This week is Autism Acceptance Week, the beginning of Autism Acceptance Month. To celebrate, our Foundation Learning department held an Autism Awareness Roadshow.
As part of this, our students created a ‘wall of fame’ through their corridor, of famous people with an Autism Spectrum Condition, including Bill Gates, Chris Packham and Albert Einstein.
Students and staff also set up a Silent Café, where staff and students could order a drink in silence, providing an innovative environment for people on the autism spectrum to expand their skills and build self-esteem and confidence.
Students created an informative wall display of The Zones of Regulation, a system to categorise feelings and emotions into four coloured zones with which the students can easily identify. Students and staff were encouraged to discuss The Zones of Regulation and how they could incorporate the system into their classwork.
The Autism Awareness Roadshow also included a Sensory Processing Experience room. Autistic people may experience sensory differences. They can be over or under-sensitive to sounds, light, texture, smell and other sensory input. With the Sensory Processing Experience Room, people without an Autism Spectrum Condition were immersed in the feeling of sensory overload.
Jo Mckenna, Foundation Learning Lecturer said:
“This Autism Acceptance Week we are promoting the acceptance of autism and aiming to improve the lives of all of our students and staff.”
At Kirklees College, we offer a range of services to support people with learning disabilities within the KC community.
I’m proud to work in an organisation that strives for inclusion for all of our students and staff!”
For more information about our Foundation Learning courses, visit: Foundation Learning – Kirklees College