Thank Goodness For That!

I haven't worked with a child with Down's this past school year - just because we do not have any attending our school at the moment.  Instead, I have been working with all the special needs children on a daily basis, with small 1-1 sessions - interesting, never dull and very rewarding.

Our Head, however, thought it  a good idea for all staff to have training recently in both children with Autism and Down's Syndrome.   I attended the Down's session to find out if there had been any developments in teaching methods or if there was anything new I could use in the future.  We had an educational psychologist give the training, and she was very knowledgeable and put across the information in a clear and concise way.

Whilst there was very little I did not already know due to having lived 26 years with my daughter plus over ten years doing the job I do, it was fantastic to find out that absoutely everything my job-share and I have been doing at work over the years was all spot on and correct.  Sometimes we doubt ourselves when results are not forthcoming or when parents come to us with 'new' methods or systems that they hope will magically produce the leap in progress they crave, so to have it all laid out by the ed psych was brilliant.  I feel a lot more confident about my work - just a shame I will not have the opportunity to use it all as so far, we still do not have any children with Down's starting in the coming school year.

So if you go through my past posts regarding teaching methods, I can now say, hand on heart, that they are the recommended systems, supported by research and experience - phew!