Asperger Syndrome

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• Asperger Syndrome
• Delivering a Person Centred Service
• Sally Grubb
• Farleigh FE College Swindon
• 28th November 2008

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Farleigh FE College Swindon A bit about us!

• 4 Residential sites.
• 39 Learners.
• Learning Resource Centre (base room) on
  mainstream college campus.
• Extended curriculum.

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• Over 40 of children on the autistic spectrum
  have been bullied at school.
• One-in-five children with autism are excluded
  from school.(1)
• I lacked the social skills and the know how of
  friendship building. Most people felt
  uncomfortable with my egocentric and eccentric
  behaviour My clumsy efforts to socialise usually
  ended in trauma an experience common to most
  Aspergers teenagers. (2)

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• Post 16 provision failing to meet the needs of
  young people with special needs.(3)
• All young people have the right to be involved in
  decisions about their future.(4)
• The reality is that autism is too variable and
  complex a condition for any one treatment
  strategy possible to address all cases .(5)

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Information Gathering

• Alternative viewpoints have equal validity.
• Familiarisation Day for incoming learners.
• Autism-Quotient (AQ) questionnaire as a framework
  for assessment. (6)
• The Triad of Impairments characteristically
  effects social and emotional, language and
  communication and imagination. (7)

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• Establishing realistic expectations.
• Working together towards the same outcome.
• Special interests.
• Sensory issues.
• Assessing need is dynamic and ongoing

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• Mainstream Environment
• The unwritten rules of social interaction may
  cause problems with socialising appropriately
  with peer-groups.
• May come across as rude or arrogant. An
  uninformed tutor may regard them as disruptive.
• Lack of motivation.
• Poor organisational skills.
• Social or sensory difficulties may be barriers to
  inclusion.

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• 11 support in the mainstream environment given
  by allocated
• Learning Support Workers (LSWs).
• Inset training.
• Pen portraits.
• Close working partnership with the mainstream
  college.
• Tutors also acknowledge the LSWs understanding
  of the learner.

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Base Room

• Skills for Life.
• Study room, IT room.
• Quiet room, art room.
• Student/staff lounge.
• Independent Living Skills (ILS) programme.

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• 24 hr structured timetable.
• Long term aims are broken down into small steps.
• Social skills programme communication and
  employability skills.
• AS awareness and presenting the condition in a
  positive way.

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• Transition reviews.
• 12 leavers in June 4 continued F.E., 3 H.E., 4
  Connect (supported employment), 1 diving course.
• NAS research finds that only 15 of people with
  autism are in full-time paid employment.(8)
• Prospects employment service found work for 67
  of clients in 2004 - saving nearly half a million
  pounds to the Government in under three years.(9)

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• Failure to transfer the skills acquired
• through education to the workplace is a
• clear waste of resources. Continuing and
• unnecessary reliance on state benefits is
• also extremely expensive, as are the costs
• of treating psychiatric disorders relating to
• long term unemployment. (10)

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• Annual total cost of autism of 1 billion only 7
  was spent on education and even moderate
  increases in educational provision could
  potentially result in major savings in later
  living costs. (11)
• 7,500 specialist places for over 90,000 children
  with autism in the UK (12)
• 49 of adults with autism still live at home with
  their parents. (13)

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• If transition fails, young people can find
• themselves embedded more firmly than
• ever in the family home, increasing stress
• on the family and resulting in more isolated
• lives. Making transition work benefits
• everyone. Its time for action.(8)

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• END

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• References
• 1. Batten, A et. al. (2006), Autism and
  Education The Reality for Families Today, NAS
  London.
• 2. LAWSON, W., 1998. Life Behind Glass. (p16)
  London Jessica Kingsley.
• 3. House of Commons Education and Skills Select
  Committee (2006). Special educational needs
  third report of session 2005-06. London The
  Stationery Office.
• 4. SEN code of practice (Department for Education
  and Skills, 2001), the National
• service framework for children, young people
  and maternity services (Department of Health,
  2004) and Improving the life chances of disabled
  people (Prime Ministers Strategy Unit, 2005).
• 5. GABRIELS, R L. and HILL, D E. (2002). Autism
  From Research to Individualized Practice (p41),
  London Jessica Kingsley Publishers.
• 6. BARON-COHEN, S., HOEKSTRA, R A., WHEELWRIGHT,
  S. and KNICKMEYER, R. (2006). The Autism-Spectrum
  Quotient (AQ) Adolescent Version. Journal of
  Autism and Developmental Disorders, 36 (3),
  pp.343-350.
• 7. WING, L. (1992). The Triad of Impairments of
  Social Interaction. An Aid to Diagnosis,
  LondonNAS.
• 8. Reid, B (2007), Moving on up? Negotiating the
  transition to adulthood for young people with
  autism. London The National Autistic Society.
• 9. Alcock, J. and Howlin, P. (2003). An
  evaluation of Prospects Supported Employment
  Service for individuals with Asperger syndrome.
  Report for the Department for Work and Pensions.
• 10. Mawhood Howlin P., 1999, The outcome of a
  supported employment project for high-functioning
  adults with autism or Asperger syndrome, Autism,
  vol. 3 (3), pp 229-234
• 11. Knapp M. and Jarbrink, K (2001) The economic
  impact of autism in Britain. Autism vol 5(1), pp.
  7-22.
• 12. Jones, G (2002), Educational Provision for
  Children with Autism and Asperger Syndrome
  Meeting Their Needs, David Fulton Publishers
  London.
• 13. Barnard, J. et al (2001). Ignored or
  ineligible? The reality for adults with autism
  spectrum disorders London The National Autistic
  Society.
• Further reading
• Improving the life chances of disabled people. A
  response from the National Autistic Society
  www.cabinetoffice.gov.uk//media/assets/www.cabine
  toffice.gov.uk/strategy/national_autistic_society
  20pdf.ashx