looked at materials. Owain was able to develop his vocabulary and address sensory/tactile issues with a group display project with ancillary support.

Classroom Resources

• Activity mats to assist with recall of facts, common spelling, topic vocabulary.

• Utilise traffic light system to allow children to indicate how they are coping/understanding the task.

• Emotion fans – task may not be the problem it may be the environment causing distress too hot/cold/noisy/light.

• As many visual/practical resources for all subjects.

• Majority of strategies used and resources are beneficial to all pupils.

Materials Word Mat

Social sentences/stories

• A useful tool which can be adapted to fit any situation.

• Gradually building a central bank of resources. This will enable all staff to draw upon a story and personalise it.

• They are used also during circle time sessions

Excuse me

_____________ talks to a lot of people.

Sometimes when _____is talking to other people I want to talk too.

I can say “Excuse me!” to see if __________ can talk to me.Sometimes __________ will answer me right away.Other times _________is talking about something very importantWhen she is talking about something important she cannot

answer me right away.If I say “Excuse me” and ________ doesn’t answer, I can wait until

she has finished talking.This will make _________very happy.In Year ___ we are polite and wait until people are finished

talking.I am going to try to be very polite

Personal Space

• When I talk to people I need to give them their space

• and stay away from their faces.

When people come too close it makes other people uncomfortable.

Everybody needs space.

When I make people uncomfortable, they want to get away from me.

When I give people enough space, I get to play with and talk to people, I make friends and have fun.

Asking others to PlayThere are a lot of children to play with. We can play games and we can play outside. Sometimes I want another child to play with me. This can be a lot of fun. Sometimes I ask others to play with me. I say “Do you want to _______?” Sometimes they say yes! This makes me very happy! Sometimes they say no. This makes me sad. But other kids don’t always want to play what I want to play. This is okay. If another child says no, I can ask them what they want to

play. If they don’t want to play at all I can play by myself. This is okay. I can have lots of fun playing by myself too!

Role Play @ Foundation Phase

• Offer first hand experiences where possible

• Original props – old phones/cooking equipment

• Not essential to wear clothes!! Tactile issues.

• Use role play dvd to give real life experiences and to use to prepare for a visit to garage/dentist/doctor

• (useful for parents too)

P.E.P.E is the only subject that expects students to undress and this can be a concern to some, both emotionally and physically.

Be sensitive to this and also maintain supervision during changing to ensure that pupils welfare is maintained.

Use a set of words and instructions, laminate them onto card and use them in P.E, e.g. under, over, stop, change, etc. Use double-sided sticky Velcro on the strip and word, so it is reusable. This helps autistic children who may not want to not want communicate orally with you –

however bright they are.

P.E.S.S.• Physical Education and School Sport

• Useful resources to support teaching of gymnastics.

• ASD friendly• Clear examples, reinforces key vocabulary• DVD clip of activity demonstration• KS1 – KS3

Frog Hopping

Scorpion

Visual Prompts for Gymnastics

Assessment

ICTSELF

Assessment

TARGET cards

Focussed Marking

Traffic Lights

Critical Friend

Digital camera

Mind Map

Skill Ladder

Peer Support

ASSESSMENT

Mind Maps & Concept maps

Mind maps give pupil opportunity to visibly map their thinking. Provides a concrete visual framework. Also enables teacher to see how well learner has understood topic.

Concept maps can be used to generate ideas, communicate complex ideas, aid learning, assess understanding or diagnose misunderstanding.

Traffic Light System

to aid self assessment.

• Home/school diary

• Positive – I can, I am trying, I am working toward.

• We Are Learning To • What I’m Looking For •

•Always•Unique•Totally•Interesting•Sometimes•Mysterious

Parental Support

• Try to foster a positive home/school relationship

• Working together

• Consistency

• Support

• Ten Things Every Autistic Child Wishes You Knew

1. I am first and foremost a child.

2. My sensory perceptions are disordered

3. Please remember to distinguish between won’t (I choose not to) and can’t (I am not able to).

4. I am a concrete thinker.

5. Please be patient with my limited vocabulary.

6. Because language is so difficult for me, I am very visually oriented.

Ellen Notbohm 2007

7.

8. Please focus and build on what I can do rather than what I can’t do.

9. Please help me with social interactions.

10. If you are a family member, please love me unconditionally.

Try to identify what triggers my meltdowns.

Thank you Owain

Useful websites

• www.communication4all.co.uk• www.widgit.com• www.sparklebox.co.uk• www.nas.org• http://trainland.com/pecs.htm• www.buildinglearningpower.co.uk• www.logo.com

Nadolig Llawen

Merry Christmas