Autism Specific Class opens in County Derry school

St. Brigid's Primary School, Mayogall have this term opened a new Autism Specific Classroom.

The ASC1 class now has four pupils from across the Mid-Ulster area who can take advantage of being part of a mainstream school whilst being taught in a smaller, supportive setting.

An Autism Specific Class allows children to be taught social skills, social interaction, social communication, sensory processing and emotional regulation in addition to life skills.

The curriculum is designed to teach children how to manage their Autism and enable them to have a full educational experience. Children in the ASC access the curriculum through a multi-sensory approach to equip them to fulfil their potential and form meaningful relationships.

The Autism Specific Class at St. Brigid's is in a large modular building which was completely refurbished by the Education Authority. In addition to the classroom, there is a new sensory room which has the latest state of the art resources for children to become emotionally regulated.

Plans are afoot for an outdoor sensory garden to be constructed for this class in the spring of 2022 in addition to the current internal resources.

To access a place in the Autism Specific Class, a child must have a ‘Statement of Educational Need’ where Autism is specified as their primary need. The class have sessions on ‘Attention Autism’, Tacpac, Sensory Circuits, sensory stories, music therapy, Theraplay and sensory play, all designed individually for each child’s specific needs.

The Autism Specific Class has a very high staff ratio – with one teacher and one full-time assistant for the four pupils. In addition, currently another part-time assistant is also on the team.

Pupils have settled in very well to the ASC and in addition to the specialist setting, they also are included in mainstream classes for their age group. So this provides the best of both worlds allowing these children to have a quiet, nurturing, specialist class and also access to a much larger class setting with their peers.

The class teacher in ASC1, Miss Faoiltiarna Burke is very highly skilled in working with Autism and was commended by the

District Inspector for a high quality lesson which he observed recently.

Principal of St. Brigid's Mayogall, Mrs Mary O’Kane thanked the Education Authority for their support.

“I want to thank the Education Authority for their support both financial and advisory, in setting up the Autism Specific Class,” she said.

“We are very proud of the class, which had added another much needed asset to the school. If anyone has any queries about this specialist provision please contact our school office.”