Social communication and ASD in preschool rooms workshop

A group of early childhood educators recently enjoyed learning more about effective communication strategies for supporting children with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) and social communication difficulties.

Run by Andrea, senior speech-language pathologist at Growing Early Minds, the October 17 workshop was “very helpful and got the staff considering lots of different areas we can improve on,” wrote Derryn McLauchlan, the Centre Director at Cabarita-Mortlake Kindergarten in Concord.

Andrea says the 13 attendees appreciated discussing practical ways to adapt their activities for children with social communication difficulties or ASD. They also learned about having conversations with parents about building collaborative partnerships to help children with additional support needs.

She adds that the “lovely group of passionate and knowledgeable educators” are keen to provide the best early intervention for all the children they work with.  They enjoyed discussing examples of how to implement communication strategies to help children request attention, turn-take, label and describe.

Reflecting on past experiences of strategies that did and didn’t work, also helped to cement their learning. Andrea notes that sharing the ‘how and what’ of your small goals with parents will help children to reach their full potential and larger goals in the long run.

The workshop also covered group strategies for inclusion of children with ASD and where to get further support.

Growing Early Minds offers training and workshops to teachers and educators from child care centres, preschools, out-of-school-hours services as well as primary schools and high schools.

In addition to effective communication strategies, we can provide tailored training on many topics, such as supporting bilingual learners and understanding typical child development.

Our experienced and qualified therapists can deliver anything from ready-to-go packages to training that’s individualised to suit the needs of your team.

Visit our educator support page for further information about packages and fees, or contact us today to discuss how we can help to meet your training needs.