Autism Team (SEND Inclusion Support Services)

• Who we are
• What do we do?
• Transition support
• How do we work?
• Who we work with
• Support for families
• Training
• Further Information

Who we are:

We are a team of specialist teachers and transition support workers who are based in the Nottingham City Inclusion Support Services. We are a school-based service

What do we do?

• We offer specialist support, training, advice and guidance to schools and settings in order to develop good autism practice
• We support schools and settings in using the graduated approach – assess, plan, do, review - to meet the needs of all autistic children
• We can offer individualised support through a school referral. This could include assessment, observation, target setting and review, as well as providing guidance on using approaches, interventions and resources
• We offer tailored transition support for autistic children moving between schools
• We support families by sharing information and resources, through liaison with schools and settings, including attending meetings where applicable, and through the delivery of a range of parent/carer workshops
• We work alongside other professionals e.g. Speech Therapists/Educational Psychologists, to ensure a joined-up approach to support
• We can be part of statutory assessment e.g. for an Education, Health and Care plan

Transition support

The Autism Team has a team of Transition Support Workers who are able to offer programmes to support transition from primary to secondary school. Individualised support is offered to children with a diagnosis of autism.

How do we work?

We work using a strengths-based approach, with the understanding that autism is a difference, not a deficit. Our aim is to support and upskill schools to be as inclusive as possible in their autism practice. We are committed to helping all autistic children and young people achieve their best possible outcomes. We allocate a number of sessions to each school, on a core and traded basis.

Who we work with:

We support every mainstream school or school nursery in Nottingham City. Each school has their own allocated specialist link teacher. For individualised support, a school referral can be made if:

• The child has a confirmed diagnosis of autism or is undergoing assessment on the neuro-developmental pathway, under a paediatrician
• The child is of school age, or attending a school nursery
• The child lives in Nottingham City and attends a Nottingham City School, or lives outside of Nottingham City but attends a city school
• The child is attending school regularly
• The school requires additional specialist support and advice to what would be considered ordinarily available provision

Support for families

The Autism Team works in partnership with locality-based parent support and provides workshops for parents and carers.

Parents should contact the school in the first instance if they feel their child requires specialist support in school from the Autism Team

We also have a parent noticeboard on padlet, which includes details of our workshops as well as signposting to other services and support. This can be found here: https://padlet.com/grotesquewondermotors/parent-and-carer-support-8qx9l3qjtv4mj8hu

Training

We offer training tailored to the needs of your school or organisation covering the following areas:

• Autism Education Trust Professional Development Programme for schools Autism Education Trust Website
• Autism Team bespoke training packages

Further Information

For further details please speak to your autism specialist teacher.

Our Team noticeboard for schools is available to view here: Autism Team Noticeboard

This contains details of our offer, as well as our central training programme and the link to our new digital referral.