Autism and the Special School Programme Joint Event Online Webinar 12th January 2021 - 09th February 2021 3pm-5pm Session

Autism, Communication and Motivation for Students in the Special School
For children and young people who have autism and learning difficulties, the difficulties relating to communication can often be magnified. Many autistic children and young people have significant difficulties with speaking, language and communication.
This session will examine why students experience difficulty not only with communication but also the motivation to communicate thus impinging on them becoming socially active partners. Understanding communication is as difficult as using language to express needs, wants or offer commentary. Autistic students are more likely to be successful communicators in environments that are designed to encourage and support their efforts. In order for the student to initiate effective communication, two conditions should be met.
1. The student must see a reason to communicate (Why). 
This is encouraged by the use of motivating materials and activities combined with creating situations in which he or she must communicate to make something happen. 
2. The student must have a means to communicate (How). 
The student may need to be taught the communicative behaviour needed, and visual supports for such communication will need to be available.
Expected Outcomes
Participants will: 
• Understand the various modes of communication used by students with learning difficulties.
• Recognise that visual supports, as tools of communication with and for students, are critically important.
• Understand the need to differentiate the visual support to meet specific needs in definite areas thus helping the student to understand you and develop his or her expressive means.
• Understand how to use engagement as the starting point for communication.
• Recognise various forms of communication and use of a variety of communicative tools.
• Gain ideas for making meaningful communications with the student, even those who are largely non-verbal.
• Look at the importance of motivation to learning and life.
• Gain practical strategies and ideas for maximising the student’s motivation to learn and participate in social life.
Course Overview 
• A look at verbal and non-verbal methods of communication.
• Looking at novel approaches to communication such as intensive interaction and using technology to promote communication.
• What is motivation and why is it important?
• How do we motivate students with autism and learning difficulties? 
• Ideas for promoting greater engagement and motivation to participate in the wider social world.

Autism and the Special School, Sensory Processing 
Many autistic children and young people have differences in how they process the sensory stimuli in the world around them. A child or young person who presents with additional learning needs may experience more challenges with how they perceive and respond to sensory input. This course is designed to look specifically at the sensory processing needs of autistic children and young people with other complex learning needs, such as communication difficulties, physical or sensory impairment, attention difficulties and medical needs.
Expected Outcomes
Participants will: 
• Gain an understanding of the concept of sensory processing and how this relates to participation in daily activities.
• Understand how sensory processing differences can affect the child or young person at home, in school and in other settings.
• Understand the importance of identifying the potential sensory function of a behaviour.
• Gain knowledge about intervention strategies, which can address the sensory processing needs of the children and young people with additional and complex learning needs at home, in school and in other settings.
Overview: 
• Introduction to sensory processing.
• The sensory processing differences, which may be experienced by a child or young with additional and complex learning needs.
• The impact of these sensory processing differences on participation in daily activities
• Identifying the sensory functions of some behaviours.
• Strategies to support sensory processing needs of the child or young person with additional and complex learning needs.

Autism and the Special School, Anxiety Management and the Promotion of Positive Behaviour
This training will be a combination of a webinar presentation supported by supplementary activities.
The webinar will look at the understanding of the concept of a behaviour of concern and how parents and education professionals working together can forge and formulate complementary strategies to be used for the autistic child or young person.
The supplementary activities will include academic papers, review of webinars and podcasts from Internationally renowned speakers and videos to support understanding. 

Autistic students experience anxiety in many situations, with some experiencing significant anxiety difficulties. For many, school is a major source of stress and there are some key factors relating to autism that mean stress and anxiety are more likely. Everyone shows their anxiety in individual ways, so the most reliable observations that a student is anxious are going to be made by the people who know the student best. This shows the importance of working closely not only within the family structure, but also with the school staff.
This session is an introduction to strategies that can be used to alleviate the experience of anxiety. 
This will include 
• An introduction to cognitively based strategies 
• How to develop student centred strategies to deal with anxiety.
Expected Outcomes
Participants will: 
• Understand how the difficulties experienced, including sensory difficulties, can contribute to the development of anxiety.
• Understand how anxiety can escalate and may result in an outburst.
• Develop some simple strategies to prevent the escalation of anxiety.
• Understand the basics of cognitively based management approaches.
Course Overview
• Anxiety triggers and build up.
• "On the spot" anxiety management strategies.
• Developing a "stress kit".
• Cognitively based approaches and the emotional toolkit

Autism and the Special School, Developing Social and Leisure Activities.
This course looks at developing play, social and leisure skills for autistic children and young people and learning difficulties. It looks at how to enable children and young people to make active choices in how they spend their free time, at the specific teaching strategies to enable understanding of the social rules of recreational activities and at involving students with learning difficulties the wider learning community. This can range from something as simple as being able to watch a DVD for ten minutes while a parent makes a phone call, a teacher works with another student, to more complex skills like turn taking, sharing, waiting, making positive choices, and communicating personal preferences.
Expected Outcomes
Participants will: 
• Gain an understanding of the importance of developing social and leisure skills for independence, personal well-being and for extra-curricular life.
• Identify strategies to promote choice making, access to leisure facilities in the community, and teaching points for practicing the small steps towards the over-arching skills required to engage in social and leisure activities.
Overview: 
• What do we mean by social and leisure choices? Why are they important?
• How can we identify student preferences and allow for meaningful communication of these?
• What strategies can we use to teach children and young people with learning difficulties how to engage in social and leisure activities appropriately, and with increasing independence?

Autism and the Special School, Relationships and Sexuality Education.  
This session will examine the impact of adolescence on autistic young people with learning difficulties. Participants will learn how to incorporate behavioural interventions with visual strategies to help teenagers cope with some of the typical issues of adolescence, particularly, if they do not have verbal language or reading skills. The training will provide practical strategies for developing an appropriate and accessible Relationships and Sexuality Education curriculum for students with learning difficulties.
Expected Outcomes
Participants will: 
• Understand the impact of adolescence on young people with learning difficulties.
• Learn some strategies involving behavioural and visual strategies that will provide supports to adolescents, even those using pre-verbal communication means and limited literacy skills.
• Provide strategies for the delivery of sex and relationships education, in the family home and in school.
Overview: 
• Adolescence, learning difficulties and autism, how does adolescence affect the student ?
• How to prepare students for physical changes. 
• Some strategies for developing sex and relationships education as a core element of the curriculum.