18 Aug ASD in education – How we support Primary Schools

Autism spectrum disorder (ASD) is a lifelong development disorder that effects the way a person communicates, relates to other people and how they express themselves. Children with autism experience the world around them differently to other children and need specialised support and understanding to engage with and make progress in school. Moreover, it has been found that ‘Nine out of ten teachers don’t feel prepared to teach children with autism yet statistically, every teacher will teach an autistic pupil’. (ambitiousaboutautism.org.uk)

Many young autistic people face barriers that prevent them from accessing a fulfilling and rich education. Whilst specialised schools are available, 71% of children with autism attend mainstream schools. Children with autism are the most at risk group of all special needs children to face exclusion at school, with figures showing nearly 4,500 pupils with autism were excluded in one year, this is a 60% increase since 2011. ‘Informal’ exclusion (i.e., sending students home early, banning from school trips, etc.) is also a risk for autistic children. These types of exclusion go unrecorded.

All children deserve an education and an equal opportunity to succeed in life. At Moore Teachers we are passionate about supporting children with SEN with staff that are experienced and understand the needs and difficulties of children on the autistic spectrum.  However, no single approach is effective for all these children as they are all individuals.  Therefore, staff will need a range of skills and strategies to ensure the pupils they support engage with learning and their needs are met.

As a specialist primary agency who works only with primary schools in East Hertfordshire and Epping Forest, we work with many primary teachers, learning support assistants, teaching assistants and primary schools. As a specialist primary agency, we support our teachers, learning support assistants and teaching assistants and aim to provide them with skills and confidence when going into a classroom.

What we offer staff- We offer many free CPD online courses that help equip staff with more knowledge and understanding. For example, we offer a course on ASD and Aspergers which covers, diagnosis, causes, interventions and development of autism from different perspectives.

What we offer schools- Passionate and dedicated teachers, LSAs and TAs who can meet the needs of the individual pupils as well as the school.

There is no cure for autism but there are interventions to enable successful learning and development. With each of us at Moore teachers having experience with autistic children, we are aware of the difficulties and rewards of dealing with a child with ASD. Difference doesn’t have to be a disability that prevents a child from learning.