Attention: Some of our images may have been photoshopped to protect the confidentiality wishes of parents. Our school is registered to admit children from Reception Year (5 years) to Year 11 (16 years). We are planning to expand our secondary education in the next few years. The majority of our children are funded by their Local Authorities and are therefore likely to have a statement of special educational needs and a diagnosis of ASD. Our children have a wide range of needs, most are to verbally communicate, some are signers and some have additional disabilities i.e. All of our children are treated with dignity and respect by all members of staff at all times. They and their parents can expect that their education plans will comprise age-appropriate and socially functional skills.
• We pair teaching environments with reinforcement and use competing reinforcers.
• We mix and vary instructional demands.
• We reduce learners’ errors by using teaching methods that ensure high levels of correct responding.
• We intersperse easy and difficult tasks.
• We fade in the number of demands.
• We fade in effort/difficulty of tasks.
• We use extinction for problem behaviour when needed.
• We pace instruction properly, at a fast pace. .
• School has over 15 full time tutors and teachers who work one to one with the children and provide group sessions (as appropriate). In addition to this staff may also have additional and suitable qualifications (NNEB, CACHE, and NVQ) and many have other relevant skills (BSL, First Aid and Psychology qualifications).
• We also have a speech therapist and occupational therapist that work at Snowflake School, and are available to offer their expertise.
• The school has monthly visits by our external consultant, Carole Roxburgh BCABA (associate of Dr Vincent Carbone) who provides specific advice and training to the staff working on the ABA programmes. All pupils have 1:1 teaching throughout and also access group sessions (as appropriate). All teaching staff are experienced teachers of children with ASD using the Verbal Behaviour implementation of ABA. Applied Behavior Analysis / Verbal Behavior
ABA is the science of applied behaviour analysis. It is a method of analysing behaviour in order to understand its function, and uses this information to guide treatment and change the behaviour. The ABA curriculum initially provides a one-to-one intensive programme that is individualised and continually monitored, to ensure that each child reaches their full potential. Intervention at Snowflake school will be guided by the science of applied behavior analysis ( ABA ) including Skinners Analysis of Verbal Behavior. ABA is the only scientifically validated and comprehensive approach to teaching children with special needs, including autism, and typical children. It is also the only scientific and genuinely effective approach to reducing or eliminating problem behaviour. The evidence based research will guide the intervention delivered to the children at Snowflake School . Through assessment children’s individual needs will be identified and daily instruction based on those needs will be provided utilizing the principles of applied behavior analysis. For a review of the effective teaching procedures that will be used to establish instructional control and to ensure that children’s learning is enjoyable whatever their difficulties click on the following link www.carboneclinic.com to see the peer reviewed article ‘The Role of the Reflexive Conditioned Motivating Operation (CMO-R) during Discrete Trial Instruction of Children with Autism’ V.J. Carbone, B. Morgenstern, G. Zecchin-Tirri & L.Kolberg
Snowflake School believes that VB is the most effective intervention for teaching functional communication and the intervention will be guided by Skinners Analysis of verbal behavior. Click here for further information on Verbal Behavior by Dr Carbone
The ABA consultancy and ongoing training of our staff will be provided by Carole Roxburgh, a board certified associate behavior analyst with the Carbone Clinic in Valley Cottage, New York . The Carbone Clinic is widely considered to be a centre of excellence for the application of and research into ABA . For more information on the Carbone Clinic, please click on the following link: www.carboneclinic.com
Snowflake School has contact with the best VB practitioners and researchers in the world. Our staff will receive ongoing training in the practice of VB. ABA is the only treatment programme with proven results supported by research. In the USA ABA approaches have been used successfully with children who have autism for more than 30 years. Aims
• To provide quality ABA services to children with ASD or difficulties in social communication, offering a curriculum that recognises children as individuals and allowing each of them to reach their full learning potential.
• To provide a safe and secure environment where children have the confidence to develop new relationships and experience new learning opportunities.
• To foster the partnership between home and school, including (where appropriate) programme development in both settings and in the community.
• To teach socially significant behaviours, enabling the children to integrate as fully as possible into the curriculum. Handling difficult behaviours
Children with autism can sometimes display challenging behaviours, which may interfere with their learning, and disrupt the learning of others. When dealing with these behaviours staff follow the Snowflake School behaviour policy guidelines. We aim to reduce unwanted behaviours and teach appropriate replacement behaviours through encouragement and positive reinforcement. Where a child is in danger of harming themselves or others, they will always be safeguarded. Data and record keeping
Assessment is a daily on-going process. The children are baselined on the 'Assessment of Basic Language and Learning Skills' ABLLS on admission. The ABLLS assessment is updated in full every year. The following data records are also kept on each child:
• Mand data - This records the times in a day that a child asks for an item. Mands may be recorded as prompted and unprompted mands, and data recorded and graphed. The level of prompt required is also recorded for some children.
• Probe data - This is recorded the first time a skill command is given in a day. The child must respond in time and correctly to score a Y and a criterion for mastery is set individually.
• Weekly targets mastered in each skill area are recorded and results graphed.
• Behavioural data is recorded individually. ABC data sheets are used for this.
• Video data is kept regularly on each child. The use of digital photography is also used as a method of recording some activities.
• Children accessing the stepping stones, Early Learning Goals and P levels of the National Curriculum will be formally assessed at the end of each year.
