“The best training ever. Very real, clear & informative. It completely opened my mind” – Jean Power, Play Therapist
Founder of AUsome Training Evaleen Whelton made the wonderful discovery that she is Autistic in 2014 at the age of 37. She has worked with children and young adults for over 20 years as a speech and drama teacher. She uses her experience as a teacher and as an Autistic person to advise others on best practices for supporting their Autistic people. Evaleen has been self-employed for 20 years, has a background in marketing and degree in business also and she regularly supports other businesses in developing an inclusive approach to Neurodiversity . She is author of Konnect Life Skills Books for Autistic children. These books are the first books which take Autistic communication into account. Evaleen also organised Ireland’s first ever all-autistic conference in February 2019 in Cork where all the speakers were Autistic themselves. She believes that Autistic voices and perspectives must be central to discussions on autism.
In her teaching with Konfident Kidz and training career Evaleen has worked with Dyslexia Association of Ireland, Muscular Dystrophy Ireland, Irish Association for Counselling and Psychotherapy, Neurodiversity Training International, Apple Parents, Foroige, Jack and Friends Centre for Autism. Rainbow Club Cork, and numerous schools, professional bodies and businesses. Evaleen is passionate about education and has trained thousands of parents and professionals over the past four years.
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Our autism training provides teachers with the knowledge, confidence and skills to support their Autistic pupils. As a result of the exclusion of Autistic people from the development of training programs there are many gaps in understanding and many myths and inaccurate ideas about us. First and foremost, our training puts Autistic people at the very centre of our design and delivery. We focus on educating from the Autistic viewpoint. Secondly, our autism training sessions incorporate the latest thinking from the Autistic Community. Our information is carefully crafted in line with this thinking. Thirdly, we use up-to-date research to support these concepts. Our material combines well-established orthodox theory from psychology, sociology, neurology (and several other –ologies too at times) with the results of careful research and analysis within the Autistic Community itself for over a quarter century.
AUsome Training stands on the shoulders of those people, from Sinclair, Lawson, Willey, Williams and many others to the researchers of today such as Gernsbacher, Murray, Milton, and Upferstein – tens of thousands of Autistics focused on a few simple but crucial questions. The answers we present in our autism training are often very similar to those described by our community decades ago, tested and found to be accurate, subjected to research and critiques for decades. We use up to date terminology that has taken time to develop, and certainly there’s been a lot of new science we can lean on, both from Autistic and non-Autistic authors that is now available through peer-reviewed journals and reference books, but the core message is the same, and you can check this for yourself by reviewing publications from 2008, 2005, 1998, and even into the early 1990s.
Professionals will get an insight into the real challenges Autistic clients face. Our training will give you tools to assess the physical and social environment so that your Autistic clients can thrive instead of struggling to survive. Our courses look at the demands placed on Autistic people to communicate, learn and behave in ways which are not natural to us and gives you strategies to make positive changes which are easy to implement. Our autism training will explain how Autistic people process their environment differently. We also explain how the social environment is often different for the Autistic person because of how we are perceived by others. In short, we will support you to meet the needs of your Autistic clients.
We have lots of helpful articles in our resources section that will explain more from the Autistic Perspective Read
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AUsome Training courses are not for everyone. Our autism training for teachers is designed to take your understanding of autism into 21st century. It will challenge you. It will mean that you have to unlearn almost everything you’ve already heard about autism thus far because it did not include the Autistic perspective. We understand that it’s a hard task to question your believes but we will help you through it. AUsome Training is crafted in line with thinking from the Autistic Community and recent research.
If you want to hear about core deficits of autism then we are not for you. If you want to learn how to stamp out or redirect “behaviours” then we are not for you because our training focuses on explaining why these “behaviours” occur. We show you ways to track the triggers and how to eliminate or alleviate the causes. We support you to develop a true understanding and empathy for the Autistic people in your school. Our autism training for teachers focuses on providing you with a genuine understanding of Autistic children and young adults.
AUsome Training is pro-Autistic and also acknowledges that Autistic people have many wonderful things to offer this world. We do not encourage behavioural approaches because we are acutely aware of the negative effects those approaches can have on Autistic pupils in school and on their mental health. Unfortunately these negative effects are often omitted from other autism courses for teachers and school staff. We use language that is inline with the Autistic Community and therefore we use “Autistic” and not “with autism” or ASD.
Yael Clark, Educational & Developmental Psychologist from Melbourne, Australia who recently completed our Get Konnected Social Skills Course describes her experience like this:
“Evaleen is going to make you think! She’ll challenge your assumptions and take your understanding of autism to a whole new level. As a trainer, an author, and as an autistic advocate, Evaleen has added both to my professional knowledge and my self-knowledge.”
There are many things to consider when supporting the very unique abilities and needs of Autistic children and young people. Autistic minds think and learn in different ways and therefore it is necessary to adapt your teaching, communication and environment to ensure Autistic pupils thrive in your school and classroom. Small changes can make a really big difference for your Autistic pupils and creating a more inclusive environment can make positive changes throughout the school for all pupils. While every Autistic pupil is different there are huge commonalities which make them Autistic and our autism courses for teachers will take you through these commonalities.
Our average life expectancy is alarmingly between 36 and 54 years of age and we are nine times more likely to take our own lives than the general population. These are difficult figures to look at and even more difficult to absorb when they could easily be improved upon through better acceptance, understanding and equality. Autistic people have a right to exist as we are. Unfortunately there is a whole host of “therapies” dedicated to making us be more like non-autistic people and all of this comes at a cost to Autistic people and our mental health. AUsome training for professionals will provide you with knowledge, insights and tools to best support your clients.
Here we outline some of the problems we come across with autism courses for teachers which have been designed without Autistic input:
The deficit or medical model of autism says that Autistic people have deficits in communication. This has been disproven by anecdotal evidence from the Autistic Community and through formal research which shows that Autistics actually have a social communication that is specific to us. Not defective, not faulty, not wrong, specific to us in the same way that people who are not Autistic have a social communication specific to them.
If autism training for professionals is lacking Autistic input then it can lead to more damaging approaches to Autistic clients who may be trying to recover from previous trauma. It can also mean that approaches being used are not supported by the very people those professionals want to serve.
If autism training for professionals suggests that Autistic children or adults need to be taught how to interact, communicate and play then it is actually going against the wishes and needs of Autistic people. These suggestions, approaches and methodologies are actually harmful to the Autistic sense of self and should be avoided. The idea that Autistic children and young adults somehow lack social skills is inaccurate, unfounded and oppressive. Social Skills Training can actually encourage Autistic children, teens and adults to mask. Masking is a concept that is often left out of autism training which is not led by Autistics.
Masking is often described as a social strategy employed by Autistics to “fit in” but masking is far more than that. We explore masking in our courses as a protective strategy, often a response to the trauma of constant social rejection. Autism Training can often fail to address the issues which actually face the Autistic Community which is why AUsome Training places Autistic issues and viewpoints at the very centre of our training.
AUsome autism training for professionals will address the issues as outlined above and dispel the myths about Autistic people. We are just a variation in the wonderful fabric of humanity. Our training starts by seeing Autistic pupils as capable, equal and sensitive learners. If training starts by seeing us as deficient then anything which stems from that cannot be beneficial to Autistic pupils. Our training starts at the same point that is usually afforded pupils who are not Autistic. We see them as equal.
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