Event summary

Date

Start Time

End Time

Hazelwood College, Dromcolliher, Limerick

Closed

Autism and Communication
Communication is a multi-faceted, complex interaction involving mastery in many of the following,
•    Understanding non-verbal cues  
•    Command of tone of voice  
•    Command of facial expressions  
•    Understanding different purposes of conversation  
•    Sense of humour  
•    Familiarity with social courtesies  
•    Making the abstract concrete  
•    Visual structure and predictable routines  
•    Activities that provide support for language abilities  
•    Interactions that provide focus on peers and self-awareness  
•    Generalisations  
Communication can, therefore, be challenging for many autistic young people. Many want to be socially interactive, make friends and form relationships, be included within the classroom and wider community, but find it difficult because of the many social conventions needed to achieve effective communication.
Young autistic people experiencing such difficulties may find it hard to understand the messages being given, such as the meaning others put into their voice, the expressions on their faces, and gestures such as waving, pointing or shrugging.

Participants will have an increased understanding of
•    How communication is defined. 
•   Communication difficulties 
•    Best practices in supporting the young person in the classroom, family home and wider community
•    The importance of visual information as it remains available long enough to enable the young person to focus on it or return to it as needed to establish memory for the message it is communicating.
•    Visual tools provide a non-transient foundation for more effective communication. 
•    How to use the strengths of the autistic young person to help him or her communicate effectively.
 

Location

Hazelwood College
Kells,
Dromcolliher
Limerick
Get Directions

Joan McDonald

Joan McDonald

Joan is a second level science teacher working independently as Posautive. Following many years teaching in mainstream classrooms, Joan worked on individual planning in centres for adults with learning disabilities and those with mental health struggles. She, then, became one of the first SENOs in Ireland, observing and providing school supports for students with atypical needs across eighty rural schools. While studying for an M.Ed. in Autism, Joan was taught by and met a variety of autistic adults, which ultimately led to her own autism assessment. Prior to meeting such a diverse range of autistic people, Joan would only have recognised autism in people with profound and complex support needs. Joan is passionate about using students’ interests to support autistic learners of all levels of cognitive ability to access education and contented lives. She currently works on a variety of projects with agencies such as Middletown Centre for Autism, Dublin City University, Nua Healthcare, Fingal Libraries. In recent years, creating and delivering the Posauteen and Posaudult courses to help autistic people understand and advocate for themselves has been a major focus of Joan’s time.

Event summary

Date

Start Time

End Time

Hazelwood College , Dromcolliher , Limerick

Closed