Who do I work with?

 

• Children and Young People (Aged 4 to 25 years) with or without a diagnosis

• Parents/Carers and extended families

• Professionals within all schools, colleges or further education settings

 

I'm able to work with and offer support with the following areas of need–

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• Autism

• Aspergers/High functioning autism

• Pervasive development disorder

• Attachment disorders

• Social, emotional & behavioural difficulties

• Ritualistic behaviours

• Social communication and interaction difficulties

• Sensory Sensitivities

• Anxiety 

• Self-esteem/Lack of confidence

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What do I offer?

 

Consultancy and Advice

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I provide consultancy and advice on a range of topics, covering the broad areas of mental health and autism/other developmental conditions. Professionals may need some advice on specific teaching styles or differentiation to support those with additional needs or other complex conditions to access their education. Parents may need support with strategies they can employ in the home environment to enable their children to thrive and be part of the family

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Guidance on SEND Plans

 

Following the new Code of Practice Guidelines set by the DFE (Department for Education) previously known as IEP’s (individual education plans). Schools and colleges (SENDCo or Special Needs Departments) may need further support to address individual needs by setting targets in line with the new code. This may also include writing of person centred profiles which will incorporate learning styles, strengths and interests and will include information about things that the pupil finds difficult

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Observations (home and educational)

 

There may be a range of reasons for receiving a request for an observation, such as; to discover possible internal or external triggers for behaviour, to understand interactions between peers and adults, to understand social communication difficulties, to enable pupils’ to access the teaching and learning environment more effectively, or simply to try to understand possible reasons for difficulties with development or play. An observation usually takes between 30 minutes and one hour, depending on the reason for observing

 

Assessments

 

1. The Stress Survey Schedule is an instrument for measuring stress in the lives of persons with autism and other developmental disabilities

2. Sensory Analysis Revised [1994, Kimble Morton and Sheila Wolford] is designed to collect information about an individual’s behaviours as they are related to sensory stimuli. It assesses in the six sensory areas and is designed to assess both sensory seeking and sensory avoidance behaviours'

3. The Spence Children's Anxiety Scale was developed to assess the severity of anxiety symptoms broadly in line with the dimensions of anxiety disorder proposed by the DSM-IV. The scale assesses six domains of anxiety including generalized anxiety, panic/agoraphobia, social phobia, separation anxiety, obsessive compulsive disorder and physical injury fears

4. Functional Behavioural Assessment (FBA) is a precise description of a behaviour, its context, and its consequences, with the intent of better understanding the behaviour and those factors influencing it. Its purpose is to determine which contingencies maintain an individual’s problem behaviour. A plan can then be written to support and enable changes

 

Direct Work/Intervention

 

In any direct work or intervention, the building of relationships is paramount. All direct work is solution focused with a clear outcome in mind for the young person. If possible it can be helpful to involve the young person in the discussion of outcomes. I find that it is useful to use the young person’s key interests and strengths when undertaking any direct work. This enables them to feel comfortable and reasonably confident to begin with. Some types of direct work may include supporting the young person to understand his/her diagnosis or different ways to manage their anger or worries or a variety of ways of using social/comic strips to support social understanding. It may be that they find it difficult to interact with other peers and that they need some additional help to be able to do so

 

Non–Attendance

 

Some young people have become frustrated or disengaged with school life due to a range of reasons and need carefully planned support to enable them to feel confident about re-engaging with their educational placement again. This would also involve liaising with both the parents and the educational placement to support reintegration, if appropriate. Sometimes a fresh start is the best way forward

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Siblings Support

 

More often, than not,  the young person’s siblings require support to understand their brother or sisters difficulties or diagnosis. Carefully tailored packages of support are available and would be planned with the family

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Class/Peer Group Support

 

Class/peer group talks are very powerful in their delivery to enable young people to understand and celebrate differences. This would be planned through liaison with the class teacher.

 

Transition

 

Transition into another class or another school is big event and can be traumatic for children and young people if not carefully planned. Often, those with developmental conditions find these transitions very challenging and require extra input and planning to enable smooth, stress free transitions. I support schools with transition packages tailored to meet the pupil needs and liaise with family and all settings