Author: Schools & Community Psychology Service

Dynamic assessment (DA) is an area of EP work that is less known to schools but can be incredibly valuable in revealing ways that a child can learn best and the type of support/ mediation they would require to further develop their thinking skills and perform at their best. 

Dynamic assessment approaches (unlike static intelligence tests) are built on the belief that one can learn far more about a child’s cognitive development, and any barriers to their learning, by working with the child in a dynamic and facilitative way as opposed to assessing their unassisted performance and compare it to an age-related norm. Dynamic assessment approaches analyse learner’s cognitive skills of a learner in relation to the task at hand and identify where meaningful input is needed to optimise performance. 

There are ways school staff can use principles of dynamic assessment to scaffold learning. One basic element of DA is analysing where a learner’s struggle may be by breaking down the cognitive skills required in any given task into three areas:

It is very common for children to appear unable to access a task because of difficulties in the input phase or because they have trouble presenting the product of their thinking. Analysing and supporting cognitive skills such as systematic planning, improving speed and accuracy as well as thinking about what is needed as the end product before launching into action, may be a very useful focus for school intervention / LSA support. There are ways to support these skills through every day activities and with good scaffolding questions such as:

“Where shall we start? What should we look at, first or second?”

“If you were to plan your trip to a supermarket, what system would you use? How can you do the same for this maths problem, piece of writing etc?” 

If you would like more ideas of how to support the development of cognitive skills (alongside curriculum support you are already providing), please do not hesitate to contact our service. We can offer dynamic assessment input for individual children as well as training for support staff in using DA principles in their every day practice. 

By Dr. Rose McGeown

Recent large-scale research has found that in the UK around 1 in 57 children are on the autistic spectrum, with around four boys being diagnosed for every one girl (4:1)[i]. Autism has long been thought to be much more prevalent in males than females, but new research suggests that the prevalence in females may be much higher than we previously thought[ii].

When considering the presentation of autism in girls and women, it is important to note that the key diagnostic criteria for autism remains true: Autism is a neurodevelopmental condition characterised by:

1. Persistent difficulties in social communication and social interaction across multiple contexts
2. Restricted, repetitive patterns of behaviour, interests or activities

However, what research is now telling us is that there are some key gender differences in the presentation of autism when comparing male and female individuals. Autistic females appear to present with more subtle difficulties and can appear more similar to their neurotypical peers[i]. This is leading to many girls having their needs inaccurately identified and missing out on timely support.

Difficulties with social communication and interaction

Restricted, repetitive pattern of behaviour, interests or activities

Similarly, differences with restricted and repetitive patterns of behaviours, interests or activities can be much more subtle for autistic girls[i]. Autistic girls tend to have typical interests for their age e.g. animals, music, books, TV series, art and drama etc., but the intensity of this interest is atypical. For example, they may want to talk about their special interest for long periods of time, favour their special interest over social interaction or begin to identify as a character they are interested in. Repetitive patterns of behaviour, or ‘stimming’, whereby an individual engages in repetitive movements to regulate themselves may also be more subtle in girls e.g. twirling their hair, shaking their leg, playing with a piece of blue tac in class, meaning that for teachers to notice that this child is feeling dysregulated is tricky.

References

i Roman-Urrestarazu, A., van Kessel, R., Allison, C., Matthews, F. E., Brayne, C., & Baron-Cohen, S. (2021). Association of race/ethnicity and social disadvantage with autism prevalence in 7 million school children in England. JAMA pediatrics, 175(6), e210054-e210054.

ii Loomes R, Hull L, Mandy WPL. (2017) What Is the Male-to-Female Ratio in Autism Spectrum Disorder? A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis. J Am Acad Child Adolesc Psychiatry.

iii Russell, G., Steer, C., & Golding, J. (2011). Social and demographic factors that influence the diagnosis of autistic spectrum disorders. Social Psychiatry and Psychiatric Epidemiology, 46(12), 1283–1293.

iv Cridland, E. K., Jones, S. C., Caputi, P., & Magee, C. A. (2014). Being a girl in a boys’ world: Investigating the experiences of girls with autism spectrum disorders during adolescence. Journal of autism and developmental disorders, 44(6), 1261-1274

v Sedgewick, F., Hill, V., Yates, R., Pickering, L., & Pellicano, E. (2016). Gender differences in the social motivation and friendship experiences of autistic and non-autistic adolescents. Journal of autism and developmental disorders, 46(4), 1297-1306.

vi Allely, C. S. (2019). The female phenotype of autism spectrum disorder: The ‘camouflage’hypothesis. Editorial Board Members.

vii Baldwin, S., & Costley, D. (2016). The experiences and needs of female adults with high-functioning autism spectrum disorder. Autism, 20(4), 483-495.

viii Sutherland, R., Hodge, A., Bruck, S., Costley, D., & Klieve, H. (2017). Parent-reported differences between school-aged girls and boys on the autism spectrum. Autism, 21(6), 785-794.

Fathers have an impact upon the child’s cognitive, emotional, social and physical development (Allen & Daly, 2002).

Kim and Hill (2015) found in a meta-analysis of studies found that despite mothers having higher mean levels of involvement in their child’s education,fathers also equally showed a strong positive association for their involvement and their child’s academic achievements.

Fathers who are nurturing in their roles tend to have children with higher cognitive and receptive languagescores(Dubowitz et al., 2002) and fewer behavioural needs (Cooley & Unger, 1991).

 Jeynes (2015) found that across 66 studies, father involvement often yielded the largest effect sizes regarding positive outcomes for children of minority ethnic backgrounds. 

Inclusive practice for fathers in schools:

Child Protection
Ensure you are mindful of fathers’ rights when engaging in safeguarding issues. For example, consider what are the legal rights of fathers who may not live in the same home as their child? Do they retain parental responsibility? What are the legal parental arrangements?

Father Inclusive Schools
Foster an environment that acknowledges different types of family structures e.g., single fathers, same sex parents, fathers who are the main care-giver.

Contact 
Ensure fathers are included in all correspondence e.g., emails, letters and meetings, reports and exam results. Include fathers contact details in referral forms to outside agencies. 

Representation & Inclusion
Some research (Fetcheriet al. 2011)suggested that fathers are more likely to become involved in school activities if the facilitator is male. Are there ways in which we can be mindful of the gender ratio of staff and how we can include fathers to support school activities? What are the fathers’ skill set and how can you work collaboratively?

Accessibility
Allow for flexibility in meetings e.g., making use of online or hybrid models and adjusting timing to ensure fathers and working parents can attend. Use an interpreter for families where a father may have English as an Additional Language (EAL). Be mindful that fathers from other cultures may have different experiences of school engagement and may not be familiar with school systems. Continue to identify other barriers to involvement fathers may experience.

 

By Dr. Amy Couprie

Changes to this familiarity can bring about different feelings for different children, such as excitement, uncertainty, or fear. It is likely there will be a mix of emotions, possibly sadness at leaving primary school and excitement and/or fear at beginning secondary school.

A sense of security may be felt within some children knowing there will be some friends or peers attending the same school. These friendships may last but often children will make new friendships groups as they develop. Some common themes that arise from children who are transitioning to secondary schools are about:

How can Parents and Carers help?

Parents and Carers can play a key role along with schools to support their children with the transition to secondary school. Parents may benefit from a workshop on how they can help to prepare their child. Things they can do include:

• Visiting potential schools with their child and gaining their views. They will have the opportunity to speak with current students to ask informal questions. Attending open days provide children with the ability to familiarise themselves with new staff, the building, locating different departments and toilets.
• Planning the route and doing a few test runs so they become familiar with the route. It may be worth noting the stop if they are catching a bus or pointing out landmarks (e.g. take the road by the church on the corner). Apply for a free bus pass in advance if needed (as not all drivers will allow them on without one).
• Ensure the child has got their full P.E uniform by the time they begin, some schools also hold second hand uniform sales.
• Allow the child to take more responsibility for getting themselves up in the morning by setting an alarm, packing their own bag, getting their own breakfast. Many schools have electronic or cashless systems for school dinners, but it may be useful to practice buying their own food from a local café or shop in case they need to manage using cash.
• Parents can also be anxious about the transition to secondary school some of this may depend on whether their child has got into their preferred school. It’s important to set aside their own views and feelings as children will absorb these feelings. Its important they start school with a happy mindset.

Supporting children with Special Educational Needs/Disabilities

Children with SEND may need additional support with the transition to secondary school depending on the individual needs of the child. Things to consider may include:

• Sharing key information/ SEND support plans/ EHCPs with the SENDCo or inclusion – This will help the school to prepare arrangements such as preparation for placing additional staff or resources.
• Considering transport arrangements.
• Some children may require a phased entry where the child or young person goes for a few hours a day or some days during the week to begin with. Some schools provide activities over the summer prior to beginning to help with a phased entry.
• Create a Social Story to help them know what to expect in their new school.
• Some children may benefit from extra support with making friendships and so encouraging attending different fun activities or clubs the school may offer can help them to begin to feel more comfortable in different social environments and making new friendships. They may also benefit from role-playing different social situations.