• What are the attendance criteria?
• How much does it cost?
• Who is in each team?
• Who should come?
• What is the evidence?
• What if I already know about ASD?
• Who runs the course?
• What happens at the course?
• Where are the courses held?
• What is the course content?
• Can we claim expenses?
• What else do teams need to know?
  

What are the attendance criteria?

Attendance is for a team supporting a particular child and not for individuals. Each team  must have a parent and teacher as a minimum - there is no maximum number of participants in a team.

Children must be between the age of 5 and 12 years (primary age)

The child must have a diagnosis of ASD; or, where there is no formal diagnosis, all team members must agree that the child will benefit from ASD-specific supports, approaches and interventions.

How much does it cost?

The course is fully funded by the Ministry of Education and the Ministry of Health. There is no cost to participants. In addition, up to $450 (GST excl.) is funded as a contribution towards teacher release and other costs for each team who attends.

Who is in each team?

Teams can range from 2 – 8 people depending on their individual circumstances. Family and school representation is a minimum requirement. Teams could include:

• Family members (parents, grandparents, older siblings or other family/whanau)
• School representatives (classroom teachers, SENCO, teacher’s aides, Principals, etc)
• Special education staff such as Ministry of Education, Special Education or Resource teachers – Learning and Behaviour staff - speech-language therapists, occupational therapists, psychologists, special education advisors, supplementary learning support teachers etc
• Other support staff or key workers – behaviour support services, child and family centres, social workers, respite or home support staff or co-ordinators, etc

Who should come?

The child’s parent and school representative (teacher) must attend and there is no maximum number who can attend (the more people who know the child well, the better the outcome). Teams can include other family members, people who work with the child in respite or recreation settings, teacher aides, health and other professionals, behaviour support staff, special education needs co-ordinators, etc.  At the course, we also look at developing information to help other people who work with the child to use the same strategies.

What is the evidence?

The course is based on up-to-date international evidence, adapted to meet the needs of New Zealand children, the New Zealand curriculum, teachers and classrooms and is fully consistent with The New Zealand Autism Spectrum Disorder Guideline (2008).

Massey University has completed a 3-year evaluation of the programme which is available from the Ministry of Education’s Education Counts website.

The evaluation concluded that tips for autism shows:

Over the three years of the evaluation all data sources confirmed that the ‘tips for autism’ course was considered a very valuable, high quality programme in respect to its content, design and delivery. A large majority of participants reported that it either met or exceeded their expectations. Areas identified as particular strengths included: multidisciplinary team structure and a focus that facilitated collaborative and interactive partnerships; skilled and credible facilitators; practical, relevant and informative content that was evidence- and research-based; strong design; and its child-focus including the opportunity the course provided to concentrate on the interests, strengths, goals and education support needs of a single child.

What if I already know about ASD?

It doesn’t matter how much or how little you know because the focus is on where your student and your team are at. Each person plays an important role in the team.  You’ll learn more about your student, about each other and about the impact of ASD. By the end of the course, you’ll feel confident that you’re all heading in the same direction, are focused on your  student, and are supported to understand and resolve the problems and distractions that come along.

Who runs the course?

The course is co-facilitated by a special education professional (Ministry of Education, Special Education staff or Resource Teacher:Learning and Behaviour or similar) and a parent who is also qualified as a teacher. They are both experienced facilitators, tuned in to the latest evidence, and have real life examples to make theory practical.

What happens at the course?

'tips for autism' is not prescriptive and is based on theory to practice learning rather than lecturing. There is plenty of opportunity for discussion and practical application of what you learn – about half the time is spent working with your team. Resource material is available at different levels and individualised to meet the needs of different children’s strengths and interests. You only share information about your particular child/student within your team, not with the full group.

Where are the courses held?

There are about 26 courses held nationwide each year. For information about course locations and to download applications, go to www.tipsforautism.org.nz and look under the heading “Courses” or email us asking for more information at tipsfor.autism@minedu.org.nz. If there is no course scheduled in your area, you could help to organise one (information about registering your interest as a participant or course organiser is also on the website).

What is the course content?

Each session follows a set pattern:  

• a ‘chalk and talk’ presented by a facilitator, which gives key information for the topic
• a team activity to focus on assessing each individual child’s strengths and needs in this area
• demonstration of a range of practical evidence-based strategies, supports and resources
• a team activity to plan a goal for the child using the strategies
• each participant receives a course workbook containing slides, worksheets and resources and participants can also access resources used on the course through the website.

Can we claim expenses?

Information about team expenses is in the Courses section.

What else do teams need to know?

The cost of the course is funded by the Ministry of Education and the Ministry of Health.  In addition, the school in each team is able to claim $150 per day ($600 plus GST per course) as a contribution towards the expenses of team members, for example, towards teacher release costs or parents’ childcare or petrol costs. Each team will receive a form at the course explaining how to claim the payment after the course is completed.

Participants are responsible for their own lunch, any childcare and transport costs.

After all the applications have been received, we will let you know if your team has a place at the course.  Each participant named on the application will get a letter of confirmation outlining the dates, times and venue for the course.

You will also get some pre-reading and further information. There are usually 6-8 teams on each course (between 25 and 40 participants).   Each team works together and information about individual children is only shared amongst those who support that child.

There is some homework before the course and after each day. This is usually a small amount (1-2 pages) of material to read.

Each participant will be asked to sign a form on the first day agreeing to the following:

• The course is for 3 days (9.00am – 3.00pm) and all participants must agree to attend all sessions unless prior arrangements have been agreed.
• Information shared in the sessions must remain confidential and not be disclosed outside the sessions. tips for autism will not use any personal information without consent and participants have the right to request access to any records at any time.
• Facilitators may need to ask for information about the child’s history, assessments and interventions, but this information will not be used for any purpose other than to assist the team around that child.
• Participants will be asked to complete feedback about the course. The feedback does not require you to identify yourself.