An Informal Development Project – The Story so far
Children on the autism spectrum and children with attachment problems; understanding the similarities, the differences and how best to meet their needs
How it began: several conversations and an article
Over the years working with increasingly complex children, staff at Westfield had become aware of differences between individual children with diagnoses of ASD. While these may in part reflect the spectrum nature of the condition, there also appeared to be a sub-group who have a different ‘flavour’. They do not always respond in the same ways to tried and tested approaches that are usually successful with children with ASD. Moreover their effect on other youngsters in the group and on staff may be somewhat different.
Conversations with colleagues from Beaucroft, Mountjoy, Yewstock, Wyvern and other settings suggested that this was a shared perception. It was with great interest therefore that several of us read Helen Moran’s article in Good Autism Practice (October 2010), “Clinical observations between children on the autism spectrum and those with attachment problems: The Coventry Grid”.*
Moran suggested that,
“Although at the point of referral children may look similar, there appeared to be important differences in the way their problems are expressed in daily functioning. The differences imply that different assessment and diagnostic pathways and different treatment styles may be needed for the two groups even though there may be some types of intervention from which they would both benefit (e.g. the use of visual timetables to reduce anxiety)”. (Page 50)
The next step: an idea and a trial
If staff were unsure of the underlying nature of a child’s presenting condition, it was thought that use of the Coventry Grid, as part of continued assessment, may enable us better to understand their condition and thus more effectively tailor our intervention and the therapeutic support we seek.
In order to explore this idea we suggested, in January 2013, that a member (or members) of staff in each of the five schools try using the Grid in relation to a particular child (or children) where there may be some question about the underlying factors affecting their social, emotional and behavioural difficulties. The issue of differential diagnosis is clearly for diagnosticians and, while we may seek to raise this at some point in the future if that becomes appropriate, our interest lies in our role as educators wanting to tailor our response the better to meet the children’s needs.
Moving on: a workshop and feedback
Enough staff became interested in this informal project to run two workshops at the TADSS Training Day (April 2013) where two staff from Beaucroft and Westfield introduced the Coventry Grid to a further thirty members of staff. Discussion about the grid and its implications for our practice were wide ranging, including the importance of working closely with the families and forming a staff support group to pool experiences and strategies for working with complex children. The two most common themes from the feedback, however, were that:
– the Coventry Grid was thought to be potentially useful as part of our continuing assessment work
and
– staff would welcome further training on the grid and the differences in approach for the two groups, in particular for children with attachment problems.
What next? A Conference and continuing development
In response to this feedback, a conference has been planned for March 2014, aimed at developing our understanding and response to children with complex needs. We look forward to welcoming Heather Moran, Consultant Clinical Psychologist and creator of the Coventry Grid as the guest speaker. The title of the Conference is:
‘Autism? Attachment?
Strategies to Identify and Support Children with Complex Needs’
For further information / application: Email TADSS@westfield.dorset.sch.uk or contact WestfieldArtsCollege, telephone 01305 833518
*Reference
Moran, H., Clinical observations of the differences between children on the autism spectrum and those with attachment problems: The Coventry Grid. Good Autism Practice, Volume 11, Issue 2, pp 46-59, October 2010
Contributed by Alison Crawford,
Member of TADSS Research and Development Group,
WestfieldArtsCollege