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St Ita's and St Joseph's Special School, Tralee, Kerry
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Autism and Reframing Behaviour: Autistic Children and Young People with High Care and Education Needs This session reflects a significant shift in how behaviour is understood within autism support. Drawing on neuroscience, psychology, and interpersonal neurobiology, behaviour is explored as communication, never as manipulation, defiance, or pathology. Many behaviours labelled as "challenging" are in fact adaptive responses to overwhelm, unmet needs, or a lack of felt safety. Other behaviours, such as stimming, repetition, or withdrawal, are often essential mechanisms for regulation, communication, or joy. Parents and family members are supported to move away from behaviour control models and toward a relational, regulatory framework. This session explores: The contemporary neuroaffirming shift in understanding behaviour. Environmental and internal contributors to distress and overwhelm. The role of neuroception and felt safety in supporting regulation. The essential role of adult regulation and self-compassion in co regulating with a child in distress. Parents and family members will: Deepen their understanding of what behaviour is communicating. Reflect on their own beliefs and emotional responses with compassion, not judgment. Learn how to identify stressors within environments rather than locating difficulty within the child. Understand co-regulation as a relationship based process rooted in safety, trust, and connection.
Location
St Ita's and St Joseph's Special School
Balloonagh
Tralee
Kerry
V92 F685
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Joan McDonald
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
St Ita's and St Joseph's Special School , Tralee , Kerry