AUTISM IN-CAREER DEVELOPMENT TRAINING COURSES.

The Department has embarked on intensive training programmes in the area of autism.

2000/2001

·                    A Five-day training programme (January/May 2001) for teachers in special schools and special classes delivered by Dr Theo Peeters and Hilde De Clerq – International Specialists from the Centre for training in Autism and Asperger Syndrome Antwerp,

Belgium. Delivered in Portlaoise and attended by 90 teachers.

·                    A specialised five-day training course (February/May 2001) for resource teachers and classroom teachers (31 participants) delivered in Education Centre Portlaoise by Gillian Boyd (Principal of Special School in Belfast and tutor on the University Birmingham programmes in Autism.

·                    It is envisaged that this model will be used by five (5) Irish trainers to deliver training to teachers, in four Centres on a pilot basis.  Following evaluations of the pilot, the courses will be extended nationally through the Education network.  The part-time posts will shortly be advertised.

·                    Twenty-five (25) teachers, in January 2001, undertook the professional training programme delivered by the University of Birmingham and St. Patrick’s Training College, Drumcondra.

·                    Two (2) Teachers funded to pursue (A) MEd Sp.Ed. Autism, (B) Post Grad Dip. Sp.

Ed. Autism in University of Birmingham 2001.

·                    Fifty seven (57) teachers and 11 class-room assistants attended a three-day training programme (February 2001) delivered in West Cork by Dr. Gary Mesibov, Director of Division T.E.A.C.C.H. University of North Carolina, USA assisted by Sloane Burgess.

·                    Five (5) teachers and ten (10) special needs assistants a’ More than words’ Autism programme in Newtownmountkennedy, Co. Wicklow from November, 2001 to May 2002.

·                    P.E.A.T. (Parent’s Education as Autism Therapists) delivered by Dr. Ken Kerr,

Director of Training PEAT, Fermanagh, course 8 to 12 January 2001: Scoil an Linbh Iosa, Prosperous, Co. Kildare. Seven (7) teachers took participated

·                    ‘Autism in Schools’ – in association with South Western Area Health Board Dublin 6th April 2001: 51 participants. St Peters BNS, Greenhills, Dublin 12 delivered by Mary Morrissey, Director services for Children with Autism. (Health Board)

·                    Ten (10) Irish Teachers made a study visit to Washington DC for one month (April) to study American best practises in the special needs area including Autism.

·                    Social Stories Training – England 14 and 15 June 2001 - 3 teachers.

·                    P.E.C.S. (Picture Exchange Communication System) course funded for Teachers and

Special Needs Assistants (13) on 14 and 15 June 2001, Letterkenny, Co Donegal 2001/2002 (School year)

2001/2003

·                    Autism Communication course 19 to 23 November 2001 - 7 teachers attended

·                    Practical TEACCH 20 to 22 November 2001, 23 staff  (Rosedale School Galway).

·                    P.E.C.S. (Picture Exchange Communication System) course funded for Teachers and Special Needs Assistants on 18 and 19 June 2001, Dublin. (101 teachers/Special Needs Assistants)

·                    Five (5) part-time trainers appointed (June 2001) to deliver courses to resource teachers and classroom teachers working with children with autism, in the four (4) Education Centres on a pilot basis.  Specific training and work on the development of a training programme commenced. Additional training is scheduled to ensure the best possible training delivery. It is planned to that the Trainers will deliver courses early in 2002.

·                    ‘Best Practice and Autism’ course 2 to 6 July 2001 in Scoil Triest, Glanmire, Cork - 50 teachers

·                    12 day Introductory Course in Applied Behaviour Analysis (ABA) course May to

August 2001.

·                    One week course 27 to 31 August 2001 ‘Enhancing Communication Development in Children with Autism’ Waterford Education Centre for 20 teachers

·                    ABA course 19 October 2001 Dr Ken Kerr 10 day course

·                    One Week 5 to 9 November, 2001 Dr Theo Peeters, Hilde de Clerq and five (5) assistants from their Institute delivering a specialised course to thirty (30) teachers. The team will work with five (5) children with autism during the course. (Our ‘Trainers’ will attend this course)

·                    PECS course, Belfast 7 to 8 November 2001, 6 teachers.

·                    Twenty five (25) places for teachers on the Graduate Diploma course Birmingham

University/St Patrick’s Drumcondra, January 2002.

·                    Speech and Language Course; 5 day course over the period 16 January 2002 to 13

 February 2002 for 23 teachers.

·                    ABA Course, Dr Ken Kerr, commencing March 2002. 2 teacher and 10 Special Needs Assistants – 10-day course.

·                    ‘Overview of Autistic Spectrum’ by Dr Rita Honan in Waterford on 5 February 2002 for 90 teachers.

·                    Autism and Learning Support in the primary school - 24, 25 and 26 March 2002

40 participants Theo Peeters, Hilde de Clerq in Lucan Educate Together - in-service course

 

·                    Five (5) Part-time trainers, in co-operation with Gillian Boyd, designed and delivered introductory courses for full-time resource teachers of children with Autism.  It was agreed that the pilot courses would consist of 5 days, that they would be delivered in two modules – two-day initially and a follow-up of three days.  The participants would attempt to implement aspects of the initial module and part of the following three days would be spent evaluation and sharing experiences.  The course consisted of the following:

*  Triad of Impairments         *  Behaviour and Classroom Management

*  Sensory issues                     *  Methodologies

*  Communication                *  IT and Resources

The members of the team were Gillian Boyd (consultant), Fiona Jennings, Tish Balfe, Siobhan Whitehead, Hilda Hegarty and Geraldine Donnelly.  Four (4) courses (consisting of two (2) days and three (3) days) were delivered in partnership with Education Centres. It was agreed that when the pilot courses were completed, they would be evaluated and if necessary modified in relation to content, methodology and duration before the team commenced the next stage. The details are as follows:

             

            25 – 26 Feb 02 & 21 – 23 May 02            Laois/Athlone Education Centres            28 teachers

            25 – 26 Feb 02 & 21 – 23 May 02            Mayo Education Centre              33 teachers

            4 – 5 March 02 & 15  – 17 April 02            Tralee Education Centre              34 teachers

            25 – 26 Feb 02  & 21 – 23 May 02            Clare Education Centre              27 teachers

                                                                                                                                    Total:  122

·                    P.E.C.S. training course 28 February and 1 March 2002, Laois Ed – (93 teachers

Attended)

·                    P.E.C.S. Follow up training 11 & 12 June 2002 – (72 Teachers attended)

·                    P.A.PA. Annual Autism Conference, Belfast 5 March, 2002 for 2 teachers attended

·                    Dr. Gary La Vigna delivered four (4) days training in Applied Behaviour Analysis

29 April to 2 May 2002. Portlaoise. Attendance - 109 teachers.

·                    Tony Attwood/Carol Gray - High Functioning Autism/Aspergers Syndrome 9 and

10 May 2002, Lucan, Dublin (85 teachers)

·                    Aspects of Autism (Irish Society for Autism) 3, 4 and 5 May 2002, Navan, Co

Meath (10 teachers)

·                    ProfeXcel – ‘ An introduction to Autism & Autistic Spectrum Disorders’ E_Learning

Summer Course for 112 (one hundred & twelve) participants throughout July and August 2002. This was an interactive course where participants availed of individual

support from expert tutors, shared and discussed ‘online’ with other participants during the two months. The course was available 24 hours per day from any location worldwide throughout the two months. Tutor response time was set at 24 hours weekdays and 48 hours at weekend though the actual response time was much quicker during the course.

·                    P.E.C.S. Consultancy School Visits:  4 schools of the part-time Trainers in Autism, May 2002 (12 teachers, 18 Special Needs Assistants, 14 parents and 3 others)

·                    Certificate in Assistive Technology course for one (1) teacher 2nd to 6th

September 2002 & 17/18 October, 2002

·                    Three teachers (independent of group of 25) being funded for a Post Grad Dip in

Special Education Autism, University of Birmingham – September 2002.

·                    One teacher being funded a Masters of Education in Special Education: Autism, University of Birmingham – September 2002. 

·                    Twenty five (25) places for teachers on the Graduate Diploma course Birmingham

University/St Patrick’s Training College, Drumcondra, January to December 2003. This brings to 75 the number of places offered on this particular programme.

·                    Two teachers and 5 Special Needs Assistants being funded to participate in a new University of Birmingham web–based part-time Certificate programme in Autism Spectrum Disorders. This course is over one year and commences in January 2003.

·                    Following evaluations and review, the courses offered are 4 day courses with similar content to the pilot phase.  Four (4) part-time trainers delivered introductory courses (2 days plus 2 days) for full-time resource teachers working with children with autism in partnership with thirteen (13) Education Centres:

Details are as follows:

3-4 Oct, 02 & 15-16 Oct, 02                   Galway Education Centre              24 teachers

8-9 Oct, 02 & 30-31 Jan, 03                    Waterford Education Centre              23 teachers

9-10 Oct, 02 & 30-31 Jan, 03                    Letterkenny Education Centre              28 teachers

14-15 Oct, 02 & 18-19 Nov, 02            Monaghan Education Centre              25 teachers

14-15 Oct, 02 & 18-19 Nov, 02            Limerick Education Centre              29 teachers

14-15 Oct, 02 & 6-7 Feb, 03                        Kilkenny Education Centre              17 teachers

17-18 Oct, 02 & 21-22 Nov, 02            Navan Education Centre              24 teachers

17-18 Oct, 02 & 3-4 Feb, 03                        Wexford Education Centre              22 teachers

27-28 Jan, 03 & 6-7 Feb, 03                        Sligo Education Centre              16 teachers

10-11 Feb, 03 & 3-4 Mar, 03                        Kildare Education Centre              29 teachers

10-11 Feb, 03 & 3-4 Mar, 03                        Carrick-on-Shannon Ed Centre            21 teachers

3-14 Feb, 03 & 6-7 Mar, 03                        Drumcondra Education Centre  24 teachers

13-14 Feb, 03 & 6-7 Mar, 03                        Dublin West Education Centre  29 teachers

Total            311 teachers

·                    5 day Training Programme for Newly Appointed full-time teachers in Special Classes for children with Autism in mainstream and Special Schools - at Laois Education Centre, 23 & 24 October, 2002 (21 teachers) and 4-6 December, 2002 (22 teachers).  The four (4) part-time trainers delivered this.

·                    A 4-day programme (2 days plus 2 days) for resource teachers (in association with the National Educational Psychological Service, the Inspectorate, Speech & Language Therapists, Occupational Therapists and ICT Tutors) was given in Laois Education Centre in partnership with Athlone Education Centre, 26 & 27 November 2002  - 39 Teachers in total and followed by 19 & 20 May 2003 - 39 teachers in total.  This course replicated the course held in Laois Education Centre for resource teachers on 27 & 28 May 2002 – 34 teachers attended and followed by another 2 days on 18 & 19 June 2002 – 34 teachers attended, and the final day on 24 February 2003 – 54 Principals & teachers attended.

·                    TEACCH ‘hands on’ course for Special schools & special classes in Cork from

27-31 January 2003, 14 teachers attended.

·                    Two x 2-day Introductory TEACCH Programme for teachers in special schools & special classes – 3rd /4th and 5th/6th February 2003. Laois Education Centre - 176 teachers attended.

·                    Challenging Behaviour.  What Works? 12 May 2003, Laois Education Centre in partnership with four (4) education centres and was delivered by Gillian Boyd - 27 teachers attended.  A replicate of this course was also run on 6 June 2003 in Laois Education Centre – 24 teachers attended.

·                    Individual Education Plan (IEP’s)/Assessment course, 12, 19 March & 2 April, 2003 Portlaoise, 165 teachers

·                    Heghog Training & ASPIRE: ‘Exploring good practice in Autism Spectrum Disorders: - working & living with challenging behaviour’ course, 11 April 2003, Cork – 3 participants.

·                    ‘The World of Autism’ Irish Society for Autism 9 to 11 May 2003. Navan Co Meath – 3 participants.

·                    Heghog Training, ‘Asperger’s Syndrome & Higher Functioning Autism – practice strategies for the support of adolescents and young adults’ course, 28 May 2003, Cork - 4 participants.

·                    Floor Time Training, 7-8 April, 2003, Galway - two trainers and one resource teacher

·                    ‘Online Teacher Training on Autistic Spectrum Disorders’ E_Learning Summer Course for 125 (one hundred & and twenty five) participants throughout July and August 2003. This online summer course is a collaborative project between the Special Education Department, St. Patrick’s College, Drumcondra and ProfeXcel. It is an interactive course where participants can avail of individual support from expert tutors and share and discuss ‘online’ with teaching colleagues during the two months. The course is available 24 hours per day from any location throughout the two months.  Tutor response time will be within 24 hours weekdays and 48 hours at weekend though it is envisaged that it will be much quicker than this during the course.

2003/2004

·                     Masters of Education in Special Education: Autism, University of Birmingham from September 2003 two (2) teachers.

·                    In addition, the In-career Development Unit has funded teachers attendance at a number of local courses/training

 

The Unit is open to consider funding for courses for teachers run on a local basis

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