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0161 503 1551
SEND Workshops and Training
The POINT SEND Workshops and Training service currently provides FREE support to parents and carers in the form of workshops & training. The offer of support includes:
- A rolling programme of themed training workshops which aim to inform and equip parents and carers with a better understanding of their children’s needs, and strategies to help support their children’s areas of difficulty.
- Information marketplace events, designed to enable parents and carers to quickly and easily access information and advice from a range of services and providers.
- One-to-one follow up sessions offered where needed, following attendance at workshops, to further support parents and carers develop their understanding.
- Signposting to other appropriate support services.
- Support and advice from service co-ordinators in person, over the phone, or via email.
Our Workshops Programme
POINT’s SEND Training and Workshops Service offer a programme of training workshops for parents and carers whose children or young people have been diagnosed with Autistic Spectrum Conditions as well as providing workshops to those whose children and young people are on or have been on a Social Communication Pathway.
Post-Diagnosis Workshops
Oldham’s SEND Workshops & Training Service provides a range of tailored workshops to parents and carers living in Oldham, whose child or young person has received a diagnosis of Autism or Autistic Spectrum Disorder.
Our skilled workshops team have developed our post-diagnosis workshops to enable parents and carers to gain key information about how Autism and Autistic Spectrum Disorder can affect various aspects of their child’s, young person’s or their own lives, empowering them with the skills and knowledge they require to provide appropriate support to their child or young person and to recognise why things may happen in certain ways.
Click the buttons below to find out more about each of our current workshops and how to access the service.
Introduction to Autism Workshop
The introduction session provides information on the prevalence, causes, and characteristics of autism. We then look in more detail at the areas of difficulty children with autism commonly experience, with regards to:
- language & communication
- social interaction
- flexibility of thinking
- sensory differences
We also offer “top tips” on how you can help support your child’s difficulties in these areas.
Education Workshop
Children spend a large percentage of their time at school, and having the appropriate level and type of support in place for your child is important.
Many children with autism attend mainstream schools and some require very low levels of support, if any. Other children may require higher levels of support to help them in one or more areas for example:
- cognition and learning
- communication and social skills
- emotional and mental wellbeing
- sensory/physical needs.
The Education workshop covers what educational establishments are legally required to do, your rights as a parent/carer, and the processes involved in obtaining the appropriate levels of support.
Communication Workshop
We know that autism is a spectrum condition, and one child’s specific difficulties can be very different to another child’s.
In the communication workshop, we look at a range of difficulties that are commonly seen in children with autism, including:
- verbal communication (both spoken communication and comprehension of language)
- non-verbal communication
- social communication.
Whilst children with more profound difficulties may require some input from speech and language therapy (SALT), we offer SALT-approved strategies that can be used at home to help support difficulties in communication.
Emotions Workshop
Many children with autism have difficulty interpreting facial expressions, body language, and relating socially to other people. Therefore, it can be common for children to struggle to recognise and understand other people’s emotions.
In addition, it can be very difficult for children to recognise their own emotions, and/or to express their emotions to another person in an appropriate way.
The emotions workshop discusses why children might have these difficulties, and offers ideas of activities and strategies to use with children and young people to help them develop their emotional awareness and wellbeing.
Behaviours Workshop
Considering the difficulties and obstacles that children with autism face every day, it is not surprising that this can lead to increased stress and anxiety, and as a result some children with autism can display challenging behaviours.
Whilst people often think of challenging behaviours as aggressive actions or ‘meltdowns’, it is important to recognise that other, less outwardly expressions of frustration are equally concerning too. For example, the child that, when in crisis, becomes withdrawn, passive, and at risk of internalising negative emotions may also need some support to find healthier ways of coping.
Understanding the Brain Workshop
Autism is a neurodevelopmental condition, meaning it affects brain development and childhood development.
The workshop on understanding the brain gives a more in depth understanding of the foundation of autism. We consider differences in brain development in individuals with autism, as suggested by modern scientific research, and look at the impact of this on children and how it can affect their daily functioning.
Social Communication Pathways Workshops
The SEND Workshops and Training Service provides FREE workshops to parents and carers of children between the ages of 4 and 16 years who are on (or have been on) an assessment pathway of their social communication need.
There are 2 core workshops within the pathways support offer which aim to equip parents and carers with advice and strategies and empower them to be able to access support and better meet their children’s needs regardless of the outcome of the assessment pathway.
Workshop 1: Communication: This looks at top tips that can be implemented to support your child’s spoken/verbal communication, and their social/non-verbal communication.
Workshop 2: Behaviour: This looks at factors that drive behaviour, and strategies that can help to shape challenging behaviours into more positive behaviours.
Our co-ordinators will support parents and carers to access available local services, including Early Help and wider POINT services.
How Do I Access the Workshops?
As a parent/carer: you can phone our service direct and make a self-referral or if your child is still under the care of Healthy Young Minds or Community Paediatric practitioner you can ask them to make the referral to us.
If the diagnosis wasn’t recent, you can still access the workshops. Either ring our service direct or contact the practitioner who you received the diagnosis from and ask them to make a referral to our workshop service. You can also make a referral through:
- Early Help Service
- School Nurse/SENCO
- GP
- Social Care/Social Worker
As a professional: you can make a referral direct to our service. Contact us to request a referral form.
If you have any questions or are unclear on anything, then give us a ring and we’ll guide you through it:
Telephone: 0161 503 1551
Email: workshops@point-send.co.uk
Contact us
If you have any questions about the SEND Workshops and Training Service or the current workshops programme, please contact us using the details below:
POINT is a professional training Organisation with expertise in Autism and SEND. POINT is a UK Registered Learning Provider with the UK Provider Reference Number (UKPRN): 10084799.
The UK Register of Learning Providers is a ‘one-stop’ portal to be used by government departments, agencies, learners, and employers to share key information about learning providers. The UKRLP allows providers to update their information in one place and share this across agencies such as the Skills Funding Agency, the Higher Education Statistics Agency (HESA), the Higher Education Funding Council for England (HEFCE) and UCAS.
If we are delivering workshops when you call you will reach our voicemail. If you leave a message one of our team will return your call as soon as possible.
