Communication and Interaction

For example:

• Autistic Spectrum Disorder (ASD)
• Social Communication Disorders
• Speech, Language and Communication Needs

Types of support and provision that are currently available in our school

•   Visual timetables are used to support children in understanding what will happen and when.
•   Where appropriate, areas of classroom are clearly defined and labelled.
•   Support is offered during times of stress or anxiety.  An emotional story telling group can be run to develop emotional literacy and coping strategies for situations which they find challenging.
•   Areas of low distraction / individual workstations can be set up in classrooms where this benefits individual children.
•   Social skills support is offered through small group intervention and use of ‘Social Stories’ to help individual children develop their understanding of expected behaviour in the playground or in the school building.
•   Computing resources (e.g. iPad) are used where appropriate to reduce barriers to learning.
•   Support or supervision at unstructured times of the day e.g. break time and lunchtime where appropriate.
•   Rewards of Golden time for individual pupils.
•   Resources to support pupils with speech and language difficulties e.g. word banks, visual prompts.
•   Small group or one-to-one support for developing pupils’ speech, language and communication following programmes of work provided by outside specialists such as speech and language therapists.
•   Resources and strategies to reduce anxiety and promote emotional wellbeing e.g. fiddle toy, stress ball, the 5-point scale.
•   Use of individualised reward systems to promote learning and enhance self-esteem.
• Lego® based therapy sessions can be run to support and develop communication and interaction skills.