Enhancing provision for
children on the autism
spectrum
Dr Glenys Jones
University of Birmingham
23 January 2015
Main areas affected in
autism/Asperger syndrome
Flexibility of
thought and
behaviour
Social and
emotional
understanding
Attention
differences
Communication
and language
Sensory issues
Identification - Think about/assess
EVERY pupil in the group/class
• And not just those with recognised SEN
• In particular – help others ascertain what the pupil
enjoys about school; their degree of inclusion with peers
in class and outside; their emotional and physical wellbeing; any anxieties about life at school or at home;
ambitions for the future; their happiness…..
• Use the strategies developed for those with autism and
ALL children at a school will benefit including those that
have not yet been identified as having SEN or autism
Areas of difference in autism 1
Communication and language: difficulties in
using and understanding spoken words,
facial expression, gesture, body language,
and intonation, irrespective of how
intellectually able they are
problems in reading for meaning, taking
spoken language literally, issues in
understanding sarcasm, jokes, metaphors
Areas of difference in
autism 2
Social and emotional understanding
knowing what to say and do in different social
contexts - so often criticised for being rude,
inappropriate, insensitive, lacking empathy
A pupil’s limited facial expression can mean
that staff think they are fine and coping when
they are not
Areas of difference in
autism 3
Difficulties in thinking and behaving
flexibly
Issues in predicting, perspective-taking,
preference for routines and familiarity, issues
in shifting and dividing attention and in
processing and working memory
Areas of difference in autism 4
Sensory challenges
•
•
•
•
Sensory overload - overwhelmed
Delayed perception – need time
Over and under sensitive
Sights, sound, touch, smell, taste, body awareness,
balance
School is a very challenging place
if you have autism…
• Criticised by staff and pupils alike for not
doing the right thing (autism is invisible)
• Exhausted by the effort of trying to work out
what to do, how to join the group
• May seem arrogant, opinionated for not
seeing others’ points of view – and
genuinely mystified as to why other people
are interested in talking about topics that
hold no interest for them.
School is a very challenging place
if you have autism…
• Problems in shifting and dividing attention
means that they are often literally deaf to
peers and staff
• Have problems with prioritising and working
to time
• Only motivated by what interests them – not
by social rewards
• Can be upset when others break the rules
and will report on other pupils and staff
School is a very challenging place
if you have autism…
• Pupils are vulnerable to being exploited materially
and sexually as they are socially naïve or want to
gain friends – so check on the nature of their
relationships with other pupils and teach them to be
assertive and how to judge intentions
• Can take written and spoken language literally (eg
Clown worksheet next slide)
What might be the difficulties for a child with
autism with this worksheet?
Can you solve the clown’s problems?
Areas where pupils need help
• Need help to gain a friend – hugely important for
self-esteem, learning what is OK/not OK and
protection from bullying
• Need help to read for meaning in tasks and exams
• Need help to prioritise work, to understand how to
revise, to help make good choices of subjects and
University course
• Need time away from others – to spend time on
special interest
Areas where pupils need help
• To be warned in advance of any changes to routines
• To be given more details of events/ procedures than
other pupils
• Need support and not sanctions when it is the
misunderstanding that comes from autism or a
problem arising from poor organisational skills
• If their response is very different from other pupils
of the same ability, then one has to consider which
aspect of their autism/dyslexia, dyspraxia might
have led to this
• When instructions given, ask the pupil to show you
what they are going to do, to check their
understanding
Areas where pupils need help
• To cue in to what is relevant in a lesson – as
their attention might be elsewhere
• Not to insist on eye contact – as many
autistic people find this painful and easier to
listen if they do not have to look at the
person
• To check on their sensory issues – using the
checklist in the AET materials
Areas which affect well-being and
can continue into adulthood
• Sleep deprivation common leading to
irritability, lowered performance
• Food and drink – may be limited,
intermittent, not fully digested– so may be
hungry, in pain, dehydrated, constipated
• Toileting may be difficult or signals not
noticed – if absorbed in an activity
• Any ONE of these can affect performance
and mood
Free resources for schools,
early years and post 16
• AET Standards, Competency Framework
and Parents Guide – find at
• www.autismeducationtrust.org.uk
Inclusion Development Programme – online
study materials on autism
www.aet-idp.org.uk
Aims of the Hertfordshire review on
educational provision for children with
autism
• To identify key issues, concerns and successes in
the education of children with autism
• To consider how to enhance provision and increase
a school’s capacity to take a wider range of children
• To make best use of resources
• To clarify the Hertfordshire offer
Challenges in autism throughout
the UK
• Increasing number of children identified with autism
– at least 1 in 100
• Needs and profiles are very diverse across the
population
• Autism is missed by schools and other professionals
as it is not as visible in able, passive children,
particularly in girls
• School is one of the most demanding environments
if you have autism
Challenges in autism throughout
the UK
• Reduction in support services and therapists
• No robust evidence on which interventions or
settings are best for any individual with autism
• BUT growing consensus from experience of what
makes a positive difference……….
• Adult style, physical and sensory environments,
stress reduction, using special interests, listening
to the pupils
Issues for Hertfordshire
• Limited budget which is unlikely to increase so need to use
resources to best effect
• To provide for all pupils locally for good parent links and
reduced transport costs and community support
• Data on how many pupils there are with autism is hard to
ascertain where this is not listed as the primary need
Issues for Hertfordshire
Placement of Statemented children in each DSPL
varies in terms of:
1. Proportion who attend school WITHIN their
DSPL
2. Proportion of children at schools out of Herts
3. Proportion of children in mainstream schools
•
WHY?
Sources of information for the
review
• Staff in mainstream and special schools and
bases
• Advisory service and Educational Psychologists
• Parents and carers
• Data on placements made for children in each
DSPL
• Literature on autism and interventions
• Survey data from 162 schools and 4 Colleges
A lot of work done by schools
on these aspects of practice
The six principles for which a lot of work has been done
according to the respondents
160
140
138
126
116
120
105
105
Safe haven created
Staff knowledge
102
100
80
60
40
20
0
Communication with
staff
Adjusting teaching
Fostering friendships
Prevention of bullying
No work has been done on
these aspects by some schools
The six principles for which no work has yet been done
according to participants
140
127
120
100
91
80
60
40
24
20
19
18
12
0
Parents' room
Parent group for SEND
Structured
conversations
Making adjustments
to teaching
Activities
lunch/break-time
Asking pupils'views
Support from CD Autism Team
Respondents' opinion on AAT according to age group
60
53
53
50
40
30
20
15
10
15
8
7
2
0
3
0
2
1
0
Primary & Secondary
Nursery
Excellent
All age
Primary & Secondary
Nursery
Good
All age
Primary & Secondary
Nursery
Not very useful
All age
Primary & Secondary
Nursery
All age
Not received this support
Rating of support from
Educational Psychologists
100
90
86
Good
80
70
Excellent
60
50
40
30
20
36
Not very useful
26
10
10
4
Not received this support
0
Educational Psychologist
Not answered/Don't know
Support from ESCs
90
84
Not received this support
80
70
Good
60
50
Excellent
40
30
29
Not very useful
20
20
15
14
Not answered/Don't know
10
0
ESCs
Support from CAMHS
70
64
64
Not received this support
60
50
Not very useful
40
Good
30
22
Not answered/Don't know
20
10
10
Excellent
2
0
CAMHS
Staff concerns/issues
• What to do prior to diagnosis which can take a
long time
• Good schools can become a magnet
• How can we measure non academic progress?
• Many mainstream staff have little or no
knowledge of autism
• Caseloads of support staff do not allow sufficient
time to support schools and families
Staff issues and concerns
• Insufficient time to liaise with parents
• ENF funding often turned down for reasons
which are not clear
• Staff find pupils’ problems hard to understand
and confused by uneven profiles – so assume
they should be able to do X.
• Insufficient work done on peer-peer inclusion
• Hanging on to difficult children hides the extent
of the problems some schools face
Staff issues and concerns
• Parents who appear not to accept the diagnosis
• Parents who do not want their child or other
children to know their child has autism
Parents’ issues and concerns
• Parents want more information at diagnosis and
shorter waiting times
• Schools don’t ‘get it’
• Staff do not take parents’ concerns seriously –
particularly when child is academically able
• Hard to get to see key staff
• Would like more frequent meetings with staff
Parents’ issues and concerns
• CAMHS services not as helpful as hoped
• Would like separate/alternative provision – bases
or a school for able, anxious children
• Would like staff to work on social and emotional
well-being and life skills
• Inconsistent support – good support can
disappear when the child moves class or school
Parents’ issues and concerns
• Children are given repeated sanctions which do
not work
• Parents feel they are talked into managed moves
by the threat of exclusion
• Child’s part-time attendance limits parents’
employment and quality of life
Summary
• All schools need to be good at meeting the
needs of children with autism, so how do we
best share good ideas?
• Parents and staff need to work more closely
together
• Non-academic areas – particularly social
understanding and peer inclusion and life skills
need to be developed
• Explore reasons for differences in DSPL area
placements
Summary
• Needs of very anxious, able children need to be
identified and addressed more effectively
• Consideration needs to be given as to how all
schools can better meet the needs of all children
• A need to explore alternative provision for some,
not yet made in Hertfordshire
• Advice on how to support children and schools
where behaviour challenges staff
Summary: Training and
dissemination
• A need to continue to raise awareness of how to
recognise autism and where the child is
struggling to know where to refer
• A need to share issues in teaching children with
autism and to disseminate strategies which help
• A need to develop skills to engage effectively
with parents about their child
• QUESTION: How are the skills and expertise of
staff best developed?
• QUESTION: How is this currently done and to
what effect?
Four TASKS for DSPL Areas,
4, 7 and 9
1. Whole school audit using AET Standards (4P;
2S; 1 special; 1 base) and include pupils and
parents in this, using AET Standards
2. Parent/carer engagement with schools, staff to
complete a questionnaire
3. How do we understand, prevent and manage
behaviour which challenges staff and families
and how do we identify passive children who
are highly anxious or not happy?
4. Explore DSPL placement patterns and ENF
funding
Four main areas in both the Standards and
the Competency Framework
The individual
pupil
Building
relationships
Curriculum and
Learning
Enabling
environments
Rating scale for the Standards
• For each Standard the staff will consider the
extent to which it is met, as follows:
• Schools will then consider whether work on
each Standard is low, medium or high priority
to create an action plan
Resources and
links illustrating
57 competencies
the competency
• 33 core competencies
Links to the National
• 27 advanced competencies
Standards
Extract from Parent guide: for parents to
complete………
Full article can be found on AET Schools
Standards
• Thank you
• Any questions/comments