Supporting Autistic Students' Wellbeing

About this training

Approximately 70% of autistic young people experience mental health issues, and many autistic children and young people experience challenges and barriers to learning in school.¹ We’ve developed Autism and Wellbeing in Schools training to help schools to support the mental health and wellbeing of autistic students. 

The two-day training is aimed at supporting school staff to increase their understanding of neurodiversity, specifically diagnosed and undiagnosed autistic students. The course has been developed by world leaders in the autism field and features resources co-produced by neurodivergent people of all ages.

This training is delivered online over two full days and includes a mix of presentations, discussions, group activities, animations, videos, and case studies to allow participants put theory into practice.

*97% of attendees say this training helped them understand the range of adjustments and accommodations needed by autistic learners, and 95% feel they gained empathy for autistic students.

Training content

Day 1

• Introductions and course rationale​

• Overview of autism​

• An introduction to neurodiversity​

• Heuristics and bias​

• Intersectionality​

• An experience sensitive approach​

Day 2

• Communication and sensory processing differences

• Case studies

• Mental health and common companions

• Masking, victimisation and trauma

• A trauma informed approach

• The SPELL framework

Aims of this training

By the end of the training, you will be able to:

• recognise the impact of autism myths and stereotypes on autistic pupils, their peers and school staff

• appreciate communication and sensory differences between autistic and non-autistic children and young people

• understand the causes and impacts of masking, meltdown/shutdown and autistic burnout in the school context

• understand the benefits of an experience-sensitive, trauma-informed approach

• identify ways to promote wellbeing for pupils and staff in school.

Who is this training for?

This training is aimed at teaching staff from mainstream primary and secondary schools working in Key Stages 2-4.

This training is not suitable for staff working exclusively in Key Stage 1, sixth form or colleges.