Working as a TA within a SEN / Autism school?

Morata_

I have an interview at a local school to be a TA and just wanted to get an understanding on any key skills or personal attributes I could draw on for the interview?

I have;

Paitence
Consistency
Praise/Rewards
Humour
Resiliance

Anyone able to offer any advice, would be greatly appricatiated.

Thanks

Nicki

I would add calm and organised to these attributes. It’s going to be a problem if you panic easily or exhibit a strong reaction to the unexpected - eg if a child lunges at you or strips off suddenly.

The organised bit is because lots of children with autism will need you to do things in the same order and without hesitation each time - so having to break off from an activity because you didn’t have your scissors/camera/whatever to hand could mean that the whole activity has to be abandoned.

My other tip would be you have to want to work with children with SEN. If you just “don’t mind whether a child has SEN or not” you probably won’t last the course when the going gets tough.

System

Do you actually have those skills or are they what you are putting on the application? I have an autistic son and if you don't have those skills you'll wish you had because you'll need them in spades.

Les79

Morata_ wrote: »

I have an interview at a local school to be a TA and just wanted to get an understanding on any key skills or personal attributes I could draw on for the interview?

I have;

Paitence
Consistency
Praise/Rewards
Humour
Resiliance

Anyone able to offer any advice, would be greatly appricatiated.

Thanks

Think of how you could DEMONSTRATE those skills.


As Tarambor said, you need to HAVE those sort of skills because some autistic children can be hard to handle. That being said, it sort of depends on some factors like what age group (primary or secondary), your subject knowledge (helps to know a bit about the subjects even though you'll generally be going from the teacher's guidance) and whether it is a mainstream or specialised school.


In my (fairly limited) experience, a decent mainstream Primary School is a piece of cake. The children with additional learning needs are fairly well behaved compared to secondary school + specialist schools.


But sounds like you are going into a specialist school? If so, I went on placement in one and it wasn't for me. A lot of children (up to 16/17) were learning their "p-levels" or something like that and it was more basic things, like how to speak to people. I got punched by a child I was minding, they got hyper really easily and so we took them to a playroom and she'd run around like a madwoman. Then she'd grab blocks and throw them at people. Then she, I believe, motioned to bite me on the arm (pulled away swiftly). The sensory room was cool, teaching students about their senses.


I couldn't do it! I don't mind mainstream autism, but anything specialised, for me, is just not in my nature. I think you've got to be a certain kind of person to do it (and you might be to be fair!).

kingfisherblue

Do you have an understanding of autism and the wide variations? For example, I pointed out to someone just yesterday that there are many people with autism who do not have learning difficulties - she was convinced that autism = learning difficulties. There are a number of people with autism who live relatively normal lives, although those in a special school are more likely to need more support. How would you deal with a runner? Or someone who is violent?

You need to spell check your application, as there are a couple of spelling mistakes. I visited a specialist provision for my son, and dismissed it partly because the teachers and TAs had made so many spelling mistakes. My son has a severe learning disability, but I still have aspirations for him, and as it happens, he likes words to be spelled correctly.

What do you mean when you say you have Praise/Rewards? I assume that you mean that you use them. It may be better to learn about the school policy on this. Positivc reinforcement is important, but implementation may depend on how the school actually approaches it. On the flip side, how would you deal with behaviour that is not responding to positive reinforcement? Do you have any experience of discipline?

Humour is a difficult one, because so many people with autism take things literally. How is humour likely to improve your chances of working well with the children?

What about other disabilities? Many children with autism have other additional needs, including personal care needs. Are you willing to deal with these too?

Do you have any experience with PECS, Makaton, or communication through the use of apps? These are used frequently in schools for children with special needs. Technology is being used far more frequently than just five years ago. Are you confident with technology?

What about confidence? You need to appear to be confident even in a situation where you might be intimidated. Do you have a 'teacher voice', that is strong and doesn't quiver when you are shaking in your shoes, or will a pupil be able to see that you are scared of a situation escalating?

Fireflyaway

I think it would be worth reading up on safeguarding for any job working with children. Just so you can demonstrate your understanding and why it's important.
Communication. As others have said, some autistic people take things very literally. You might need to adapt your style to avoid confusion. An autistic member of my team would get very agitated if I said ' give me one minute' and I was longer than 1 minute! Using charts, time tables or symbols are useful for some people.
I'd also suggest letting the interviewer know that you understand the need to respect each child's difference. Some children might be really bothered by noise where as someone else might be bothered by light of the feel of a certain material, so you would remember to get to know about each child's needs.

Feyfangirl

Following on from the great advice given, I would definitely highlight the fact that you can stay calm under pressure and adapt where needed in certain situations.


Depending on the severity of the children in your hypothetical care, you may encounter instances when for seemingly no apparent reason, the service user may have a meltdown which could result in verbal and or physical lashings out, meaning as the practitioner you would need to know how to handle the situation appropriately and in a safe manner. There are also times when the service user may feel very overwhelmed and whilst you may want to keep working on an academic problem with them, like all children they may need to take a break now and then, they may just make their wishes known in a different way!


Good luck OP!

SingleSue

kingfisherblue wrote: »

Do you have an understanding of autism and the wide variations? For example, I pointed out to someone just yesterday that there are many people with autism who do not have learning difficulties - she was convinced that autism = learning difficulties. There are a number of people with autism who live relatively normal lives, although those in a special school are more likely to need more support. How would you deal with a runner? Or someone who is violent?

You need to spell check your application, as there are a couple of spelling mistakes. I visited a specialist provision for my son, and dismissed it partly because the teachers and TAs had made so many spelling mistakes. My son has a severe learning disability, but I still have aspirations for him, and as it happens, he likes words to be spelled correctly.

What do you mean when you say you have Praise/Rewards? I assume that you mean that you use them. It may be better to learn about the school policy on this. Positivc reinforcement is important, but implementation may depend on how the school actually approaches it. On the flip side, how would you deal with behaviour that is not responding to positive reinforcement? Do you have any experience of discipline?

Humour is a difficult one, because so many people with autism take things literally. How is humour likely to improve your chances of working well with the children?

What about other disabilities? Many children with autism have other additional needs, including personal care needs. Are you willing to deal with these too?

Do you have any experience with PECS, Makaton, or communication through the use of apps? These are used frequently in schools for children with special needs. Technology is being used far more frequently than just five years ago. Are you confident with technology?

What about confidence? You need to appear to be confident even in a situation where you might be intimidated. Do you have a 'teacher voice', that is strong and doesn't quiver when you are shaking in your shoes, or will a pupil be able to see that you are scared of a situation escalating?

Just picking up on the praise/reward thing, my youngest son (complex autism) was an awkward one. Praise him for a good piece of work and within seconds that good piece of work would be obliterated and he would be in a melt down. Turns out he didn't like the attention being on him, didn't like people talking to him, didn't like people near him.


However middle son (Aspergers), needed to be praised for things or he thought he was no good and would destroy things he had done because of it.

The biggest bugbear for both of them though was being treated as if they were small children. The louder voice explaining simple things to them in easy words really really annoyed them, they may have autism but they are not deficient in intelligence. If a TA started off with that sort of approach, they shut down and refused to work with them.


Literal/joke things - One teacher once made the mistake of joking that youngest had ants in his pants, oh boy, the meltdown/panic/trauma from that one jokey comment was immense. We had months of him constantly checking his pants for ants!

ReadingTim

What does the job spec say? Whatever other attributes you have (and you list a good list), you need to be able to tick those boxes as a minimum.

AlexMac

If you google "Special Needs Teaching Assistant Person Specification", you'll get lots of practical examples like the one below; in fact I'm surprised there wasn't one on the application pack or online?

However, based on our experience of the gap between aspirations and delivery in the SEN unit in a mainstream Secondary attended by our grand daughter on moving up from (a less than wonderful, but managable) primary, there may be challenges which aren't in the job-spec!

Such as "how do you cope with the highly sexualised behaviour of much older boys in a mixed unit towards a high functioning 11-year old girl; one of whose attributes is a highly developed sense of right, wrong and "appropriate" behaviour?" (reply- in our case, very incompetently!)

And before we get into the List, here's a general tip when approaching interviews; it sounds silly, but it works. I call it the "Meryl Streep" or "Robert de Niro" approach after two "method actors" famed for immesing themselves in their roles

On the day of the interview, go into role. You already have the job, and have had it for months. Dress the way the TA always dresses. Breakfast as the TA always does. Commut in as you always do...

So that as you walk in, not to beg for a job from important judges, but in effect, to discuss a job you already have with peers, everything is right; body language, attitude, eye contact, confidence....

OK you'll also have a couple of rehearsed questions up your sleeve as well, in case you dry, or for you to slip in at the end in case they dont ask; e.g-
- why you/why this job? (...good fit with my skills- with a couple of examples - and a worthwhile, rewarding job...)

Anyway- good luck.

PERSON SPEC

TEACHING ASSISTANT PERSON SPECIFICATION

Personal qualities
• Empathy for children with special needs
• Patience, understanding, caring, sense of humour.

Qualifications/Experience

• Experience of working with children/young people
• Recent experience of working in a school.
• A standard of written and spoken English that supports pupils’ learning.
• Experience of relevant age group.
• Experience of working with children with special needs.
• TA specific qualification equivalent to NVQ Level 2 or 3.

Knowledge

• An understanding of the varied needs of children as they develop socially and academically.
• A knowledge of behaviour management techniques that support school and classroom practices.

Skills and Aptitudes

• A commitment to promoting equal opportunities and meeting individual needs.
• Awareness of confidentiality.
• Ability to work as part of a team.
• Able to manage time effectively.
• Ability to be flexible to the needs of the children.
• Effective communication, interpersonal and organisational skills.
• Ability to use ICT/the internet and email to support pupils’ learning.
• Able to use ICT to store and retrieve data.
• Experience in delivering first aid, medication, personal/intimate care, physical intervention/behaviour management strategies. (candidates must be willing to deliver these areas also take part in activities such as swimming)

Training and professional development

• Willingness to take part in appropriate training and personal and professional development

System

Les79 wrote: »

In my (fairly limited) experience, a decent mainstream Primary School is a piece of cake. The children with additional learning needs are fairly well behaved compared to secondary school + specialist schools.

My son was in mainstream primary school and was probably at his worst at that point, getting better as he grew older and learned his own coping mechanisms.

kingfisherblue wrote: »

Do you have an understanding of autism and the wide variations? For example, I pointed out to someone just yesterday that there are many people with autism who do not have learning difficulties - she was convinced that autism = learning difficulties.

Exactly. Many with autism tend to be very good at things like maths, science and IT/technical subjects as well as music. My son with much effort from ourselves and his teachers and TAs throughout primary and secondary school has done his GCSEs and is currently at college doing a BTEC in computer programming.