Blue Sky is a leader in the field of early recognition of and early intervention for autism spectrum and other developmental disorders. Operating as a unique, specialist therapy service across the UK and internationally for the past 11 years, Blue Sky has now launched a new series of online and in person training courses aimed at parents, family members and professionals working with young children in early education and health services.

http://www.play2talk.co.uk

These courses are currently offered online and when it is safe to do so, we will again be offering these at our sites in Stirling and in Central London (Pimlico), but can also be run as in house training for a variety of settings and services.

Certification in Play2Talk

Blue Sky is excited to announce a brand new certification process for professionals working in the early years field who want to be able to effectively implement Play2Talk in their current roles and settings.

Please contact us on play2talkuk@gmail.com in the first instance to discuss.

Previous Training Courses Offered:

Professional Training Courses 2019

https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/identifying-and-supporting-autism-in-the-early-years-tickets-66801423857?fbclid=IwAR3cEJ1EvDxpNv2YVT0vhTn51vyvpd58-sq_45bp02_593yO22UelE7rkkY

This 4 week course will also look in depth at how autism presents in the early years and how best to support children with these challenges using a well evidenced, practical approach that focuses on communication, social interaction and play skills.

Sessions will run from 17.30-19.00 each Wednesday evening at our centre in Pimlico.

1st cohort will start on October 2nd

Week 1- identifying autism symptoms in the early years

Week 2- exploring evidence based interventions for young children with ASD

Week 3- Developing individual learning profiles and intervention plans

Week 4- Developing effective partnerships with parents and carers

Parent and Family Training 2019

• Level 1: An Introduction to Pivotal Response Therapy- the theory and evidence behind a child friendly, behavioural approach.
• Level 2: Little Talkers- supporting children to learn to speak using PRT in the home (includes fidelity training in PRT and commitment to 3 monthly feedback groups).
• Level 3: Learning through Play- teaching your child through play.
• Level 4: Little Communicators- using PRT strategies to support early social communication skills at home.
• Level 5: Little Friends- supporting your child to be successful in relationships and interactions with peers.
• Understanding Behaviour: behaviour analysis and positive behaviour strategies for the home environment
• Understanding Autism: Finding a path- the journey to diagnosis and beyond

We can also offer bespoke training in autism and early years. Please see below for examples of the additional courses we can run in your setting. You can contact us on hello@blueskyautism.com for further details on consultancy and bespoke training for your nursery or childcare team.

Although autism spectrum disorders are not typically diagnosed until the 2nd or 3rd year of a child’s life (often later in the UK), there is a growing body of evidence that signs of autism can be detected before 12 months and diagnosed before 3 years old.

This course will look at early signs that have been identified through recent research as being ‘red flags’ for an autism diagnosis. It looks at how these signs may manifest within very young babies, moving through to the toddler years and the early development of language, interaction and play skills.

We will look specifically at video footage from typically developing infants and those showing red flags for autism; identify some of the first signs and later developmental markers and focus on some of the latest research studies looking at treatment and therapy approaches for this age group.

There is over 25 years of research into autism treatment approaches, with the biggest focus being on behavioural interventions which originated from Skinner’s work in the 1950s. With the development of the Applied Behaviour Analysis (ABA) approach in the 1960s children with autism started to be viewed in terms of behaviour modification.

However, although the old fashioned behavioural approaches may remain, there has been a large amount of research which has moved away from pure behaviour modification into more of a relationship based, developmental mixed model. This type of approach has shown the most effective results with the youngest children with autism.

This course looks specifically at Pivotal Response Therapy, Early Start Denver Model and DIR/ Floortime, giving participants a good foundation knowledge of the evidence behind and the therapeutic rational of all three approaches.

Leading on from Stahmer et al’s study of the effective use of PRT in the classroom (2011), and drawing on a large body of research looking at how PRT can be applied within a school setting, this course is an introduction for practitioners looking to widen their toolbox of autism support strategies beyond the more traditional TEACCH and PECS.

This full day course focuses on how the key motivational components of PRT (child choice, interspersal of maintentance and acquistion tasks, rewarding attempts and using direct and natural reinforcement) can be incorporated into the UK mainstream or specialist classroom with ease. This course will provide a wide range of ideas and supports which will leave you wondering why you ever needed a ‘working for…’ card!

This course is designed for parents/ carers/ grandparents/ relatives and friends of any child under 5 who either has a diagnoses of, or who is showing red flags for, autism spectrum disorder.

Using a range of video material, practical activities and theory this course aims to make PRT accessible and easy to implement for all adults who may be supporting or interacting with a young child with communication challenges on a regular basis.

Participants will learn how to implement PRT within the home environment, focusing specifically on engagement, interaction, initiation and first words.