Welcome to the Autism Support Service

WORLD AUTISM ACCEPTANCE WEEK

World Autism Acceptance/Awareness Day is an internationally recognized day on 2 April every year. It was instituted in 2007 to increase world awareness of the millions of autistic children in our world.  This day promotes the need to support and enhance the state of life of those with autism so that they can live life to the fullest.

Please click on the links below to view video clips about autism:

Newsround special - 13 year old Rosie talks about autism

"Amazing Things Happen"

"Sesame Street: Meet Julia" 

"Float" video

Sensory Overload at the shops video

Please click here to read a poem "Autism and Me" by a former student

The National Autistic Society has released a video clip 'What is Autism?' and they have resources for Early Years/Primary & Secondary aged students.

At Addington our Autism Support is individualised according to the strengths, interests and needs of each pupil.  We have an eclectic approach, which means we use a range of strategies and interventions to support pupils who are on the autism spectrum.

'Given the diversity within the spectrum and between individuals, there is no single educational intervention that is useful for all children on the autism spectrum, and there is no single intervention that would on its own be sufficient to meet all the needs of a particular child on the autism spectrum...Education needs to be individualised, to allow for different needs and for different teaching goals at different times.'

Education Provision for Children and Young People on the Autism Spectrum Living in England - Autism Education Trust 2008

Our model of autism support is based predominantly around Structured Teaching and the SCERTS framework.  Structured Teaching principles are used throughout the school, as we believe that it is beneficial to all of our pupils.  Every classroom has a visual timetable of some form and the physical environment of the school and classrooms is structured to support pupils' understanding.

SCERTS is an educational model for working with children with autism spectrum disorder and their families.  It was developed in the States following years of research into the core skills that are needed in order to have the best outcomes in later life.  It provides specific guidelines which aim to help a child to become good at communicating socially and regulating emotions, it also identifies what support needs to be put in place to best help them progress.  We use the SCERTS model with many of our students to inform target setting and identify appropriate strategies to aid progression.  The chart below shows how the strategies and interventions we use at Addington fit into the SCERTS model. Click on the relevant links in the table, to find out more about each intervention.