Addressing Fundamental Movement Skills for Autistic Students

Course Overview

This innovative course aims to enhance and support the teaching and acquisition of basic skills of movement for autistic students in classrooms and in special education. Movement is an essential component of everyday life. When we learn to move, we move to learn. Not only does movement enhance our physical wellbeing, it also enhances our social, emotional and cognitive wellbeing. However, skills of movement, motor skills, coordination and balance are often delayed or impaired for autistic students. This course is PACKED with simple, fun achievable ideas, tool, tips, advice and resources to empower your teaching and learning and to make the classroom a place of joy for all. This course will give participants hands on experience of the what, when, how and where of movement skill acquisition in an engaging and practical way. Movement breaks provide us all with quality time to regulate and further enhance learning and engagement.

Participants will learn about breaks, valuable skills and resources that will make movement part of your daily routine to support physical, emotional, social and cognitive wellbeing. This course will be experiential, reflective, interesting, exciting and fun.

Our learning outcomes

• Enhanced knowledge of autism and fundamental movement skill development, its benefits and how effective it can be in the classroom - to support a child's overall development and learning.
• Enhanced knowledge of different movements - what they are and how movement skill breaks can support regulation.
• Enhanced skills, tools and resources for movement breaks/activities to support daily classroom life and physical, social, emotional and cognitive teaching and learning.
• Critically reflect on participants’ current practice and how quality movement breaks can be incorporated to add to a child's learning experience.