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South Lee Intervention Team provides transition tools to help students make a smoother transition to secondary school. They offer strategies to promote independence in school and home, and provide up-to-date reports to schools. The team suggests planning early contact with the secondary school, arranging extra visits, and providing a school preview. They also offer a Transition Workbook, a Passport for the child, and resources for addressing difficulties such as anxiety, organization, transitioning, and making friends. Visual cues and other strategies are recommended for supporting students with autism.
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Supporting your child in secondary school South Lee Intervention Team
Transition Tools Helping students make a smoother transition to second level
Planning Identify and include strategies into IEPs Promote independence in school and home Schools may require up to date reports
Planning • 6th class – Make contact with secondary school early in the summer term • to share information and plan strategies • Arrange extra visits as necessary
School Preview Most children will benefit from seeing, experiencing and learning about a new school before they turn up on the first day School visit – parents and school Videotape of school, rooms, brief introduction from teachers
School Preview Visual guide with photos of key staff such as teachers and assistants Visual guide of school – map including toilets, staff room, canteen etc.
School Preview • Identify team of core contacts in school • This may include, Year head, resource teacher, guidance counselor, etc • Remember there may be less time to interact with key staff at second level so arrange a system whereby important information can be shared between parents and staff
Transition Workbook • Interactive tool for children, parents and teachers to prepare for the upcoming transition to their new school • Can be downloaded from ASD South Lee blog ( www.asdsouthlee.com )
Passport - Keep it simple! It might be useful to develop a personal portfolio with the child to outline likes, dislikes, strengths, needs, learning style, hobbies, fears, goals, favourite subjects, time-out and relaxation activities. The personal portfolio can be passed to staff in school to help raise awareness around the individual’s needs
‘Plan in reverse’ Start with what works for the child and keep it going! Some examples of this are: in what situation or setting is the student more successful? When does the student perform well? When does the student interact meaningfully with peers?
Things to consider • Transition Year • Sports • SNA support availability • Full/partial curriculum
Difficulties The four main difficulties your child may experience in secondary school: 1. anxiety 2. organisation 3. transitioning 4. making friends
Anxiety • A high percentage of individuals with HFA and Asperger’s syndrome suffer from anxiety. • A certain amount of stress is an important component in our lives. However, too much stress is debilitating and counterproductive. • Individuals on the spectrum are not adept at recognising their emotional state – they will rarely seek out help.
Organisation • Triad of impairment: rigidity • Decreased ability to think into the future and problem solve. • Simple tasks of organising work materials and work environment difficult. • Also coordination difficulties will contribute to disorganisation- if you can’t coordinate your body you'll have difficulty coordination your space
Transitioning • Rigidity: difficulty making predictions about what happens/to do next, difficulty accepting change • Imagination: planning difficulties • Communication: understanding what’s happening next, what to bring • Sensory: busy, noisy environment
Friends • Social interaction: not knowing how to interact, not recognising social cues • Communication: not understanding language, not having language to express oneself. • Sensory: difficulty with auditory processing- especially in group conversations.
What strategy works? • Use visual input!!!!
Why is a visual cue useful? • Augmentative • Clarity • Organisation • Predictability • Routines • Independence
Examples of video social stories South Lee Autism Intervention team.
Useful resources • www.asdsouthlee.com • www.aspire-irl.org • www.nas.ie • South Lee Autism Services (021) 4347087
Resources Getting ready for school: Transition Tips for Students with Autism from Kluth, P. (2003). Breaking Down Barriers to Learning “South Lee Autism Team: Transition Booklet” Asperger Syndrome – practical strategies for the classroom Teaching Students with Autism – a resource guide for schools (British Columbia Ministry of Education) bced.gov.bc.ca/specialed/docs/autism.pdf