Autism training

All of our training courses can be delivered in your school or setting.  Please contact us to discuss your requirements.

Anyone can experience anxiety. It is common to feel anxious when in a stressful or challenging situation. However, some autistic people may feel anxious in their day-to-day lives due to navigating social and sensory environments that might be difficult or challenging. Research suggests autistic people are more prone to experiencing anxiety and estimates that up to half of all autistic people experience high levels of anxiety on a regular basis.

Difficult social situations and sensory environments can increase stress and increase anxiety for autistic people. Another significant cause of anxiety is a sense of being misunderstood and/or not accepted by non-autistic people. To ‘fit in’ and not be seen as different, autistic people might mask or camouflage. This can increase anxiety and have a negative effect on their mental health.

Other reasons that autistic people may experience anxiety include:

• a change to routine, particularly an unexpected change
• difficulty identifying, understanding and managing emotions (also known as alexithymia)

Experiencing such high levels of anxiety can lead to exhaustion and meltdowns. It may also lead to autistic fatigue and burnout. This can significantly affect a person’s quality of life, such as their physical and mental health, work/school and social life.

A guest blogger (16yrs old) has published his own account of dealing with anxiety: Dealing with Anxiety

The Communication and Interaction team at Devon CC as the Autism Education Trust SW regional partner are offering specific training opportunities throughout this academic year.

Autistic Children are particularly vulnerable to being excluded from school. Sometimes behaviour associated with their autism can be confused with disobedience because of a lack of awareness by both pupils and school staff. Autistic pupils trying to cope with the unstructured social aspects of school life can feel overwhelmed and become anxious and display distressed behaviours. Head teachers may feel that exclusion is the only solution in order to maintain the safety and well-being of other pupils. However, distressed behaviour can be an indication of unmet needs and schools have a duty to make reasonable adjustments to policies and practices to ensure that autistic pupils also feel safe, confident and able to experience success.

It’s important to remember that each autistic pupil is an individual and what works for one child may not work for another, but some of the strategies on The National Autistic Society’s website might help Autistic pupils and exclusions (autism.org.uk).

You can also find many resources for teachers on the Autism Education Trust website Resources to Support Autistic Children and Young People (autismeducationtrust.org.uk) .

The Communication & Interaction team at Devon CC as the Autism Education Trust SW regional partner are offering specific training opportunities throughout this academic year.

A series of 6 online sessions:

• Using visuals
• Using scaling to support self-regulation
• Supporting independence and organisation skills
• Supporting friendships and social interactions
• Supporting sensory needs
• Top tips to supporting behaviour and engagement

• Making sense of autism
• Good autism practice
• Leading good autism practice

• Making sense of autism
• Good autism practice
• Leading good autism practice
• Progression framework
• Anxiety
• Exclusions
• Transition from school to college

• Raising awareness
• Good autism practice for practitioners
• Good autism practice for managers
• Transition from school to college