Our Team of ASD Specialist Therapists are employed by the school, they are based on-site, enabling them to provide a fully embedded service that includes the 24 hour Residential curriculum, community involvement and home-life.  They also provide a wide range of training to staff and parents, as well as a range of bespoke outreach services (please contact Head of Therapy on the school number to enquire).

Each individual is fully assessed on arrival and at regular intervals thereafter so that we can tailor our intervention to help each to make sense of the world, fully engage in their learning, achieve their potentials and enjoy their journeys to adulthood with us.  Our motivation is helping each individual (and their families), to achieve the best quality of life possible now and in the future.

All therapists have professional registration with the Health and Care Professions Council (HCPC) and adhere to their ethical framework and standards of proficiency in order to remain eligible for registration. Furthermore, all therapists must meet and document a required amount of CPD each year to ensure they continue to learn and develop, keeping their skills and knowledge up to date so they are able to practice safely and effectively. For further information please visit: www.hcpc-uk.org; www.rcslt.org; www.rcot.org

The Multi-disciplinary Therapy Team includes:

Specialist Speech and Language Therapists

Specialist Speech and Language Therapists (SaLTs):

Work to promote, maintain, and develop the skills needed by our students to be functional in our setting and beyond. Active participation in life promotes learning, flexible thinking, resiliency, social interaction, self-esteem, self-confidence and independence.

At Wargrave, SaLTs  use an holistic approach in planning programmes. They take into account the social, emotional, sensory and cognitive abilities and needs of students.  Considering the unique learning styles of young people with ASD, our SaLTs work to develop skills to support language development, understanding and social communication through a range of direct and indirect interventions.

Fundamentally, they will support all students to develop a means of expressive communication commensurate with their need and abilities, using a range of evidence-based programmes and activities Inform, advise, collaborate with and upskill the wider team around the child (i.e. family, Teacher, TSAs, Care staff, and other key professionals) to ensure a consistent approach to their communication, social and emotional needs development; assuring each student has the best possible chance of realising their potentials.

Speech and Language Therapy Assistant:

Will assist the SaLTs in the preparation of therapy sessions by making and sourcing resources needed to aid communication and engagement during therapy sessions; and also by taking a role in the delivery of sessions.

In our setting, she is also responsible for some administrative tasks, record keeping and general office management.

Specialist Occupational Therapists

Occupational Therapist (O.T.s):

Will work to promote, maintain, and develop the skills needed by students to be functional in our setting and beyond. Active participation in life promotes learning, self-esteem, self-confidence, independence, social interaction. Occupational therapists use a holistic approach in planning programmes. They take into account the physical, social, emotional, sensory and cognitive abilities and needs of students.  In the case of autism, an O.T. works to develop skills for handwriting, fine motor skills and daily living skills.

However, the most essential role is also to assess and target the child’s sensory processing disorders. This is beneficial to remove barriers to learning and help the students become calmer and more focused. OT’s working with children who have a sensory processing disorder often have postgraduate training in sensory integration.  Sensory integration therapy is based on the assumption that the child is either “over stimulated” or “under stimulated” by the environment.

Therefore, the aim of sensory integration therapy is to improve the ability of the brain to process sensory information so that the child will function better in his/her daily activities.  Children are often prescribed a sensory diet/advice by the O.T.

Music Therapist

Will engage students in active music making and participation to help them build core life skills and to increase quality of life. Through playing instruments, improvising, singing, song writing and using pre-existing songs, the student and the music therapist work together to champion and further the student’s strengths and to work on things that are challenging.

There are no prerequisites for students being able to play an instrument or even to have an interest in music in order to engage, in some cases students who have benefited the most from music therapy are those who have not previously expressed interest in music.

Music therapy provides an expressive and emotional outlet for students where through music they are able to find different ways of expressing themselves. Similarly, it can also aid self-regulating through both raised awareness, and practically through making musical changes for different energies in the music.

Rebound Therapist

Will deliver a specialist service that uses our sunken trampoline and specific therapeutic techniques that promote a wide range of balance, motor skills, co-ordination, body awareness, sensory integration, sequencing and communication skills. This therapy is also highly successful in helping our students to self-regulate by achieving an internal state through proprioceptive and vestibular stimulation that is both energizing as well as calming.  Students currently receive Rebound Therapy on a 6-8 week block, or as part of a lunch-time club activity.

During the sessions students will follow the Winstrada grading model, develop skills at their own pace and earn certificates for their efforts.