02 April 2019
Adapting in response to children's needs
Have you heard of autism-friendly schools? Do you know how symbolising the environment could help a child with additional support needs to feel respected, accepted and valued?
Aberdeenshire Council is currently working on a detailed range of aims to meet the needs of children and young people with autism, including furthering professional learning opportunities for staff and strengthening multi-agency approaches to meeting needs.
Carron Douglas, Aberdeenshire’s Principal Educational Psychologist, explains: “Aberdeenshire’s schools adapt in response to children within their settings and their unique needs and abilities. We are committed to the ongoing development of autism-friendly schools. We have made significant progress in recent years, and there are many examples of fantastic improvement work being undertaken across Aberdeenshire. However, we also recognise that it is an ongoing journey.”
Aberdeenshire Council is now actively promoting the use of the ‘Autism Toolbox’ in its schools; an online resource developed by the Scottish Government in partnership with national charity Scottish Autism.
The toolbox is designed to support the inclusion of children and young people with autism in mainstream education, providing an overview of some of the more common challenges a pupil with autism might face, along with practical examples of support strategies.
Learning opportunities for school staff range from online modules to practical workshops in subjects such as the TEACCH structured teaching approach, PECS (Picture Exchange Communication System) and Social Stories (a way to describe a particular situation, event or activity to help a child better understand something which has or is going to happen).
Professional mentoring opportunities are also provided to staff to allow them to share good practice and, where appropriate, colleagues are supported to undertake postgraduate training.
The Council recently collaborated with UNISON to offer autism awareness training to pupil support assistants during in-service days and, as part of their induction, all probationary teachers attend a full-day workshop on assessing and meeting the needs of all children with additional support needs.
Building blocks like these are intended to ensure everyone involved in supporting children with additional support needs has a good baseline knowledge from the outset.
Carron added: “There are approaches that will work well for many children with autism but it’s also about getting to know children and putting support in place that suits them as individuals. No two children with autism are exactly the same so it’s not always as simple as saying ‘if you are working with a child with autism do x, y and z’. It’s a process of working with parents, partners and children themselves to find out what works best for them.”
Working with colleagues in health is key to the Council’s autism development work. Carron’s team recently collaborated with occupational therapists to develop a suite of training modules aimed at supporting school staff to recognise and meet children’s sensory needs.
Working in partnership with speech and language therapy professionals, they have also created guidelines for supporting total communication in schools.
This involves using any means of communication that works for an individual child, including Makaton signing, or using photos, picture symbols or objects, voice output communication aids, or natural gesture.
Carron explained: “Symbolising the whole school environment can make a huge difference in helping a child to understand and navigate the world around them, and to meaningfully communicate and interact with others.”
An Aberdeenshire multi-agency working group has also recently been set up to explore evidence-based interventions to support young people with autism who are experiencing anxiety. This includes colleagues who have backgrounds in speech and language therapy, mental health and educational psychology, as well as head teachers.
The Council is also keen to learn from the experiences of parents who have children with autism, and to ensure that their views are central to ongoing improvement work. A series of focus groups is currently being carried out with local parent support groups.
Support for children can range from using everyday classroom strategies to meet their needs, considering specialist options to working with third sector organisations to develop tailored learning pathways. These may include outdoor learning opportunities, art and music intervention programmes or sports activities.
In recent years the Council has also developed its wrap-around care provision (afternoon/weekend clubs and respite) to support children and families in Aberdeenshire who have a child with autism.
Councillor Gillian Owen, chair of Aberdeenshire’s Education and Children’s Services Committee, commented: “We have come a long way on our journey to better support autistic children and young people but we recognise the need to keep improving.
“The broader picture of supporting all children with additional support needs is constantly evolving and we’re doing everything we can to get it right for every child in Aberdeenshire. The investment we put in to supporting those with additional support needs, relatively speaking, puts us at the forefront of councils across Scotland, and we’ll continue to explore new opportunities to learn and improve.”
In terms of Aberdeenshire’s future learning estate, all new schools are being designed to be fully accessible to all children, including those with a non-physical disability. This means designated sensory spaces as well as low stimulation areas are considered in architectural drawings from day one.
Currently, at least one primary school in each cluster is designated as a location of enhanced provision and can offer spaces such as a sensory room, therapy room and life skills room.
Committee vice-chair Councillor Mark Findlater said: “Supporting children and young people within the context of their community and their school is often the best option. It should certainly be our first option and can help to avoid anyone feeling unnecessarily isolated years down the line.
“That’s why our approach focuses on schools and raising awareness so that any individual on the autistic spectrum feels respected, accepted and valued.”