TRAINING FOR SCHOOLS
We have a variety of training packages available for schools, and we can also provide bespoke training adapted to your particular situation. All of our training is positive and neuro-affirmative, set in the wider neurodiversity framework. We strongly encourage you to make it teacher-wide training or have robust plans to cascade it out to all staff, because if this doesn’t happen, like all autism training it will not have maximum effect for your autistic pupils (both those already diagnosed and those not yet recognised), and may result in a loss of trust in the safety of the school for those pupils.
We can provide the training online at a time to suit your staff – twilights are not a problem. Alternatively, we can provide in-person training in Warwickshire, Solihull or Coventry.
We already have lots of feedback from both parents and professionals about our resources:
Our Training Packages
8 hours in total (5 with autistic students & SENCO/teacher/TAs, 3 with school staff) – flexible on how the hours are delivered.
An autism diagnosis is much more than just a ‘label’. If you’re autistic, you’ve been autistic your whole life and you will gradually become aware that you experience the world in a different way to many of your peers. Unfortunately, an autism diagnosis carries with it a stigma, and becoming aware of this stigma can be damaging to a young person’s wellbeing as they get older – and the later they are recognised as autistic, the more problematic this becomes. Naturally, we want to remove the stigma, but this depends not on the autistic young person to change, but everyone around them, which is why we advocate for whole school training on neurodiversity – the more you understand about difference, not deficit, the less likely you are to stigmatise. However we can also nurture the young person so that they develop a positive view of their autistic identity, and can become advocates for themselves and others.
This training will help to
⭐️ build a connection with key members of staff so that the young person feels safe and understood in school
⭐️ Identify what being autistic means to the young person
⭐️ Build knowledge of aspects of an autistic profile that are common such as interoceptive issues and alexithymia – both can cause misunderstanding and anxiety in a school setting and it’s important that all are aware of them
⭐️ Identify what triggers dysregulation and what helps to self-regulate
⭐️ Develop self-advocacy skills
⭐️ Understand communication issues and the Double Empathy problem
⭐️ Understand sensory issues for autistic pupils
⭐️ Understand the benefits of energy accounting and setting boundaries
⭐️ Understand why it’s so important (for life, not just for school) that autistic pupils are listened to and their needs/requested validated rather than dismissed
⭐️ Build knowledge of neurodiversity in a neuro-affirmative way
Students and teachers will be told exactly what to expect before taking part, so that we eliminate as much uncertainty as possible (uncertainty = anxiety).
We include:
👉 Teacher notes
👉 Pupil worksheets
👉 A Q & A session and email support for a month following the training
PRICE: £1000 (no VAT)
Please contact us for more details.
6 hours in total (3 with autistic students & SENCO/teacher/TAs, 3 with school staff) – flexible on how the hours are delivered.
Girls are diagnosed considerably later than boys on average (some research in Wales suggests 6 years later) and often not until secondary school, when everything changes and the young person’s coping and masking strategies no longer work. It’s part of Autistic Girls Network’s mission as a charity to campaign for greater understanding of how autism presents internally, which tends to be how autism commonly presents in girls (and if it doesn’t, they have probably been diagnosed much younger). If you have a better understanding of what you would be looking for, you can spot the signs and refer earlier so that neuro-affirmative support can be put in place. The earlier the young person is recognised as autistic and positively supported, the less likely that severe mental health issues will develop.
This training will help to
⭐️ Understand why autistic girls are often missed and their issues not validated
⭐️ Understand the signs of an internal presentation of autism
⭐️ Understand the concept of autistic masking
⭐️ Understand the concept of autistic burnout
⭐️ Identify what being autistic means to the young person
⭐️ Build knowledge of aspects of an autistic profile that are common such as interoceptive issues and alexithymia – both can cause misunderstanding and anxiety in a school setting and it’s important that all are aware of them
⭐️ Identify what triggers dysregulation and what helps to self-regulate
⭐️ Develop self-advocacy skills
⭐️ Understand sensory issues for autistic pupils
⭐️ Understand gender experiences may be different for autistic young people
⭐️ Build knowledge of neurodiversity in a neuro-affirmative way
Students and teachers will be told exactly what to expect before taking part, so that we eliminate as much uncertainty as possible (uncertainty = anxiety).
We include:
👉 Teacher notes
👉 Pupil worksheets
👉 A Q & A session and email support for a month following the training
PRICE: £700 (no VAT)
Please contact us for more details.
3 hours in total with school staff – flexible on how the hours are delivered.
Transition to secondary school is a difficult time for all pupils but especially autistic ones, recognised as such or not. Building on our CEO Cathy’s Masters research looking at pupils who already had a diagnosis at transition and those who were later diagnosed at secondary, we look at exactly what the issues are around transition for autistic pupils and how it can be made easier and more successful. It is recommended that this training is undertaken in conjunction with the Autism, Girls and Keeping it All Inside training so that staff are better able to recognise pupils who don’t yet have a diagnosis.
This training will help to
⭐️ Understand the difficulties of secondary transition for autistic and other neurodivergent pupils
⭐️ Understand how to assess individual need
⭐️ Understand how to build a bespoke transition plan for a successful transition
⭐️ Identify what being autistic means to the young person
⭐️ Understand sensory issues for autistic pupils
⭐️ Understand that the transition process is much more than the switch to another school
We include:
👉 Teacher notes
👉 A Q & A session and email support for a month following the training
PRICE: £400 (no VAT)
Please contact us for more details.
Coming soon
