Communication Support for Verbal Pupils with ASD

A course for school staff and parents
working with pupils who have social
communication needs including Autism
Spectrum Disorder (ASD). It will help you to develop the
communication skills of pupils who need help to
use their language within a social context.

1. WHAT IS COMMUNICATION AND WHERE DOES ASD FIT?
   • Identify the processes involved in communication.
   • Understand the nature of ASD and the impact it has on communication, learning and social development.
2. SENSORY INTEGRATION AND ASD
   • Understand sensory difficulties individuals with ASD experience.
   • Learn how to identify different sensory patterns and strategies to manage individuals who present in these
   different ways
3. UNDERSTANDING THE ROLE OF NVC AND THE IMPORTANCE OF STRUCTURE
   • IIdentify nonverbal communication behaviours.
   • Understand what is meant by visual and physical structure and why it is important.
   • Learn about the development of attention.
   • Explore ways of adding physical structure and schedules to the environment.
4. USING VISUAL HELPERS AND DEVELOPING MEMORY
   • Use a wide range of visual supports in the learning setting.
   • Understand how memory develops and learn how to use Mind Maps™.
5. DEVELOPING VOCABULARY, SEQUENCING AND NARRATIVE SKILLS
   • Develop activities to facilitate the learning of descriptive vocabulary with an emphasis on emotional vocabulary.
   • Learn strategies to support development of storytelling and writing.
6. UNDERSTANDING BEYOND SIMPLE SENTENCES
   • Present a language scheme model which supports verbal reasoning skills, including why and how questions,
   inferences, sequencing, predicting.
   • Understand the relevance of this model to the pupil with ASD.
7. DEVELOPING INTERACTION
   • Learn how to use evidence based interaction strategies and how to modify them for the individual with ASD.
   • Understand how a lack of theory of mind affects an individual with an ASD.
   • Know how to use chat cartoons to promote social interaction.
8. DEVELOPING PRAGMATIC SKILLS
   • Develop an understanding of pragmatic language skills.
   • Learn how to observe pupils with these difficulties.
   • Explore strategies to support pupils with pragmatic language difficulties.
9. BEHAVIOUR IS COMMUNICATION
   • Understand that individuals communicate through their behaviour.
   • Understand why communication difficulties might lead to challenging behaviour.
10. MAKING SENSE OF IT ALL
    • Present evidence of applying knowledge within the school environment.