This action plan has been developed to help a learner and his tutor when discussing how he should be meeting the expectations of his Further Education study programme. Inexperience can cause a tutor to set targets and expectations without consideration of the barriers a learner experiences. This leads to repeated ‘failure’, frustration and lack of confidence. A learner will continue to miss deadlines if there is no consideration of his difficulty with executive functionning such as inability to plan, prioritise or remember to write tasks down for example. This action plan includes additional steps to help tutors and learners get closer to the root cause of problems so that success is more likely. The RAG review will help learners to see their own progress e.g. I was ‘red’ last week, but I am ‘amber’ now. Green now feels more acheiveable.

This can be used with the Behaviour is Communication powerpoint as part of a staff development activity or with an individual who maybe feeling overwhelmed with life. The stress bucket provides a visual representation of every day and underlying challenges we face, how resilient we are, what coping strategies we have and what happens when the power of the stressors outway the power of the coping strategies. (The bucket spills over). I have used successfully on a number of occassions, to help young people who are autistic, have ADHD, have anxiety or are neurotypical. It helps illustrate why they might be losing their temper, avoiding situations or feeling overwhelmed. It helps illustrate when someone needs to spend more time on their coping strategies or self care such as exercise, music, time with pets and so on. Here’s a video I use with some young people to explain the stress bucket. If this is quite advanced, I do a simplified version by hand on the white board. https://youtu.be/1KYC5SsJjx8 I hope you find the stress bucket as useful as I have. Please note, the blue stress bucket image for illustration purposes is taken from Google images and is not my work or included in the download.

This resource was created for an autistic 16 year old who is struggling to cope with the company of other teens who are more impulsive, carefree and boistrous than him. Moments that others find amusing are stressful for him and a much bigger deal. He’s struggling to calm himself down before the next banter type challenge comes along. I am supporting him to build up his resilience with relaxation, the stress bucket and assertiveness but this work worksheet plays a role in ‘putting things in perspective’.

This powerpoint is intented to be printed off as cards, e.g. 6 slides per page. It was created for a training session (Behaviour as Communication: Powerpoint available), but could also be used to help an individual understand their own behaviour. Feel free to add additional slides so that they are more suited to your circumstances. This was created with autism in mind, however I have recently made a new version with ADHD in mind to help a young person understand his triggers to be used over the next few weeks. The red arrow slides are to be used first, perhaps with a particular behaviour or ‘incident in mind’. Ask staff or the learner / child what was bothering them before the incident happens / happened. Select all cards that apply. e.g. I couldn’t do the work, it was too hard, I felt embarrassed. The speech bubble cards are to help identify what the behaviour was saying. e.g. when I punched the wall, I felt stupid, I had had enough. The green arrow cards are for the learner or staff to identify what would start to improve the situation, either proactively or reactively. You can then go on to replace the behaviour that challenges by teaching alternative behaviours or communication and assertiveness techniques. e.g. Code words to ask for help or assertiveness scripts such as “when…I feel… I need…”.

This powerpoint provides an explanation of Comic strip conversations. Their key functions are: Visually working through a problem and identifying solutions Systematically identifying what people say and do Emphasising what people may be thinking May provide insight into someone’s perspective of a situation Excellent prerequisite to a social storyTM Illustration of social skills which are abstract or difficult to understand Their rationale is: Visualisation and visual supports are useful for structuring learning and showing how individual components connect and interact Useful for improving comprehension around conversation Understanding other thoughts and feelings is just as important as understanding their words and actions.

The following pages provide a timeline of key events and attitudes related to disability and education from the 1760s through the years to the SEND Code of practice in 2014. The resource has been designed to get participants thinking about perceptions of disability through time. Each participant has a page to work from (12 pages available). They should use the prompts provided in the footer to make notes. They should then contribute in turn to a group discussion, starting with the oldest page, leading up to the present day, making comparisons and observations on each other’s time periods. Key questions: • Has any language surprised you? • At what point was inclusive education getting on the right track? • Is education ahead of society or the other way around? • Which disabilities are understood best? • Which disabilities are least understood? Why might this be? • When were people with learning disabilities considered teachable? • What do you think about the sterilisation proposals • Consider how parents would feel if they had a child with a disability • Consider how self-esteem may be effected by societies attitudes • What are the advantages and disadvantages of special schools? • What are the advantages and disadvantages of seeking inclusion in mainstream? • Is true inclusion possible? Further discussion: • Have we now achieved best practice in terms of inclusion? • Describe a perfectly inclusive classroom / learning environment / school.

This activity was developed when working on employability skills and identifying that many learners were unaware and / or unable to say what they were good at. Many learners also struggled to engage with peers outside of their friendship group. The activity encourages positive interaction between learners, makes it easier to discuss personal strengths, and if done effectively, nurtures positive self esteem. The activity consists of a range of 12 editible ‘bingo cards’. Instructions are below and included in the word document. You will need One bingo sheet per learner (there are 12 different cards provided, so you may need to print more than one set). One pen per learner Introduction Invite learners to verbally contribute a range of skills we use in school / college, especially those that will also apply in the work place. Discuss the difficulties we often have in identifying and verbalising our own skills. E.g. We are taught not to show off, so it feels uncomfortable doing what might be seen as boasting. Explain that in preparing for employment (CV writing, application forms and interviews) we need to gain an understanding of our own strengths and weaknesses and then be able to explain them to others. **Teacher Demonstration: ** • Pick one skill listed in the 3x3 table. Look around the class for someone who has that skill. • Approach the learner and tell them “I think you have this skill, because…” • Ask the learner to sign their name in the relevant box on your sheet. • Ask the learner to record the same skill in the 3x2 table at the bottom of their page. They have now “collected a skill / compliment”. Learners should now do the same, mixing with others in the group, paying them compliments by telling them what skills they have noticed. Each learner records the skills they have collected, potentially building confidence and self-awareness. Teacher notes: • Promote positive relationship building, build confidence by getting each learner noticed and encourage social etiquette in responding to compliments. • Encourage participation, aiming for the first to get 3 in a row, full house etc. • If some learners are not getting matches, lead the activity by reading out (or thinking of your own) skills and giving all learners the chance to claim them. The activity continues until one person has 6-9 different names on their sheet and all learners have 6 of their own skills identified. Extension activity: Develop employability vocabulary e.g. Do you know a better word for “being on time?” Follow up activity: Start or build on own CV by downloading and editing a skills-based-cv-template.

This resource was inspired by the Inside Out film and has been used to help autistic learners label, make sense of and respond to their own and others emotions. It links to PSHE relationships, interpersonal skills, communication, emotional literacy, reflection and much more.

Force Field Analysis was created by Kurt Lewin in the 1940s. Lewin originally used it in his work as a social psychologist. Today, however, it is also used in business, for making and communicating go/no-go decisions. Having used elements of this theory a lot when working with autistic learners, I find it to be a really effect way to add structure to the process of decision making that can otherwise be too open ended. I have uploaded my most recent version of the worksheet activity.