Supporting Students with Autism Spectrum Disorder in Schools

Recommendations

Info

Executive Summary Developing teacher knowledge, skill, understanding and competence Significant progress has been made in the past decade in providing good quality training to teachers and many teachers are now well trained in ASD. More such development of teacher knowledge, skill, understanding and competencies is required, however. Given the increased prevalence of students with ASDs in all education settings and the centrality of the teacher in their education, the NCSE considers it essential that all teachers have a knowledge and understanding of students with ASD and of how general teaching principles can be applied to teaching these students. Teachers in specialist roles and settings need further skills in assessing and identifying the needs of students with ASD; in selecting and implementing appropriate evidence informed interventions that may be effective; and in monitoring student progress. The DES should request the Teaching Council to develop, as a matter of priority, standards in relation to the knowledge, skills, understandings and competencies that teachers require to enable students with complex special educational need, including ASD, to receive an education appropriate to their needs and abilities in mainstream and special settings and a framework for teacher education to meet these standards. Educational interventions for students with ASD While systematic literature reviews have identified a diverse range of interventions with evidence of some effectiveness for some students with ASD, they have also noted limitations with research in this field. These include, for example, small sample sizes; lack of randomised control trial (RCT) studies generally regarded as providing the highest quality of effectiveness evidence (though the use of RCTs has increased in recent years); lack of research on older children and young people; insufficient understanding of why some children respond well to particular interventions while others do not; lack of research on how best to implement effective interventions in schools and communities. So it is important when selecting interventions that practitioners consider the research evidence, but they must also take into account other important factors such as the student’s individual needs and experiences, parental input, professional judgement and assessment, and the experience, capacity and training requirements of teachers and schools. Given the heterogeneity of ASD, the most effective interventions are tailored to meet the unique characteristics of each individual. The selection of the intervention/s should be based on the student’s assessed needs, and should be monitored over time to see if they are helping students to make progress. 8 Supporting Students with Autism Spectrum Disorder in Schools – NCSE Policy Advice 2015
Executive Summary A list of interventions shown to have some effectiveness for some children and young people with ASD is included in Appendix 5. Schools’ development of educational programmes and identification of appropriate evidence-informed interventions for students with ASD should be informed by HSE multidisciplinary assessment. The Inclusion Support Service should be sufficiently resourced to provide a comprehensive, national programme to ensure that teachers are trained and upskilled in choosing educational interventions that are evidence informed 2 and that fit with the individual student’s needs. The DES should assign responsibility to the Middletown Centre for Autism 3 for regularly and formally updating the list of evidence informed educational interventions for ASD. Other educational supports for students with ASD The NCSE acknowledges the importance and value of the SNA scheme in supporting students who have significant care needs arising from ASD. However, we found confusion still exists about the duties of SNAs with students with ASD. We suggest it would be worthwhile for the DES to remind schools that under their contracts SNAs can be assigned duties appropriate to the grade and tailored to the needs of the students they support (DES Circular Letter 12/05). As most students with ASD (69 per cent) have access to SNA support, we consider it important that the DES regularly reviews the SNA’s role in supporting the care needs of these students to ensure the service addresses their needs effectively. Special school transport arrangements work well for students with ASD attending their nearest school or special class which can be resourced to meet their needs. However, transport arrangements should be put in place for students where the nearest school or special class cannot provide essential therapies at present. In addition, transport arrangements should be put in place for students travelling between school and respite settings. 2 An evidence-informed practice in the education sphere has been defined in the literature as an instructional strategy, intervention or teaching programme that has resulted in consistent positive results when experimentally tested (Mesibov & Shea, 2011; Simpson, 2005 cited in Marder & Fraser 2012). 3 The Middletown Centre for Autism was established in 2007 to support the promotion of excellence in the development and co-ordination of education services to children and young people with autistic spectrum disorders (ASDs). It is a jointly funded initiative between the Department of Education, Northern Ireland and the Department of Education and Skills, Ireland. Supporting Students with Autism Spectrum Disorder in Schools – NCSE Policy Advice 2015 9
Page 1: Supporting Students with Autism Spe
Page 4 and 5: © NCSE 2015 National Council for S
Page 6 and 7: 2.3 Developing Knowledge, Skills, U
Page 8 and 9: Index of Tables Table 1: Increase i
Page 10 and 11: Abbreviations ABA ACCS ADHD APP ASD
Page 12 and 13: SEN SENO SENCO SERC SESS Severe EBD
Page 14 and 15: Executive Summary Executive Summary
Page 16 and 17: Executive Summary The NCSE is pleas
Page 18 and 19: Executive Summary School-aged stude
Page 22 and 23: Executive Summary The Departments o
Page 24 and 25: Executive Summary HSE Multidiscipli
Page 26 and 27: Executive Summary Schools therefore
Page 28 and 29: Introduction 1. Introduction Under
Page 30 and 31: Introduction • A continuum of edu
Page 32 and 33: Introduction In Ireland a prelimina
Page 34 and 35: Introduction Provision 2001 2014 Ty
Page 36 and 37: Pre-School Children and School-Aged
Page 70 and 71:
Pre-School Children and School-Aged
Page 72 and 73:
Page 74 and 75:
Page 76 and 77:
Page 78 and 79:
Page 80 and 81:
Page 82 and 83:
Page 84 and 85:
Page 86 and 87:
Page 88 and 89:
Page 90 and 91:
Page 92 and 93:
Page 94 and 95:
Page 96 and 97:
Page 98 and 99:
Page 100 and 101:
Page 102 and 103:
Page 104 and 105:
Page 106 and 107:
Page 108 and 109:
Page 110 and 111:
Page 112 and 113:
Page 114 and 115:
Page 116 and 117:
Page 118 and 119:
Appendix 1: Summary of Previous Rel
Page 120 and 121:
Page 122 and 123:
Page 124 and 125:
Page 126 and 127:
Appendix 2: Historical Context and
Page 128 and 129:
Page 130 and 131:
Page 132 and 133:
Page 134 and 135:
Page 136 and 137:
Page 138 and 139:
Page 140 and 141:
Page 142 and 143:
Page 144 and 145:
Appendix 3: List of Special Schools
Page 146 and 147:
Page 148 and 149:
Page 150 and 151:
Appendix 4: The Consultation Proces
Page 152 and 153:
Appendix 4: The Consultation Proces
Page 154 and 155:
Appendix 5: List of Interventions A
Page 156 and 157:
Appendix 5: List of Interventions P
Page 158 and 159:
Appendix 6: List of Recommendations
Page 160 and 161:
Page 162 and 163:
Page 164 and 165:
Page 166 and 167:
Page 168 and 169:
Bibliography Bibliography Agency fo
Page 170 and 171:
Bibliography Carr, J.E. and Firth,
Page 172 and 173:
Bibliography Eikeseth, S., Smith, T
Page 174 and 175:
Bibliography Harchik, A., What is t
Page 176 and 177:
Bibliography Mannion, A., Leader, G
Page 178 and 179:
Bibliography New York State Departm
Page 180 and 181:
Bibliography Reed, P., Osborne, L.A
Page 182 and 183:
Bibliography Special Residential Se
show all

Supporting Students with Autism Spectrum Disorder in Schools

Create successful ePaper yourself

Delete template?

Save as template?