Joint Event Parents and Professionals, Autism and the Primary School SICAP Education and Training Office Co.Kerry

Autism and Anxiety Management
Post Primary aged students with autism experience anxiety in many situations, with some experiencing significant anxiety difficulties. For many, school is a major source of stress. While many reasons are shared with the full student body, there are some key factors relating to autism that mean stress and anxiety are more likely. Everyone shows their anxiety in individual ways, so the most reliable observations that a student is anxious are going to be made by the people who know the student best. This highlights the need for a collaborative approach between the family and the school.
This session is an introduction to strategies that can be used to alleviate the experience of anxiety in students with autism. This will include an introduction to cognitively based strategies and how to develop student centred strategies to deal with anxiety.
Expected Outcomes
Participants will:
• Understand how the difficulties experienced by those with autism,  including sensory difficulties, can contribute to the development of anxiety.
• Understand how anxiety can escalate and may result in an outburst.
• Develop some simple strategies to prevent the escalation of anxiety.
• Understand the basics of cognitively based management approaches.
Course Overview
• Anxiety triggers and build up.
• “On the spot” anxiety management strategies.
• Developing a “stress kit”.
• Cognitively based approaches and the emotional toolkit

Autism, Visual Strategies and Life Skills. Visual strategies are widely used when living and working with children and young people with autism as they: • Complement the learning style of many with autism. • Can be introduced alongside other intervention strategies. • Are adaptable, portable and can be used in most situations. The use of visual strategies can have a notable impact on how a child with autism experiences life, as they help to clarify expectations and make abstract concepts more concrete. Visual strategies support children as they develop effective communication, appropriate social interaction, and positive behaviour skills. Life Skills This training will examine the broad definition of life skills, within the contexts of home, school, play and personal care, and how the core difficulties, associated with autism, directly affect the development of such skills. It will demonstrate how life skills can be improved and facilitated within the home and Autism, Visual Strategies and Life Skills. Visual strategies are widely used when living and working with children and young people with autism as they: 
•    Complement the learning style of many with autism. 
•    Can be introduced alongside other intervention strategies.  
•    Are adaptable, portable and can be used in most situations. 
The use of visual strategies can have a notable impact on how a child with autism experiences life, as they help to clarify expectations and make abstract concepts more concrete. Visual strategies support children as they develop effective communication, appropriate social interaction, and positive behaviour skills.
Life Skills
This training will examine the broad definition of life skills, within the contexts of home, school, play and personal care, and how the core difficulties, associated with autism, directly affect the development of such skills. 
It will demonstrate how life skills can be improved and facilitated within the home and school environments. This will include increasing independence in family and classroom activities, the daily routines of the family home, the classroom, within play and personal care activities, e.g. toileting.school environments. This will include increasing independence in family and classroom activities, the daily routines of the family home, the classroom, within play and personal care activities, e.g. toileting.

Autism, Behaviour and Sensory Processing. This session will examine how the core features of autism can influence the behaviour of children. Responding effectively to inappropriate or misunderstood behaviour remains a concern for parents and professionals living and working with children with autism. Early intervention and planning are important to ensure that children have an array of proactive strategies to defuse rather than escalate a demanding situation. 
Sensory Processing
Sensory Processing generally refers to the ability of a child to register sensory information, make sense of that information, and to respond to it. This is a complex and fluid process involving all the sensory systems, auditory, gustatory, visual, olfactory, tactile, proprioceptive, and vestibular. When sensory processing is working well, a child’s responses to sensory information are positive and support interaction. However, sensory processing difficulties are quite prevalent in the profiles of children with autism and can affect every aspect of life and development. This session examines the sensory processing differences frequently associated with autism and will demonstrate how such difficulties impact on learning, leisure activities and choices, social interactions and behaviour at home and in school.