The Autism Toolbox - Overview of Approach
The Autism Toolbox for Scottish Schools is designed to support Education Authorities in the delivery of services and planning for children and young people with Autism Spectrum Disorders ( ASD) in Scotland, and will sit alongside existing Local Authority resources. It complements the guidance issued on Health and Social Care Services for People with Autism Spectrum Disorders. The intention is to provide a resource to support the inclusion of children and young people with autism spectrum disorder in mainstream education services. The Autism Toolbox is presented in three parts with nine sections overall. Part 1 and Part 2 form the printed version of The Autism Toolbox and are intended to support daily practice. Part 3 is presented on CD Rom.
The guidance is offered in eight main sections. Part 2 Sections 2, 3 and 4 are intended to support daily practice and are grouped together to form 'The Toolbox - Autism in Practice'. None of the material will provide ready answers as autism is a complex condition, but each will support practitioners who seek to tailor their work to enable those with ASD to participate as fully as possible in the daily life of their school.
The Autism Toolbox can be accessed from the Scottish Government Website and from the Scottish Autism Service Network website.
In considering the content of this guidance the Autism Spectrum Disorder Education Working Group (the Working Group) took account of all the recommendations of both the Her Majesty's Inspectorate of Education ( HMIE) Education for Pupils with Autism Spectrum Disorder ( HMIE, 2006a) and the National Autistic Society's ( NAS) ' make school make sense' (Batten and Daly, 2006) reports and have based this guidance on what it considers to be the key issues that build upon the foundations provided by both reports.
This guidance recognises, as was reflected in both reports, that good practice does exist, and highlights a few examples to alert others of the systems and approaches used within current provision.
However, although there is much being done, both reports identify that the capacity exists for developments in a number of aspects in respect of Scottish wide practice. This point is endorsed by the Working Group and has guided its thinking in developing guidelines that will have relevance to all providers, regardless of their current provision.
What follows is what the Working Group considers to be the main issues to be addressed in considering the provision and information available on ASD, particularly in the context of education and closely related fields such as Social Services and Health.
Whether education authorities already have guidance and provide supportive material to schools or these have yet to be fully developed, they should take care to ensure that school staff is aware of the guidance and the provisions that are supplied to support access to the curriculum. A brief overview of the guidance follows -
Part 1 - The Policy and Legislative Context
The first part of The Autism Toolbox for Local Authorities and schools summarises the policy context in Scotland as it affects educational provision, the legislative context in which provision for pupils with ASD in Scotland should be considered and highlights the need for strategic planning for ASD by Local Authorities and their strategic partners. This information is elaborated upon in Section 7 of The Autism Toolbox to be found on the accompanying CD Rom. Part 1 also presents the key recommendations of two reports published in 2006: the HMIE Report into Education for Pupils with Autism Spectrum Disorder (Her Majesty's Inspectorate of Education, 2006a) and the NAS'make school make sense' campaign report (Batten and Daly, 2006).
Part 2 - The Toolbox - Autism in Practice
The second part of the resource, The Toolbox - Autism in Practice, provides direct advice for day-to-day practice: the guidance in each section is presented in the form of grids which address the impact of autism on key aspects of practice, and relate these to 'How Good is Our School' ( HMIE, 2007a) and 'Child at the Centre' ( HMIE, 2007b). A file containing the grids is available on the CD Rom.
Section 1 - Knowing about Autism
In order to include and support individual children and young people with autism in mainstream services it is important to have an understanding about the nature of this lifelong, complex spectrum which has day-to-day implications for work in schools . This section emphasises the importance of starting with the person and combining individual understanding with knowledge about autism. It presents an introductory understanding which will help practitioners to feel informed.
Section 2 - Support for Pre-schools, Primary Schools and Secondary Schools
Ten key aspects of practice are addressed in this section, they include:
2.1 Autism Spectrum Disorder - A Highly Individual Context
2.2 Strengths and Challenges
2.3 Teaching and Learning
2.4 Assessment
2.5 Individualised Educational Programmes
2.6 Classroom Organisation and Classroom Strategies
2.7 Differentiation - Principles and Practicalities
2.8 The Social Curriculum
2.9 Transitions
2.10 Whole School Approaches
Examples of practice gathered from field practitioners at all stages of education are threaded through these sections.
Section 3 - Support for Parents and Families
Written by representative parents with long experience of working collaboratively with schools, this section addresses:
3.1 Working with Parents
3.2 Schools' Guidance to Parents - a Reciprocal Relationship?
3.3 Communicating Effectively with Parents
3.4 Meetings with Parents
3.5 Inclusion of Parents of Children and Young People with ASD in the Life of the School
3.6 Working with Groups of Parents
3.7 What Parents may be doing at Home
3.8 Issues for Siblings
Section 4 - Working with Other Agencies
This section offers a brief guide to working with the range of professionals who may be involved with children and young people with autism and their families. The complexity of autism may determine that a range of professionals are involved:
4.1 What is Multi-agency Working?
4.2 Who takes the Lead?
4.3 Transitions and Multi-agency Working
4.4 Multi-agency Systems
4.5 Co-ordinated Support Plans
4.6 Top Ten Points for Positive Practice in Multi-agency Working
4.7 Multi-agency Involvement - Professional Roles
Part 3 - CD Rom of Printable pdf Files
Part 3, containing Sections 5-9, is produced on the enclosed CD Rom, and not in the printed resources. It is available through the Scottish Government website and the Scottish Autism Service Network website. With millions of 'hits' every time the word 'autism' is keyed into the web (at the time of publication this was 18,500,000) a filter is needed to identify useful and reliable information. The resource section is intended to provide reliable information, useful links, and to illustrate resources that may be helpful in practice and are readily available at the time of going to press.
Section 5 - Overview of Interventions
This section offers an overview of interventions and draws on the research literature to describe their effectiveness, strengths and possible drawbacks. It is included in the Toolbox as practitioners working with children and young people with autism are likely to draw from these interventions in their own practice, and need to be able to discuss their key strengths with parents and families.
Section 6 - Resources
In this section we have included some key texts, web links and references. Print based material is shown by book or report cover, with a brief description and a note of how to access the resource. There are 100 sources listed here and these are referenced where appropriate throughout the document.
Section 7 - Building on the Policy and Legislative Context - Local Authority Guidance Towards Strategic Planning Approaches for Future Service Provision
This section considers the Scottish legislative and policy context in more detail, expands on the brief outline of legislation provided in Part 1 and suggests guidance for Local Authorities on strategic planning approaches.
Section 8 - Directory - Finding Information and Advice
Information about where to get help from knowledgeable others is important in the dissemination of good practice. Key organisations and local contacts are included here. Information is correct at the time of going to press, however such information is quickly outdated, and so readers are advised to check on the Scottish Autism Services Network for routes to up-to-date information.
Section 9 - Practice Grids and Posters pdf Files
It is recognised that Toolbox users may wish to print off some of the material included in Part 2 - the practice grids are available here in pdf format. There is also a set of 8 posters related to sections of the Toolbox which may be ordered in full A1 size from the National Centre for Autism Studies.
Set 1 - Practice Grids
Set 2 - Posters
1. A Resource for Scottish Schools - The Autism Toolbox
2. Guidance for Schools
3. Support for Parents and Families
4. Sharing Responsibility - Working with Other Agencies
5. Early Interventions
6. Pupils' Involvement in all matters which affect them
7. The Policy and Legislative Framework
8. Highlighting Resources - Finding help and information