Autism Early Childhood Champions

The consultants were great presenters and very knowledgeable. They were supportive and gave some great suggestions to help understand Inclusion and how to build a better environment that supports all children regardless of their differences. Really great project and we can not wait to implement some of the things we have learnt.

I have gained so much practical knowledge through these training days and the consultations within the service. We are able to use the strategies for the children and families and provide more inclusive support for the community of learners. The educational materials provided give a great insight on how autism affects people at different ages and how we can give children the best possible start.

This project has been a huge eye opener for me. I am so excited to spread the word and help Educators, families and children become more Autism Aware. I am confident now in my knowledge and supporting families through various processes. The strategies provided to me, I have never seen or used before and I will use them every day in my Early Learning daycare setting and in my everyday life with children and adults. The consultants were amazing and the way they presented the information was easy to understand and engaging.

On reflection we realized that sometimes less is more so we decided to begin in the two main rooms that the educators who attended the training were working (JJ2 – our older babies/toddlers) and JJ4 (our 3-4 year olds) The idea being we could start slowly introducing small portions of the visuals within our rooms that were specifically targeted to the current needs of the children. These were the toileting routine, and sunscreen stations as we found that routine times were the most challenging. The planning matrix became the starting point for our observations when we noticed challenging behaviours to enable us to pinpoint where the children actually were and what need they might be trying to communicate with their behaviour. 

Obviously the year has now ended and children have transitioned rooms and some of our educators have transitioned with them. The simple visuals have provided a sense of continuity for these children and we are now entering into a new year where we are still settling children into new environments. Having our quiet, self regulation areas in all rooms has been a consistent practise that we have found works well. We also introduced a sensory box into two of the rooms where we have older children who need ‘rest’ but struggle to lie down for whatever reason. These have enabled them to settle and reset in the often busy environments in our very large service. 

I feel the training has empowered these educators to be confident in implementing these additional strategies and they speak from a place of knowledge now when people question their methods. Education for such a large staff team is slowly coming from within the team and it is working well. Thank you for your amazing support and guidance. The more we know, the more we can share and the more confident we can feel to support everyone to feel included in our service.

As a regional organisation we often feel unprepared and unable to effectively support children within our setting. Being apart of this project has empowered us on our journey in implementing strategies to develop an inclusive culture.

A very informative program which allows for a greater understanding of why and how certain reactions occur. I developed more insight into recognizing and documenting certain triggers. Consultants presented and answered questions to embed these practices practically. Awesome program!!

The program is very informative and well structured. Our consultants worked very well together and answered our questions and gave suggestions informed by research. Our consultants engaged us every step of the way and checked in for clarification of our understanding. We believe that what we have learnt in this program is essential to inclusive education and hope as many educators and teachers as possible can access this program.

The Autism Championship Program has impacted our centre in such a positive way more so then we initially thought it might. After the two day training session, all three educators that attended came back with such a fresh, new perspective and stated that this was one of the best professional developments they have had the opportunity to attend. First day back and they were implementing new strategies, the rooms and children are so much calmer. They have been implementing one strategy at a time, waiting for this to be imbedded in practice before moving on to another one. We are finding the pressure and stress on the educators has been reduced as they are feeling more confident in their roles as they understand our children a lot more. We cannot recommend how highly beneficial this program has been for us so far and we are so grateful to be a part of it.

This project is essential to the successful inclusion of children with ASD

This is my first formal training for Autism inclusion support. It has made me feel more empowered as to what I can implement in my settings when I have a child who has been diagnosed or not. A lot of the strategies are going to help me support ALL children.

The project has helped me better understand about Autism in Early Childhood. Ive learnt new strategies and uncovered information about behaviour and the research behind it. With all these resources to share with families and fellow educators, I think I‘d be great help and mind opener too. I really hope to see more projects like this being offered to educators, so children can receive the best care possible.

The training provided affirmed my current knowledge level and supported building my capacity in areas of interest. Such and informative and positive experience. Thank you so much.

The project was very informative and insightful. Love the way it was facilitated. Going back to REED Brookton feeling a lot more confident and prepared.