autism toolboxes used in schools

I think what has happened in this particular toolbox/toolkit is that they had workshops on different aspects of the triad, and came up with some suggestions on flip charts. Someone edited all this, maybe sometime after the event, and somehow muddled the triad derivatives and the solutions.

There being perhaps very little practical understanding, no-one has noticed that the solutions don't match the issues or problems. I think you are right that they haven't spoken to parents in these compilations.

What you get as a result is really weird. I dont want to seem mocking, because there is some really sound and relevant material here, just it comes out of completely different contexts.  I've taken the following from the "learning grid" in the autism toolbox, on the section on "Impact of Autism on Classroom Support". The left hand column describes an impact, and the right hand column is the recommended teacher response. Obviously I've had to do these in sequence.

Impact: "pupils with autism may have poor sense of group culture and a group identity and this may be a factor in relation to collaborative working or group tasks".

Teacher response: "pupils may need a range of prompts including vebal and visual supports in order that the focus of attention is explicit. An environment that is as clutter and distraction free as possible will maximise capacity to concentrate. This does not mean that there should be no visual stimulus present however when pupils are involved in altering their environments eg being present when displays are mounted rather than them appearing overnight are more likely to accept and adjust to such change".

Now I can see some good sense in thet last bit about change, but I don't see what it has in particular to do with collaborative working and group tasks, given they address nothing else I'd expect to see. Here's another example - it starts off with a more relevant answer then???

Impact: "Cognitive processing such as Central Coherence difficulties may impact on the pupil's capacity to identify and act upon common environmental cues. Identifying and understanding the appropriate focus of attention may be problemmatic."

Teacher Response: " pupils may need time to familiarise themselves with the classroom environment and surrounding key areas. Cupboards and resource areas should be clearly labelled to show content and function".

In this case the impact was unintelligible, the response started very sensibly though, but quite where labelling cupboards has to do with it I'm not sure. Maybe its the cupboard where they keep the whisky. Another curious pairing:

Impact: "pupils with autism may appear to be easily and frequently distracted by environmental factors. Such factors may be obvious, uncommon or response to antipated events eg the bell ringing".

Teacher Response: "pupils with autism may benefit from having a map of the school so they are clear about how they will move from area to area. This is increasingly important in primary school but will almost certainly be a valuable support in a secondary environment. Pupils may, on occasion need time to withdraw and settle following upset. They may need to calm down and return to the environment; an explanation of what has occurred; some aspect of the environment may have to be altered. If children are unduly stressed they will be unlikely to be able to learn therefore such approaches are a valued and worthwhile investment of time and are a legitmate strategy to enable learning needs to be met".

That latter part sounds very sensible until you go back to the impact in question - which doesn't match the outcomes, particularly the bit about the map.

The entire toolbox is written like this - like a muddled summary of a series of workshops by people who had lost the plot before it started.

And you have to realise that this muddled thinking is driving how children are suppoorted in mainstream schools, which is the guist of the Scottish strategy for pupils on the spectrum whose autism doesn't justify going to a special needs "base".

I think what has happened in this particular toolbox/toolkit is that they had workshops on different aspects of the triad, and came up with some suggestions on flip charts. Someone edited all this, maybe sometime after the event, and somehow muddled the triad derivatives and the solutions.

There being perhaps very little practical understanding, no-one has noticed that the solutions don't match the issues or problems. I think you are right that they haven't spoken to parents in these compilations.

What you get as a result is really weird. I dont want to seem mocking, because there is some really sound and relevant material here, just it comes out of completely different contexts.  I've taken the following from the "learning grid" in the autism toolbox, on the section on "Impact of Autism on Classroom Support". The left hand column describes an impact, and the right hand column is the recommended teacher response. Obviously I've had to do these in sequence.

Impact: "pupils with autism may have poor sense of group culture and a group identity and this may be a factor in relation to collaborative working or group tasks".

Teacher response: "pupils may need a range of prompts including vebal and visual supports in order that the focus of attention is explicit. An environment that is as clutter and distraction free as possible will maximise capacity to concentrate. This does not mean that there should be no visual stimulus present however when pupils are involved in altering their environments eg being present when displays are mounted rather than them appearing overnight are more likely to accept and adjust to such change".

Now I can see some good sense in thet last bit about change, but I don't see what it has in particular to do with collaborative working and group tasks, given they address nothing else I'd expect to see. Here's another example - it starts off with a more relevant answer then???

Impact: "Cognitive processing such as Central Coherence difficulties may impact on the pupil's capacity to identify and act upon common environmental cues. Identifying and understanding the appropriate focus of attention may be problemmatic."

Teacher Response: " pupils may need time to familiarise themselves with the classroom environment and surrounding key areas. Cupboards and resource areas should be clearly labelled to show content and function".

In this case the impact was unintelligible, the response started very sensibly though, but quite where labelling cupboards has to do with it I'm not sure. Maybe its the cupboard where they keep the whisky. Another curious pairing:

Impact: "pupils with autism may appear to be easily and frequently distracted by environmental factors. Such factors may be obvious, uncommon or response to antipated events eg the bell ringing".

Teacher Response: "pupils with autism may benefit from having a map of the school so they are clear about how they will move from area to area. This is increasingly important in primary school but will almost certainly be a valuable support in a secondary environment. Pupils may, on occasion need time to withdraw and settle following upset. They may need to calm down and return to the environment; an explanation of what has occurred; some aspect of the environment may have to be altered. If children are unduly stressed they will be unlikely to be able to learn therefore such approaches are a valued and worthwhile investment of time and are a legitmate strategy to enable learning needs to be met".

That latter part sounds very sensible until you go back to the impact in question - which doesn't match the outcomes, particularly the bit about the map.

The entire toolbox is written like this - like a muddled summary of a series of workshops by people who had lost the plot before it started.

And you have to realise that this muddled thinking is driving how children are suppoorted in mainstream schools, which is the guist of the Scottish strategy for pupils on the spectrum whose autism doesn't justify going to a special needs "base".