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Who is this module for?
This module is for any member of teaching staff working with autistic pupils aged 5-16 in mainstream and specialist schools.
Description
Anxiety is one of the top concerns for autistic people, their families, and the professionals who work with them. By listening to the voices of those with lived experience, we were able to co-produce a module that helps others to understand how anxiety can impact on an autistic pupil’s daily life. The module will help you to identify causes of anxiety and consider reasonable adjustments that can be made to support autistic pupils, with the aim of creating long lasting, impactful change to the education environment.
The aims
- To increase your expertise in being able to recognise the causes of anxiety in young autistic pupils.
- To develop your skills in identifying how an autistic pupil might express their anxiety.
- To help you become more aware of your own actions and how these can impact on a pupil's level of anxiety.
- To develop your understanding of the reasonable adjustments they can make to prevent and reduce a pupil's anxiety.
Learning objectives
After completing the module, you will be able to:
- Understand that autism is a difference rather than a deficit or disorder.
- Recognise the Three Areas of Difference in autism and how these can impact on a pupil’s levels of anxiety.
- Recognise the first step to helping an autistic pupil is to learn about them, their triggers and their preferred means of support.
- Reflect on your practice and implement reasonable adjustments to reduce anxiety in autistic pupils.
Session length
The length of the training session will depend on the training partner delivering the session. Please get in touch with them directly to enquire about this. If you can't see their contact details, please search for your local training partner and enquire.
The session is suitable for staff/practitioners working with children and young people (CYP) across the three phases in both mainstream and specialist services.
You will be encouraged to reflect on your own experiences with anxiety, what you have found useful in reducing your own anxiety, and what has worked for you in practice when looking to address anxious thoughts and feelings in CYP.
The aims
After completing this module, you will be able to understand:
- How autistic CYP might express anxiety.
- What can cause anxiety in autistic CYP.
- What you can do to prevent and reduce anxiety in autistic CYP.
Learning objectives
After completing this module, you will:
- Have greater knowledge about how prevalent and impactful anxiety can be on autistic CYP.
- Know how anxiety can be transactional and that we all have a role in reducing anxiety in school.
- Understand that there is a toolbox of approaches that can be used to reduce anxiety and the first step is to learn about the individual's triggers and preferred means of support.
- Understand that by reducing anxiety we can significantly improve a CYP's ability to engage with school life and their peers, as well as improve their general well-being.