nasen attends global event to discuss Attention in Autism

Last week, two staff members from nasen visited Valencia, Spain for the Teacher Training and Attention in Autism (TTAA) project. As well as nasen, project members include researchers and teachers from the UK, Spain, Greece and Israel. The project, which began in September 2019, aims to further the research into attention in autism, provide a free resource for developing attention skills in autistic children and young people as well as provide a free online training course about attention in autism. 

Attendees heard about the training program (Computerised Progressive Attention Training or CPAT for short) as well as being given a demonstration of how it works. The program provides an interactive series of tasks which target different types of attention. Research has shown that as well as improving attention skills, the program also has a positive impact on maths skills, reading and writing (Spaniol et al, 2018).

They also heard from schools in each of the partner nations about how they have been using the software and the impact it had for their children and young people. 

Feedback from project partners is informing further development of the program including making it available in four different languages. Upon completion of the project, the program will be freely available for all settings that wish to use it. 

Schools involved with this research are:

• Rookery School, England - a large mainstream primary school in Birmingham (UK). The proportion of pupils from minority ethnic background is well-above average as is the number of pupils who speak English as an additional language. The school has a 14-place resource base for children with autism. Leader of the base, Kerry Stanley was present for this gathering and shared her experiences of using CPAT with her students.
• Weizman school, Israel - is a mainstream primary school in Ramat Gan (Israel) which caters for children aged 6 to 14. The school has 21 classes five of which are exclusively for students with autism who receive personal developmental-educational programs. The school promotes inclusion between mainstream pupils and pupils with special needs through various joint activities. Speech therapist and member of Weizmann’s education team, Dr Ayelet Baisa presented her case study of a pupil with multiple needs and how CPAT assisted her.
• Ralleia school, Greece – a mainstream primary school in Piraeus. It is an experimental school which belongs to the Pedagogical Department of Primary Education of the University of Athens. The school accommodates several children with SEND including a small number of autistic pupils. Vassilis Panopoulos  talked about his setting and how CPAT had helped their children.
•  Autismo Ávila, Spain - Trebol school is an autism specific provision that belongs to Autismo Ávila and is located inside a mainstream school. It currently has one classroom for children with autism and learning/intellectual disabilities. School staff provide individualised support by following TEACCH while the autistic pupils share activities such as PE and arts with pupils from the mainstream school. Neuropsychologist, Arturo López Fernández shared how they have used the CPAT program as well the materials they have developed.

Project members will also be available at our highly anticipated annual SEND conference, nasen Live 2022. Speakers from the University of Birmingham, Dr Lila Kossyvaki and Dr Carmel Mevorach, as well as & Prof. Lilach Shalev from Tel Aviv University, will share the findings the project in their morning session. In addition they will also launch the free online course which will be available for anyone to access. As well as providing training in autism and attention, the course will also explain how to use CPAT. The TTAA will also have a stand available for you to visit and also have their own space in the afternoon to share setting case studies and give a live demonstration of CPAT.

This is a fantastic chance to find out more about the project if you’ve not yet bought your tickets. 

You can follow the TTTAA on their website and social media.

References:
Spaniol, M.M., Shalev, L., Kosyvaky, L. & Mevorach, C. (2018). Attention Training in Autism as a Potential Approach to Improving Academic Performance: A School-Based Pilot Study. Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders. 48(2), 592–610.