[vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text]Pure Souls Learning Foundation in collaboration with 2ce fitness presented one day training on Autism and Differentiated Learning at Oxbridge Tutorial College, 49, Sobo Arobiodun Street, GRA, Ikeja-Lagos, Nigeria, on the 7^th of April, 2018.

The Registration started at 9:05 am and the training kicked off at 10:00 am, with a welcoming speech by Mrs. Aanu Senbanjo, who welcomed the trainees and also introduced the facilitator Mrs. Ivie Emokpae Okwuegbuna.

Mrs. Ivie mentioned the teachers’ standards (section 5) effective from 1^st September 2012.

1. Adapt teaching to respond to the strengths and needs of all pupils

Solution

Know when and how to differenetiate appropriately, using approaches which enable pupils to be taught effectively

1. Have a secure understanding of how a range of factors can inhibit pupils ability to learn, and how best to overcome these

• Demonstrate an awareness of the physical, social and intellectual development of children, and know how to adapt teaching to support pupils’ education at different stages of development.

Solution

Have a clear understanding of the needs of all pupils, including those with special educational needs; those of high ability; those with English as an additional language; those with disabilities; and be able to use and evaluate distinctive teaching approaches to engage and support them.

Mrs. Ivie mentioned the categories of special needs which are:

1. Language and communication
2. Cognitive and learning

• Physical and sensory

1. Social, emotional and mental health

She said we need to know the child(ren)’s barrier first, before we can help the child learn, and that is why there is need to differentiate. She mentioned the tools that can be used when planning for differentiation; they are differentiated questioning and differentiated marking.

The differentiation labels or levels are:

1. Learning difficulties
2. Disability

• Special educational needs

Mrs. Ivie talked about the layered strategy. Layered strategy is thinking about different objectives for different groups of children – the group could be minimum (what you want all children to know), median (what you want the majority of children to understand), maximum (what some of the children have reached), tangent (where some children have gone off track) and optimum (those children that have overachieved your expectations).

Mrs. Ivie mentioned that for us to differentiate learning, we must recognize the barriers that could affect learning which are:

1. Language and communication
2. Cognitive and learning

• Physical and sensory

1. Social, emotional and mental health.

Also, we need to recognize the different types of memory, that is: autobiographical, episodic, procedural, semantic, and working memory.

Furthermore she said differentiation is bigger than what we think, because we need to differentiate in the classroom, their targets, their groupings, their activities, their contents etc.

She illustrated the one plan/pupil profiles:

1. Observe the child
2. Know the child’s name / background

• Know the child’s barrier

1. Know the likes and dislikes of the child

In conclusion, Mrs. Ivie said repetition is the way special needs children learn.

Food and drinks were given to all in attendance. Mrs. Senbanjo thanked everyone for coming. The program ended at 1:30 pm with 107 attendees, after which there was a group photograph.[/vc_column_text][vc_gallery type=”image_grid” images=”1787,1786″][/vc_column][/vc_row]