ASC Support
For our neurodivergent students, we offer a range of varying supportive measures to allow them to thrive at President Kennedy School, whether they are diagnosed or not. We have an ASC specialist who works within our Hub, who supports our ASC students, regardless of where they are at with their diagnosis.
- Support to receive a diagnosis: if you believe your child may be neurodivergent, please contact the SEND team. We can support both you and your child through the diagnosis pathway. This will involve filling out the referral paperwork with you, placing your child on the SEND register (if they aren’t already on it) and creating a 'Pupil Profile' to be shared with staff on how best to support your child in lessons
- Support for newly diagnosed: after receiving a formal diagnosis, your child will participate in an ‘Autism Awareness’ intervention via 1-2-1s and small group work with a member of our SEND team. This is designed to improve self-awareness and meta cognition, to help them understand themselves and their place in the world around them
- Support to remove barriers: from student voice, we recognise that a lot of neurodivergent students can struggle in a mainstream setting, be it to do with the school environment or the high levels of demand that are placed on them throughout the day. To support students with their varying levels of need, we work with them and parents/carers to ensure that the right support is in place for them in order for them to access a broad and balanced curriculum and be able to achieve their full potential. This support could involve adjustments from timetable variations, to targeted interventions, to work with our external neurodivergent specialist.
- Support for parents/carers of autistic children: there are many online resources that are available for parents and carers that can be useful in supporting transition, anxiety, social situations and behaviours. Agencies also run courses for parents that have proven to be very useful when supporting our young people.
Useful websites:
https://cwmind.org.uk/autism-resources/
https://casspartnership.org.uk/about-us/
https://www.coventry.gov.uk/sendiass
https://www.autism.org.uk/what-we-do/support-in-the-community/family-support
https://www.nhs.uk/conditions/autism/autism-and-everyday-life/help-for-families/