Dr Sue Sheppard, our resident specialist educational psychologist, discusses the key notes of her forthcoming talk at the Autism Show
[Hear Sue speak about this and much more at the Autism Show on Friday 17 June 2016 at The Hub: Theatre 1 – from 10.25–10.55.]
I’m looking forward to speaking at the Autism Show about the importance of developing flexible personalised programmes for students on the autism spectrum. This area is explored in-depth on Real Training’s two Autism modules, where the following areas are prioritised:
- Profiling – creating school-based pro formas.
- Developing holistic personalised programmes that integrate the findings of the profiles.
- Autism audits – whole school/staff skills.
- Case studies – creating a narrative around ‘personal journeys’ to help with solutions.
- Measuring the impact of interventions on ‘real’ students in ‘real’ schools.
- Comparative work on interventions.
- Developing school-based action/research plans.
During the talk, I will highlight pertinent examples of good practice by teachers and support staff, some of whom have overcome great challenges – perhaps due to gaps in their school-based provision, the complexity of their student groups, or a lack of external support services. Such good practice is even more admirable when one considers the fact that delegates on the Real Training programmes are based in diverse settings and include international delegates.
There will be some exploration of the tensions that can emerge as schools strive to measure outcomes and track data using evidence-based practice, while also trying to personalise and support students on a day-to-day basis. The limitations of research into ‘what works’ will be examined to promote the idea that an intervention is only effective if it works for a specific student in a specific setting. I will discuss important dimensions such as resilience, motivation, personal insight and rigidity as being significant factors that can both aid and limit the impact of interventions. The high incidence of secondary mental health issues among young people with autism spectrum conditions means that there is a real need to carefully balance high expectations with young people’s actual capacity to engage and sustain a programme, while maintaining emotional well-being.
I will also draw on my direct experience of working in a range of schools, where my current interests include:
- Exploring and recognising the impact of learning styles and uneven cognitive profiles on student progress in schools.
- Dimensional frameworks for understanding and assessing those with autism spectrum conditions.
- Working with students who ‘school refuse’ (or are at risk of refusing to attend school) in order to analyse the underlying reasons for this pattern of behaviour and identify solutions to move forward.
- Listening to pupils and, where necessary, using structured and unstructured frameworks to support students in reflecting on and prioritising their goals to help them increase motivation.
- Addressing anxiety across their day-to-day and assessing levels of personal insight.
- Working collaboratively with parents to create solutions.
- Adapting interventions to support the girls in schools who are now increasingly recognised as being on the autism spectrum.
Finally, I will be encouraging those who develop support programmes to build on the available good practice and valuable research around interventions, while remaining focused on the ‘individual’ and dynamic interaction within the learning environment and the broader social context.
About Dr Sue Sheppard
Sue is a senior specialist educational psychologist who is a consultant to the Lorna Wing Centre for Autism (part of the National Autistic Society). She has been a specialist ASD advisor/EP for a number of London boroughs for over 20 years and has also worked as a specialist teacher. Sue has been instrumental in setting up provision for children and young people with ASD across early years, primary and secondary, and has an eclectic career portfolio covering lecturing, training, consultancy and diagnosis and assessment. She is a specialist speaker in autism for EPs in training at University College London and has worked in collaboration with other universities – her doctoral research focused on autism outreach services.
Sue has significant experience of supporting learners online and has been a module leader on a number of ‘special needs’ programmes for various universities. Sue works with Real Psychology to provide extensive specialist EP services across London. She is also the module leader for Real Training’s Autism Spectrum Conditions: Skills & Knowledge (S&K) and Application & Reflection (A&R) modules, which are part of Real Training’s MEd SEND Programme.
Find out more about our modules on Autism Spectrum Conditions.
Useful websites
A word from one of our directors
‘While we’re still trying to work out the implications of the Brexit vote, we’re secure in the knowledge that our two main courses are a firm favourite with schools. In times of uncertainty, people tend to upskill to ensure that they are future-proofed. So, with all of this in mind and with many unknowns ahead of us, we will continue to carry on what we are doing well while the dust settles.
‘Clearly, the result will have an impact on the EU projects that we are working on. We will keep you posted, but please be aware that these projects are a small part of our operations and will not have a negative impact.’
Dr Mark Turner
If you’d like to lead our growing company’s marketing and sales, then we’d love to hear from you.
|
||||||
|
Please email Real Psychology’s sarah.norris@realgroup.co.uk if this piques your interest.
Edward Farrow
In mid-May, the government published its higher education White Paper. The mixed reception that it received hinged on legislation that will, ultimately, enable new education providers to confer their own degrees. While the university sector, including the NUS and MillionPlus, responded warily to the publication, other voices were more positive.
Read more about it in our SEND Practitioner here.
So, what are the government’s key proposals and why are they controversial?
New universities, improved standards and greater choice
The government states that the ultimate aim of the legislation is to improve the quality of teaching standards by ensuring that universities are more accountable. Through this, the government hopes that this will not only enable graduates to benefit from enhanced standards, but will also ensure greater choice and access when alternative education providers are able to confer their own degrees. Understandably, the notion of new providers being given degree awarding powers strikes its critics as the next step towards marketisation/privatisation of the higher education sector. To them, the prospect of alternative institutions/corporations offering learning courses in ways that undercut the traditional higher education sector’s prices and modes of delivery threatens the very fabric of the university structure and its world-renowned reputation.
To counter this claim, the government has stated that each new university that wishes to enter the higher education ring will be rigorously tested for quality. As an additional safety and enforcement measure, the government stated that each new awarding organisation will be policed by a newly created regulator called the Office for Students. This ombudsman-type entity will have the regulatory power to take action whenever and wherever needed.
A regulator and watchdog with teeth
As mentioned, this regulatory body, in partnership with UK Research and Innovation (UKRI), will replace the Higher Education Funding Council for England (HEFCE) – something that was most probably set in train in 2011, when teaching funding was taken out of its hands and replaced by tuition fee loans. To the chagrin of its critics, this organisation will promote student choice and competition and, even more dangerously in their eyes, will be funded not by the government, but by the universities themselves, prompting questions around the importance of regulators being independent.
A new framework to drive up teaching quality
The government claims that more than 60% of students are unhappy with their course [editor’s cheeky note: this is in stark contrast to our courses, which enjoy exceptionally high approval ratings from past delegates]. To mitigate this perceived shortfall, they intend to introduce a Teaching Excellence Framework (TEF). This form of assessment will be student-focused and will look at the standards of teaching, the teaching and student experience, etc. Through this, they not only want to give each student as much information as possible about each institution, when they are going through the selection process, but want to also ensure that each university’s performance is directly linked to the fees that they can charge. This new focus is intended to ensure that the quality of teaching (of each course and of each student outcome) is directly linked to the funding that each university can set. In addition, the government also hopes that such a move will encourage universities to do as much as possible to enable their students to find employment after graduation.
Improve accessibility and social mobility
To improve accessibility and encourage social mobility, the government will demand that all universities produce detailed demographical information on their students. This announcement has been received positively by some groups. However, critics of the aim state that charging students higher fees via student loans will reduce accessibility and put poorer students off degrees.
This is just a snapshot of the changes envisaged in the government’s recent HE White Paper.
To find out more, read the government’s HE White Paper.
If you have any questions about this topic, or any suggestions for future topics, please email the editor: edward@realgroup.co.uk
Over the past six months, Jonathan Bond has worked with nasen to develop ‘Focus on SEND’. This free DfE-funded online CPD takes nine hours to complete and has been created for all mainstream teachers and settings across England.
This key resource launches at nasen Live on 29-30 April.
Jonathan, our head of learning design, discusses the project and outlines its vital significance:
‘This was developed to square the circle of delivering practical change in teaching practice through a very short training course. Teachers face a great deal of competing time pressures and many existing courses simply add to this workload.
‘With this nine-hour course, we created a series of short, engaging activities that enable teachers to experience the key aspects of the graduated approach – which is now central to the new Code of Practice.
‘Experiential learning is not only the cornerstone of this course, but also lies at the heart of truly effective CPD.’
On 11 November 2015, Edward Timpson, the Children’s and Families Minister, addressed the Council for Disabled Children (CDC) conference on the progress of the SEND reforms.
‘All areas are well on with implementing the reforms:
- They all have transition plans in place and are making progress.
- They all have a Local Offer — although there is still work to do to improve their quality and local co-production arrangements. Where real thought, creativity and co-operation has flourished, it’s had great results.
- Take the good example of a strong Local Offer in the Isle of Wight, for instance. They set up a ‘Young Inspector’ Programme to increase the involvement [of] children and young people with disabilities and additional needs, and these Young Inspectors have gone on to make a significant contribution to the Isle of Wight’s Local Offer.
- Parent Carer Forums and Independent Supporters are up and running in every area.
- And it’s great to see so many Forums actively shaping implementation in their local area — in June, a survey of Parent Carer Forums said that 67% were very, or extremely, well engaged. 67% is good. 100% would be of course much better, but it’s encouraging all the same.
- And 90% of parents and young people who had help from an Independent Supporter said it was very useful, a clear justification for their introduction to help the reforms bite and enable families to be — and feel — much better supported through the assessment and planning stages in particular.’
Just under one year ago, we were privileged to interview key members of staff from Channel 4’s Educating the East End.
With this in mind, Educating Cardiff — the latest incarnation of the series — espouses a similarly pupil-centred approach to its predecessor. We were delighted, therefore, to be able to pose our readers’ questions to Ian Whittaker (assistant head teacher, SEN line manager and star of the show). The latest issue of The SEND Practitioner contains this interview and published earlier on this month.
‘We choose to work in this school because we choose to work for the underdog. It would be easy to go somewhere else, but our members of staff are profoundly committed to pupils as individuals — their life stories, their backgrounds and their families.’
Ian Whittaker