Does anyone work with children with autism? Advice appreciated.

[Leapoffaith00]

Newly qualified mental health nurse looking in different areas as I can't find a post that meets my own childcare needs. I have been given alot of requests for teaching assistants however less money and less hours. A job has come up within a school primary and secondary to assist children who are autistic. I have a little idea however this would be very new for me.

I do @Leapiffaith00, but I’m not sure exactly what you are asking, is it alternative jobs to teaching assistant?

How does the job that has come up compare to the TA roles?

myidentitymycrisis hello, thankyou for your message. Sorry I didn't explain myself very clearly. The role is a teaching assistant position in a school for children that have autism. I'm mental health trained so little knowledge on autism. Happy to further my knowledge though. The hours are great for me however it's a new role. Just wondering what will be expected of me (before I agree to go along for the days trial) and what challenges I would come accross, if any.
It's less money to what I would have e hoped but really want a position that hives me satisfaction. I want a happy job. I struggled working in mental health.

What age are the children/child ?
Is it in a special needs school or a normal school?

My sons 6 and severely autistic. He goes to a SEN school.

You would be expected to change nappies in his class. Watch them, do there tasks with them, play with them. Make things interesting

I have worked with autistic children in a special needs setting. Alongside helping them access the curriculum, we also did a lot of work on managing emotions, social stories, life skills e.g. practising paying in shops, going to the P.O (these were teenagers). We did also sometimes have to physically intervene and were trained in how to safely hold / restrain pupils. I did sustain a few injuries from being hit/punched/kicked. In a mainstream setting, it would be different - it would be unlikely you'd have to phsyically get involved and you'd be helping them with the work the teacher set, making sure they understand/stay on task/put their hand up not shout out etc.

All children with autism are different. What helps one calm down,would send another in a full meltdown.
You need to talk clearly and give short instruction. Ideally no figures of speech. Don't force eye contact. Understand that what they might do/say it's not personal.

Needs vary massively so it will be anything from changing nappies and using sign language to simply offering extra support to do work. You might be a 1 to 1 or classroom support.

Be there for them,listen to them(not just their words but their body language).

In a way it might be better if you don't know much as you won't go in with any preconceived notions. Adapt to the child and ask guidance from SLT/SENCO/ class teacher.

You might have to safely restrain a child. You might get hit or punched or sworn at.

You might also get a cuddle or a smile from a child that never does that and it will completely make your day.

It can be awfully hard ,exhausting and heartbreaking at times and it can be extremely rewarding too.

A lot will depend on the setting and the children you will work with.

Thankyou for your messages :)
It's a SEN school - children with learning difficulties and and challenging behaviours (is what the post says).
Not sure what age group I would be placed.
It's difficult as I have no idea how I would find it as I haven't had the experience.
I am looking for more of a valuable role as opposed to what I have been used to as a student nurse. One thing I was hoping to move away from is restraint. I don't feel comfortable with it and I suffer with a bad back so that concerns me also.

Hi,
If it is a mainstream school it is likely that the children can talk/communicate and require help to stay on task and manage socially and to follow their plan of action if they are struggling e.g. leaving the room to go to a quiet room.

If it is a special school there could be a wide range of children on the spectrum of autism and some may be non verbal and some of the work will be developing strategies to communicate with them effectively.

I think part of your research for the job should be reading up/watching YouTube vids etc re: children with autism.

Being a TA is a very competitive job and has become professionalised with qualifications (not like it used to be) so if you don't get an interview or are not appointed you might need to visit a school regularly on a voluntary basis and do a college course to show a genuine interest and get shortlisted.

To state the obvious if asked why you want to work there I wouldn't say because it meets your childcare needs while nursing doesn't but go down the route of being passionate about supporting people, fascinated and knowledgeable about neurological differences etc and that supporting special needs/autism would allow you to use all those skills and follow your passion. Perhaps concede that adult mental health work can be very heavy emotionally if discussed further but working with youngsters you get the opportunity to really make a difference in their formative years.

Good luck

It does depend on the school and the abilities of the students OP. Autism often occurs with Learning Difficulties which may be severe moderate or mild and other co-morbid conditions such as epilepsy.

Different schools provide for different cohorts, most are mixed to a degree, and the ratio of staff to students vary. The most challenging behaviours are typically staffed 2:1, then 2:1 1:2 etc

As a TA you would be Supporting the students with their learning usually based on communication, self regulation, functional skills, but also literacy and numeracy etc.

My son is non verbal and goes to an autism school. The staff are very hands on, there are some children who can be violent and I’ve seen 3 members of staff trying to get a child off another staff members hair, so if you don’t want to have any altercations then maybe this isn’t the right setting for you. It is very rewarding though , my son adores his classroom assistant and she is the only person who can calm him down.

Hi, I just saw your post re it is a special school.

I visited a special needs special school as part of teacher training and it was a joy. Very warm and supportive with small classes and lots of support.

The children are as individual as anyone (probably more so!) so no magic formula (as stated by pp) and you will need to get to know individuals to work with them well but you can find out some frequently occuring traits by reading up on autism.

I work with adults with learning disabilities and autism can occur alongside other diagnosis too e.g. someone with Downs Syndrome may have autism and someone else may not. You would probably work with all kinds of special needs though.

I wouldn't worry too much about physical intervention at this stage. I would expect it to be reasonably rare and the least amount of intervention for the least time possible- I expect it would mostly be physically guiding someone from the room to a quiet area for example. If you need to do this you will be trained in appropriate child focused techniques _ I don't think it will be a day to day thing as the schools expertise (and yours) will be in managing the children to avoid the need for this.

To give an idea about the variety for some of the (adults) I work with they have to follow a certain routine like shower, pyjamas, hot chocolate, bed. If someone didn't know and so didn't give them their hot chocolate they would be distressed and if they are non verbal you can imagine how this is upsetting for them and leads to problems. Some people like to know what they are doing later to mentally prepare. For others they will worry and stress and it is better to only mention the activity when it is time to get ready and go.

For some people cues/objects of reference are important so there is someone who is only given his shoes to put on if it is time to go out. Again if a worker didn't know and he put his shoes on he will think he is going out and would be confused/frustrated if this didn't happen. I'm sure these types of issues (with more relevant examples follow through into school) basically individuality and individually tailored plans are everything (and then you have to adapt that into a shared space/classroom setting ) phew!

Some of the children will have medical needs to so if your background in nursing means you are comfortable with medical needs that would be a huge plus and you should point this out. That doesn't mean you need to know everything about it e.g. one of the children might have a peg food system and you might require training to manage this (probably have to do the training) but that is fine but just sell on the basis that you are comfortable with medical needs and if you are not familiar happy to go on training.

Visit the school for a day or more if possible. They shouldn't have a problem with that. Read every Ofsted report you can get - there should be links on the school website.

I worked in an SEN school that was so badly managed it was a war zone and wish I'd done more research before starting. The challenging behaviour was so extremely I can now teach Shakespeare without pause while ducking chairs and being called a c**t. I lasted 3 years because despite the lack of support from management the kids were great, regardless of the extreme 'challenging' behaviour. My replacement lasted ONE DAY!!

This is not a career to enter without being a vocation. You need to really want to be there! The skin of a rhinoceros is needed and the ability to leave work at work!

To give you an idea of the work, the following is written on my son's EHCP - he attends an ASD-specific school, he has SLD and is non-verbal.

TA support to provide 121 daily sessions to encourage communication throughout the day.

TA to provide 3-4 sessoins on a 121 basis on a daily basis working on individual curriculum targets

TA to work on a 221 basis for 3 sessions per week delivering PE and Music sessions meeting termly targets and promoting and developing [name] ability to work in a small group

TA to provide supervision at break time on a 121 basis 3 times a day

TA to provide 121 support with eating

Presumably they will also have to change his nappies, as I cannot see the class Teacher doing that once his TA Is appointed!

If you want to gain a better understanding of the issues faced by autistic children and their families, I can highly recommend the private FB group "Autism Parents Chat"

If they are offering a one-day trial, then unless it's going to cause you financial hardship I would go along. What do you have to lose? No better way to gauge the atmosphere and level of support for staff than being there to see it!

Your other option, if it's local, would be to ask around to see if any of your friends or family know somebody who works there, and ask them directly.

Me personally, I could never handle a role like that, and I have massive respect for anyone who does.