ASD

There are children with an Autism diagnosis in every class at Kingsbury, except Blue Frogs. At Kingsbury we have implemented a range of interventions and teaching strategies to meet the needs of children with Autism across the school. These interventions include:

* PECS

* Visual Support

* TEACCH

* SCERTS

* Sensory Diets

* Intensive Interaction

Where needed, children with autism are provided with a calm area of the classroom, or a separate work room to enable them to complete activities and engage in learning.

In addition to this, we also have one class that is specifically for children with ASD and sensory difficulties. In this class, all of the above interventions are used in lessons throughout the school day. The children follow their own visual timetable and a structured routine to enable them to take part in sensory diets, small group work, individual group work, playtimes and also visit other areas of school such as soft play, the sensory room and assemblies. In Purple Frogs, the classroom is designed to reduce environmental anxiety and distress. The classroom is calm, distraction free and has low level of visual and auditory stimuli. Within the classroom, children have access to a range of apparatus to enable them to regulate their sensory needs as and when they require this support. Purple Frogs class have a separate work room where work is presented with visually using the TEACCH work basket strategy.

SENSORY DIETS

We learn about the environment around us by using our senses. Many children with autism encounter difficulties in processing and interpreting sensory inputs, which can result in unusual or uncomfortable perception of sound, sense, touch, sight and smell. This can be a barrier to learning for some of our children, and can lead to challenging behaviour if it is not recognised.

A sensory diet is a carefully planned, personalised activity programme that provides the sensory input a child needs to stay focused and organised throughout the day. Children who have sensory differences benefit from a personalised sensory diet programme. Staff at Kingsbury understand that each child has an individual set of sensory needs, and that they might need a calming input or an alerting input in order for them to be in an optimal state of arousal and ready to learn. Addressing sensory issues should also result in increased engagement with the curriculum and therefore enhance learning experiences as well as non- school activities.

A sensory diet can include activities linked with the following sensory inputs:

* Proprioception

* Vestibular

* Tactile

* Auditory

* Visual

* Smell

* Taste