Category: Autism Outreach

Thank you for celebrating with us the Autism Acceptance Week. We have received entries from:

Glashieburn School,

Walker Road School,

Brimmond School,

Bramble Brae School,

Stoneywood School,

Orchard Brae School,

and Lochside Academy.

Our Jury (Senior Pupils at Orchard Brae School) had been presented with a difficult task to select 3 pieces of work. After careful consideration and discussions they made final decision and we are delighted to announce the Winners of the competition!

1^st place – an individual piece of art from Glashieburn school

2^nd place- an individual  piece of art from Lochside Academy

3^rd place- a group piece of art from Stoneywood School

Well done!!!

We have a prize for the 1^st place and certificates and they will be shared with schools 😊

At this time in the academic year the big transitions in the child or young person’s school life such as from one class to another, or from one educational setting to another, are being discussed, planned and implemented.

Transitions can be scary for everyone but for a child or young person with an ASC the fears, worry stress and anxiety can be even more heightened. ASC can have a big impact on the way a person experiences transitions.

It is important to recognise that transitions happen all day, every day: from room to room, activity to activity, teacher to teacher. Children and young people with an ASC may often need support with these smaller day to day transitions just as much as the larger transitions of moving school. Establishing the best way to support smaller transitions can often help the bigger ones go more smoothly.

The Autism Outreach Team have put together a transition presentation for staff to give them advice, guidance, practical tips and resources on making the process of school transitions go as smoothly as possible.

The presentation is available below to read and go through as a stand alone resource however, the Team will be available for a question and answer session on the In-Service Day on May 4^th from 1pm till 3pm on an online Teams meet.

If would like to join in the Teams Q&A online discussion then just email Karen, Laura or Jan and they will send you the link.

KInglis@aberdeencity.gov.uk

LauMay@aberdeencity.gov.uk

JaMcKechnie@aberddencity.gov.uk

We look forward to seeing you there.

The Autism Outreach Service are going to be presenting two new workshops for staff that are now available to book on Eventbrite.

The workshops are twilight sessions presented online on Teams. The links for booking for each workshop is available below.

We hope you will be able to join us and we look forward to seeing you there.

Autism and Mindfulness

Presented by Karen Inglis, Laura May and Jan McKechnie.

Tuesday 20th April 2021 (16.00 – 18.00)

Attendees will understand the theories behind mindfulness and the overall benefits it can have for themselves as well as children with Autism. This course will explore a range of practical ways to implement mindfulness and the positive affect it can have on wellbeing, emotional regulation and self- belief.

For the Eventbrite booking link for Autism and Mindfulness please click here.

Autism – Using Visuals at Home

Presented by Hayley McFarlane and Tricia Bruce

Thursday 29th April 2021 (16.00 – 17.30)

We will be discussing and demonstrating how visuals can be used in the home to effectively support Autistic children and young people. We will go through a range of different visual structures, templates and resources. The focus on the workshop will be to support you in understanding what visuals may be helpful for you to provide to parents to support them at home.

For the Eventbrite booking link for Autism – Using Visuals at Home please click here.

The latest GTCS magazine, January 21, ‘Teaching Scotland’, includes an article on autism.

The magazine is sent out regularly to members but it is also available online. If you want to have a look through back issues the website link can be found here.

An autism lens on nurture

The article is written by Lorna Johnston and Marion Rutherford from the National Autism Implementation Team (NAIT).

The authors reflect upon adaptations to nurture-focused and compassionate approaches which might be relevant to autistic children .

At the end of the article reference is made to the GTCS booklet ‘Meeting the needs of autistic learners: A Professional guide for teachers’ which we have added below.

Let’s not just see how it goes

This is an article from the November 2019 issue discussing six key anticipatory supports which have been found to be relevant for pupils with autism in secondary schools.

Make a change

This article was first published in the May 2019 issue. Frances Young, is a Support for Learning Teacher who is also the parent of a child on the spectrum. In the article Frances outlines her views on how you can help pupils with compliant autism in your classroom.