Adele Devine is a Special Needs teacher at a school for young people with severe learning difficulties and autism. She has over a decade of experience teaching children on the autism spectrum and worked as an ABA home tutor before qualifying as a teacher in 2004. Adele has a regular two-page feature in Teach Early Years magazine and shares her knowledge of special education needs through 'A Special Blog' (www.senassist.com/blog). In 2010, she co-founded the multi-award winning SEN Assist autism software with her husband. They have three children and live in Surrey, UK.
Acknowledgements. An Introduction - Once Upon a Time... . 1. First Impressions: What a difference first impressions can make to a child's school experience. 2. Keeping Mum: Supporting, listening and learning from parents. 3. Communication with Parents: Communication with parents will save you time. 4. Unlocking that Special Child: Finding the key to engage a child with special needs. 5. Colour Coded Symbols: Colour coding to promote understanding. 6. Show Them the Way: Using visuals - practical ideas and examples. 7. 'What's Next?': Seeing from all angles - understanding the reasons behind behaviours. 8. Be a Supermodel: Teaching children through using staff and other children as positive role models. 9. Toilet Training: Useful ideas and examples of toilet training children with special educational needs. 10. Flower Power: When traditional methods don't work it's time to find the roots. 11. If You're Good: A positive approach to behaviour and using rewards. 12. I Can't Wait: Teaching waiting skills. 13. Choice Time: Helping children who find it difficult to make choices. 14. Good Sitting: Supporting the child who cannot sit still. 15. Against the clock: How using timers can enable a special child to stay on track. 16. The relationship with Technology: How to use that love of technology. 17. Volume Control: Help children with noise sensitivity cope with school. 18. Space Invaders: Teaching children and being aware of personal space. 19. The Sixth Sense: Proprioception - Is that bouncy child still learning where their body is in space? 20. Chewing: Strategies for the child who chews toys or clothes. 21. When Clothes Hurt: Sensitivity to clothes and shoes. 22. Personal Care: Supporting the child with anxieties about hair washing, hair cuts and brushing teeth. 23. Food Phobia: Children who refuse to eat or have extremely limited diets. 24. Recipe for Success: Cooking with SEN children. 25. Eating Out: Taking children with special needs to restaurants. 26. Retail Therapy: Taking children with special needs to real shops. 27. Pet Therapy: The difference a pet can make - cats, dogs, guinea pigs etc. 28. Dealing with Different Days: Why Halloween, dress up days, sports days, fireworks and other changes can cause anxiety. Strategies and supports. 29. Planning for Christmas: Why Christmas causes anxieties - Ways to help. 30. Christmas Play: Helping that Special Child Shine. 31. Present Danger: Teaching children to handle gift giving times. 32. A Change of Setting. Supporting the transition between home and school, class to class or school to school. 33. Reasons to Be Hopeful: Changing our attitudes and language can change outcomes. 34. Extending Learning: Extra information on Attention Autism, Intensive Interaction, Makaton, Social Stories, PECS and TEACCH. 35. Happily Ever After: What children can achieve with the right support.
Written with warmth and care, and showing how young children with special needs can feel comfortable. I highly recommend any Early Years Teacher to read this book. It has prompted me as a mainstream Early Years Teacher to ensure that all children in my setting can have a ""Flying Start"".
