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The Autism Resource Suite
The latest guidelines, resources and practical strategies for education professionals supporting autistic learners in 2021
It is estimated that one in every 100 people has autism. Therefore, it is very likely that every school will have children and staff who are on the autism spectrum. These resources are developed by the Autism Education Trust, along with the Autism Centre for Education and Research (University of Birmingham), the National Autistic Society and Ambitious about Autism through the Whole School SEND DfE-funded schools’ workforce contract.
Currently, there are four resources in the suite.
Promoting autism inclusive attitudes
In this resource, there are various ideas for raising peer awareness in Primary and Secondary school settings, which can be used by SENCOs, teachers and teaching assistants. These resources were co-developed with autistic young people.
With a range of supporting materials including learning scenarios, printable activity sheets, videos, peer awareness materials and external links.
Supporting learners with autism during transition
This resource focuses on two main stages of transition: from an Early Years setting to Primary school, and Primary school to Secondary school. The resource will be helpful to everyone involved in this process, such as SENCOs, teachers, teaching assistants, key workers.
With a complete transition toolkit including (please click on the link to download the specific resource):
Early years to primary transition toolkit: transition checklist, learner’s profile template, transition booklet
Primary to secondary transition toolkit: transition checklist, learner’s profile, questions for the family to consider, “What do I do if?”, Things to know about secondary school
A SENCO’s guide to supporting learners on the autism spectrum
This is for SENCOs in Early Years, Primary schools and Secondary schools and builds on existing information for SENCOs in developing good autism practice within their settings.
With an Improving autism provision checklist and useful resources.
Guidance for school leaders on supporting autistic members of staff
This resource is mainly aimed at senior leadership teams and people with HR responsibilities and provides ideas for developing an autism-friendly working environment.
About autism
Autism is a neurological difference that impacts how a person develops. There are three main areas of difference:
Communication and interaction: Differences in understanding and expressing communication and language, ranging from some individuals with little speech to those who are very articulate but still find communication hard. There are also differences in social understanding and understanding the feelings of others, which can influence building relationships.
Sensory processing: Differences in processing sensory information, such as touch, smell, hearing, taste, vision, body balance and body awareness. Some individuals may react more strongly to these (hyper-sensitive), while others may seek these stimulations (hypo-sensitive).
Flexible thinking and information processing: Differences in planning and processing information. This can influence generalisation and understanding of concepts. There may also be intense interest in specific topics or areas.
These differences could also bring some unique skills and talents, which could provide a different way of understanding and being. To acknowledge this difference, none of the resources in this suite use the word ‘disorder’. We have used the word autism or autism spectrum. Some people on the autism spectrum consider autism as the core of their self-identity and prefer using identity-first language, such as ‘autistic person’. Others feel that autism does not define them as an individual and prefer individual-first language, such as ‘person with autism’. In acknowledgement of these differing views and the fact that most of the research around preference of terminology does not include children’s voices, we have used a combination of terminology based on whether the resource is for adults or children.
Acknowledgments
These resources were first published on the SEND gateway, The Autism Resource Suite | SendGateway where you can also find other resources to support you with all aspects of SEND.
During the process of developing these resources, we received guidance and feedback from many people.
Our sincere thanks to the steering committee members of the project: Alex Grady, Angela Holdsworth, Annabel Bowyer, DfE colleagues, Erica Wolstenholme, Frances Child, Kamal Hanif, Kate Campbell, Pamela Douglas, Pernille Petersen, Simon Knight, and Venessa Bobb.
We would also like to thank all the schools which have piloted these resources and provided us with valuable feedback.
Gain the knowledge and confidence to support autistic pupils, sign up to AET training in your area
Find helpful resources to support autistic children and young people during the pandemic and beyond
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