We were so pleased to be given the opportunity to speak to staff at Worcester Sixth Form College (WSFC) about Asperger’s Syndrome (AS) and High Functioning Autism (HFA) in Education last month. Both AS and HFA fall under Autistic Spectrum Condition (ASC).
Recent statistics have shown that 1 in 4 children with autism are illegally excluded from education. Many of the individuals that we work with were unable to attend high school because the environment was not suitable, with staff often lacking any real understanding of the condition. Leaving the individuals with AS and/or HFA feeling isolated and discouraged, we know of some cases in which anxious AS / HFA pupils were put into isolation with badly behaved pupils and left there every day until their parents were able to pull them out of mainstream education.
In our opinion the term “learning disability” does not empower the student or the teacher, which can exacerbate classroom relations. In reality, this term refers to differences in learning and the need for teaching staff to adopt other techniques to aid learning. We refer to these differences as “learning differences” and encourage others to do the same.
We worked with families of people with Autistic Spectrum Condition (ASC) and students with ASC to ensure that our talk encompassed everyday issues for ASC students and ASC families in relation to education. A lack of understanding about learning differences can lead to years of isolation and, in some cases, illegal denial of education. I stress “differences” because being on the spectrum (and even being neurotypical) will affect each individual differently.
Enabling teachers by helping them to understand more about Autistic Spectrum Conditions not only helps their students, it encourages understanding and acceptance of difference across populations and it empowers the teachers.
Talks like this are essential for all public sectors and we would encourage more institutions to look at local services and consider whether collaboration in the form of a talk or regular groups for staff and students would be beneficial to them. We would like to thank WSFC for allowing us to come in and work with them.
If you are interested in running a training day, social skills workshops or an AS and HFA in Education talk at your School, College, University or Institution then please get in touch with us through our contact page or e-mail us at [email protected]
“Education is the most powerful weapon which you can use to change the world.”
– Nelson Mandela.
