Charlotte Verity Professional Learning (School Based)

We have 3 other sensory zones, on top of the 5 traditional one. Vestibular: our ability to maintain balance and body posture. Strategies: wobble stool, wobble cushion, hanging upside down on playground equipment, rocking on a swiss ball, yoga activities. Proprioceptive: our ability to sense the position, location, orientation and movement of the body and its parts. What does it look like?  Frequent hiding, chewing, often rough play.  Strategies: Heavy work activities - running, jumping, swinging, climbing, weighted blanket Interoceptive: provides information about our internal sensory system. What does it look like?  not knowing when to drink, go to toilet, eat etc. Frequent moving/fidgety, possible melt downs, may find managing body a challenge.  Strategies: guided noticing of what our bodies look, sound and feel like when we’re thirsty, hungry, hot/cold and experiencing big emotions. Calming activities, breathing exercises, yoga - stretching, visua...

INCLUSION = access to quality education for ALL jo.charman@autism.org.nz  STATIC DYNAMIC Predictable Routines Safety No change Change Dealing with the unplanned/unexpected Diagnosis : may have difficulties in the areas of social interaction; communication; flexible thinking. Behaviours:  * May stay apart fro others or have difficulty playing with others * Wants to play but may not know how (may not take on cues from others) * Tells but may not have a back/foward conversation * May rarely look towards you when you are speaking * May rarely use language * Doesn't understand your body language * Does their own thing * Poor emotional regulation Challenges related to flexible thinking * Interest in a particular topic * Always does things the same way * Has rituals that must be followed & may not respond well to change * Says the same thing over and over  * Displays "odd" movements e.g....

Each person has their own sized panic and comfort zone:  Too much cortisol flooding the brain causes structural brain changes. Steps involved in the learning zone: 1. Develop interoceptive awareness 2. Develop awareness of emotions as they are developing, and develop and practice the skills to respond to developing emotions ( Co-regulation - teachers/caregivers can support this by prompting child e.g. 'let's have a drink' etc) 3. Self-manage and self-regulate to prevent entry into panic zone 4. Comfort zone is resting, regulated – parasympathetic dominant state – can be hard to identify when we are in that state. Managing Neuro-Diversity Can Be Challenging Many autistics of all ages seem to struggle with emotional regulation They do not always exhibit typical emotional signals, which can make it hard for other people to help co-regulate them Difficult behaviour is NOT an inherent part of autism, but where parents do not know this they can ap...

SELF-REGULATION = staying calmly alert, focused and managing emotions in a way that is socially acceptable. THE ALERT PROGRAMME... * is a way of thinking about internal state, without focusing on emotions. * uses neutral language AROUSAL = HOW ALERT ONE FEELS To attend, concentrate and perform tasks in a manner suitable to the situational demands, one's nervous system must be in the optimum state of arousal (Mercer & Snell 1977). We need to be in exactly the right state of arousal to attend and complete a task.                  How is your engine running? Take the time to stop and check, how is your engine running? Ask the students, how is your engine running? Discuss how the class' engine is running (as a group). You can use a speedometer picture to show this. What affects self-regulation? * Physiological needs e.g. hunger, fatigue * Sensory processing difficulties e.g. over-sensitive or under-sensitiv...

Tilting the Seesaw Workshop 2015 - Autism NZ Notes by Charlotte Verity This workshop was amazingly informative...it helped me build empathy for my ASD students, and provided lots of new strategies for me to try. Sharing ideas and challenges with other teachers of ASD students was highly beneficial...I have used many of their ideas in my own practise with positive outcomes. My relationships with two ASD students have improved dramatically as a result. Key strategies to try with ASD students Allow wait time - 5 words maximum then wait 5 seconds + for a reply IMPERSONAL WORKS - when speaking with child about an issue or upset that has happened, use WE / ALL / US   ...not YOU / ME / I Start a ‘proud of’ book...listing all the things you are proud of each day, for whole class or solely for an ASD child Points or other systems for participation or on task work - e.g. marbles in jar, tokens velcro’ed to a board CLARITY - be clear on expectations (don’t add ex...