Autism & Sensory Processing | Dave Smallwood

Our expert guest in this episode is Dave Smallwood. Dave talks to Clare about autism and sensory needs, and how to work with families and schools to support autistic children and young people.

Dave is a Principal Team Teach trainer and former behaviour lead of a special school for 10 years. Dave was also staff development co-ordinator for the National Autistic Society, where he organised and delivered training.

Dave recommends the book, The Red Beast: Controlling Anger in Children with Asperger’s Syndrome, by K.I. Al-Ghani.

The three top tips Dave shares with us in the episode are:

1. Communication. Always think about appropriate ways our young people communicate and how we can support them.
2. The less we say, the better. When children are in a heightened state of anxiety or in crisis, it’s difficult to process information. We need to simplify what we say to them at this point. Use simple messages that are short and to the point. Too many words can be overwhelming.
3. Repetitive behaviours in autism. These can often be a way for individuals to regulate themselves and we shouldn’t necessarily stop them from doing it. We just need to ensure that individuals are safe at all times.

The My Family Coach podcasts covers every aspect of children’s behaviour, all in handy 15 minute (ish) bite-sized chunks. Each episode features a new guest chatting about a different aspect of behaviour and leaves you with three handy tips to use at home.