The THOMAS Approach: a community based initiative for children under the age of five years with social communication impairment/autistic spectrum disorders
Introduction
Hampshire County Council, through its education department, has a proven record for providing quality staff training and making good provision for school aged children with autism/autistic spectrum disorders (asd). Several Hampshire schools have had their expertise in autism recognised by OFSTED, one with the subsequent award of Beacon status.
A county-wide training programme for teachers in meeting the needs of children with autistic spectrum disorders, which was developed in partnership with the University of North Carolina, (the seven day PAATHS course -Providing Approaches to Autism for Teachers in Hampshire Schools) is run annually with places frequently sought by those working outside Hampshire.
Recently Hampshire County Council has increased its focus on children under five. Several county-wide initiatives have been developed to support joint ways of working for children with asd including the THOMAS initiative.
THOMAS stands for The Hampshire Outline for Meeting the needs of the under five's on the Autistic Spectrum, which although it is rather lengthy is easy to remember because many children on the autistic spectrum are fascinated by another Thomas, namely Thomas the Tank Engine. The THOMAS training and guidelines were developed by a team of Hampshire educational psychologists, SEN inspectors, speech and language therapists, Portage staff, early years practitioners and parents. They offer support and training for those meeting the needs of children with asd in the home and local mainstream school and pre-school settings. The THOMAS training was developed to promote a consistent approach between those living and working with the child with asd, whatever the setting, both in the home and local community. The aim is to support the inclusion of children in their local pre-school settings and to develop a consistency of approach to ease transfer into school. This booklet is about THOMAS.
If you would like a complete copy of this publication, please contact:
Support Services Officer - SEN
County Office
Children's Services Department
The Castle, Winchester
Hampshire SO23 8UG
Telephone: 01962 846252