DESCRIPTION
This self-paced online masterclass course is designed to provide parents the knowledge and skills required to support the educational and social needs of their children with Dyscalculia in order to achieve their full potential.
Empowering Parents to realise the full potential of children and young people with Dyscalculia consists of one module. The module is organised by Units and Topics. Each topic has a specific aim and learning targets and concludes with further reading or resources which the learner may find helpful. This results to a broad and in-depth knowledge & understanding of a series of important aspects and challenges faced by children and young people with Dyscalculia.
More specifically, the course aims to increase knowledge and understanding of the signs and symptoms of Dyscalculia as opposed to other Special Educational Needs (SEN) and Specific Learning Difficulties (SpLDs). There are dedicated topics dealing with Early Identification, Screening & Diagnosis as well as the ever-important aspect of co-occurring conditions.
Moreover, this masterclass course places emphasis on the social, emotional and behavioural impact of Dyscalculia. To this extent, there are dedicated topics dealing with the emotional impact of Dyscalculia as well as on various behavioural interventions and specialised support for pupils with Dyscalculia.
Finally, the course includes a dedicated unit on educational strategies and more specifically on the methods of efficient & effective collaboration between school and home, when it comes to children and young people with Dyscalculia.
Empowering Parents to realise the full potential of children and young people with Dyscalculia is an indispensable tool for parents to acquire the necessary in-depth knowledge to support the educational and social needs of children and young people with Dyscalculia.
All presentations in this course are both visual and audio. The course is being developed by highly experienced tutors with vast expertise in the area of Special Educational Needs (SEN).
This course is part of the Special Educational Needs (SEN) online academy of ShipCon.
MAIN AIMS
- Recognize the early signs and symptoms of Dyscalculia and co-occurring conditions
- Respond to the impact of Dyscalculia on a child’s overall functioning
- Understand the importance of a formal diagnosis
- Develop parents’ knowledge and understanding the definition and diagnosis of Dyscalculia
- Respond effectively and proactively to the educational needs – at individual level – as informed by diagnosis, IQ tests and other assessments
- Assessment of the educational strategies to support children and young people with Dyscalculia and the collaboration between school & home
- Understanding the social and emotional difficulties of children and young people with Dyscalculia
- Implement strategies to help children and young people develop emotional resilience, social understanding and friendship skills which is essential for their wellbeing and academic achievement
WHY this course?
Developmental Dyscalculia is one of a family of Specific Learning Difficulties (SpLDs)
Dyscalculia is a math learning disorder that makes mathematical reasoning and computation difficult, despite of adequate education, average or greater intelligence, and proper motivation.
It appears as poor memory for numbers, time, sequences, directions, layouts, and visual-spatial information, as well as a confounding inability to manage those things.
Dyscalculia is believed to affect 6% to 7% of the population, and up to 26%, when weaker forms of arithmetic difficulties are included.
Care must be taken to consider the entire body of evidence when assessing for dyscalculia and other disorders. This is so due to the fact that co-occurrence of learning difficulties (or disorders) appears to be the rule rather than the exception, and it can often occur with one or more conditions such as dyslexia, dyspraxia or ADHD/ADD. Although this may be as a result of sharing characteristic factors such as working memory, research is ongoing into the likely interaction between any individual’s cognitive, biological and environmental factors.
What all definitions have in common is:
- a presence of difficulties in mathematics
- the mathematical difficulties are not caused by lack of educational opportunities
- the degree of difficulty is evidenced to be below expectations for the individual’s age.
Empowering Parents to realise the full potential of children and young people with Dyscalculia aims to provide parents the knowledge and skills required to support the educational and social needs of children and young people with Dyscalculia in order to achieve their full potential.
WHO TO ATTEND?
- Parents
- Guardians
METHODOLOGY OF THE COURSE – ADDED VALUE
Empowering Parents to realise the full potential of children and young people with Dyscalculia is an online self-paced (asynchronous) course. All presentations are both visual and audio.
It consists of xxx hours of video. Highly experienced tutor goes through the whole course, providing ample explanation – in an easy-to-follow manner – to all the areas & concepts covered by the course. Moreover, the tutor will provide a significant amount of useful background information and explanations throughout the course and in a way which is easy to follow and understand.
The module consists of various learning Units. Each Unit has its own distinct objective (Unit Learning Objective). Finally, each Unit has its own topics, each one with a specific objective (Topic Learning Objective).
Therefore, the Module has its own distinct aim/outcome, which is being served by distinct Units and Topics.
In this way, the attendee can easily follow the tutor as he/she goes through the whole material of the course.
The attendees of the course will be hugely benefited from the fact that they can have a 3-month online support by the responsible tutor of the course. This is very important to all those with busy working or personal schedule who need to go through the material at their own pace.
The methodology of the course is based on a combination of three important elements:
- Provision of knowledge required
- Use of training tools, such as case studies, videos, games, animations & exercises (practice – hands on experience)
- Feedback/reflection (review)
CERTIFICATIONS AWARDED
- Certificate of attendance/competence (skills & competences acquired) by ShipCon with CPD units
COURSE CONTENT
Module I:
Unit I: Early signs, symptoms and diagnosis
Topic I: Early signs and symptoms
Topic II: Causes and brain functioning
Topic III: Informal identification & Diagnosis
Unit II: Social, Emotional and Behavioural issues
Topic I: Social difficulties
Topic II: The emotional impact of the condition
Topic III: Behavioural issues & positive support
Unit III: Educational strategies
Topic I: School and home
TRAINER
Angela Winstanley is a highly experienced Trainer/Consultant in Operations Management and Care Services with particular specialism in Autism.
Qualified in Social Work and a degree level qualified Operations Manager, with a background predominantly in care services. For a period of 24 years Angela managed teams and Operations, including all aspects of business development, Strategic Planning and implementation, and Operational Management, at Senior level.
Angela has worked with UK Investors in People as an Assessor, and trained as a Health and Safety/Risk Manager, – she is highly experienced in Quality Audit including Care Quality Commission (CQC) UK, for whom she was Registered as a Service Manager. During her long career Angela has worked within UK Social Services, Health Service, Education and the Voluntary Sector – she has also been seconded to the UK the Prison Service.
In her work for a UK National Charity Angela was trained in ‘Facing the Media’ and undertook numerous TV and Radio interviews, also being published in journals, and National Press.
Since relocating full time to Cyprus in 2012 Angela has delivered both Management and Autism training as a freelance trainer, in UK. Cyprus and the United Arab Emirates. Angela is currently involved in the development of specific Training Within a 3 year ERASMUS project and will be delivering training in Cyprus, Croatia and FYR Macedonia.
Experience:
- ShipCon Head Trainer, 2016 – Present
Responsible for developing and delivering a range of Education based training across Europe. Involvement in Project development.
- Freelance Consultant / Trainer – ACCREDO Support Services (Mental Health / Learning disability / Autism). United Kingdom – 2011 – 2016
- Freelance Trainer – Focus – Abu Dhabi – UAE – Delivering Management training to Abu Dhabi Police force. – 2012 – 2016
- Freelance Consultant / Trainer – ASSP (Autism Assessment Support Practise) Centre Limassol, Cyprus
Responsible for Assessments, responsive programme setting, supporting key staff in interventions, training. – 2011 – 2017
- Area Manager, National Autistic Society, UK. 2003 – April 2011
- Responsible for Operational and Strategic Management of Autism Specific Services across the midlands / East Midlands area
- Locality Manager – National Autistic Society UK. 1998 –2003
Responsible for Management of Adult Autism services across 4 UK countries, including
Residential Homes, Outreach and Supported Living Services, University Support Services,
Day Services
- Registered Manager – National Autistic Society UK. March 1996 –1998
Responsible for start – up and Management of first Residential and Day Services for Adults with Autism, Northamptonshire. Registered as Manager with UK Care Quality Commission.
Supported development of NAS Hayes Special Hospital, Bristol UK
- Team Leader – Northamptonshire Social Services. UK. 1988 – 1996
Responsible for Management of Service for Young adults with disabilities, Co- ordination of Social Work, Nursing and Education Teams and project lead on relocation from Hospital campus to community services.
Change Management in Northamptonshire Day Services. – as part of a specifically recruited management team to identify the need for and implement change processes within Social Services Departments.
Internal Trainer
Management of Generic Unit for adults with Special Care needs and Challenging Behaviour.
Qualifications:
- Qualified Social Worker,- Selly Oak Colleges, United Kingdom.
- Applied Psychology,- Selly Oak Colleges, United Kingdom United Kingdom
- Degree in Operational and Strategic Management – United Kingdom
- Certificate in Management Studies. United Kingdom
- Investors in People Assessor – United Kingdom
- A range of CPD certificates pertinent to the field of autism, Asperger syndrome.
- Training the Trainer
Achievements & awards:
- Part of the team who developed the National Autistic Society SPELL framework.
- Part of the team who conducted the Autism Accreditation assessments and panel member.
- Investors in People Assessor
- EarlyBird Trainer (Autism Parent Training, NAS)
- SocialEyes facilitator (Social programmes for Asperger individuals, NAS)
- PCP (Person Centered Planning) facilitator
- Autism Support Counsellor (NAS PROJECT) to RELATE – marriage guidance council
- Regulation 26 (CQC standards UK) -Appointed Visitor
Publications and Media:
- Daily Telegraph – Supporting Parents with transition to residential Services. Article May 1998
- Community Care Magazine – Parents of autistic children urged to use support schemes August 2002
- Observer / Guardian – Asperger Syndrome- May 19, 2001 – ‘Angela Finne, a social worker who specialises in autism, notes that her clients have difficulty understanding surreal humour’
- Daily Mail – Starting up Residential Services for Autism – Article – 1999
- Contributor -The process of Ageing and Autism – .2003
- Contributor – Ignored and Ineligible? The reality for Adults with Autism Spectrum Disorders- 2001 (Angela Finne)
- BBC Channel 5 TV – Gloria Hunniford Show – Interview on Diet and Autism
- BBC Radio – You and Yours – Interview on the impacts of Autism on families
- ITV Breakfast TV – A look behind the doors of Residential Autism Services
- Cyprus Radio – Phone in Q & A for Autism parents
- UK House of Commons – Presentation to MP’s on Autism and Mental Capacity.
Training delivered:
United Kingdom:
- National Autistic Society:
- Delivered a range of training in autism, Asperger syndrome, behaviour, social understanding, mental health, transition planning, Person Centered Planning, Leadership and management,
- NAS accredited SPELL trainer
- Training the trainer.
- ACCREDO Support & Development:
- Staff training in Autism, Mental Health approaches and Management
- Sussex Autism Society
- Staff training on a range of Autism specific themes
- Northamptonshire Social Services
- Delivered a range of courses on Learning Difficulties, including Sexuality and Relationships
International:
- Abu Dhabi – UAE – Management and Soft Skills Training to Abu Dhabi Police Force
- Cyprus – AASP – Introduction to Autism, Using visual Structures, Communication in Autism
Famagusta Autism Society – a range of Autism specific courses, Supervisory Management, Person Centered Planning
- ESIPP – (Equity and Social Inclusion through Positive Parenting)
Autism 5 day training delivered to professionals and parents in North Macedonia, Croatia and Cyprus. Included Training Trainers
- ShipCon – Cyprus
- Special Educational Needs
- Autism
- Soft Skills
- Management
Conference presentations:
United Kingdom:
- Presented at a range of conferences including:
- Partnership working between Local Authorities and Autism Providers- National Autistic Society conferences
- Leicester University Diversity Conference – ‘All about Autism’
- United Kingdom – ESIPP – Working with Structure in Autism
International:
- North Macedonia – ESIPP Conference – Sensory Impacts in Autism
- Croatia – ESIPP – Sensory Impacts in Autism
- Cyprus – ESIPP – Joint working with Parents in Autism
- Cyprus – SENPower – The impacts of Special Educational Needs on Development and overview of the programme
- Portugal- SENPower – The impacts of SENPower on young people with Special Educational Needs on Development and overview of the programme
Research programmes and collaborative work:
- ESIPP Project – Partners – UK, Cyprus, North Macedonia, Croatia – Developing Autism research- based training for Parents and training trainers in each partner country
- SENPower – Partners from Lithuania, Spain, Portugal, Cyprus, Italy. Developing tools to support young adults with Specific Learning Difficulties and Entrepreneurship.
- PCP Autism – Partners – Romania, Bulgaria, Italy, North Macedonia Cyprus, Greece – Developing Person Centered Planning tools and training with relation to children and adults with Autism
- Ageing in Autism Project – National Autistic Society
- Grendon Underwood Prison, UK. – Therapeutic approaches with Cat A. B prisoners (Selly Oak Colleges and the Prison Services)
- Cyprus Ministry for Education – Environment and Practise Assessments in Paphos Area Special Needs provision in schools – comprehensive reports.
Memberships & Collorations:
- Autism Accreditation- Panel member: 100 – 2007– 2011.
- Famagusta Autism Support Group – Board Member – 2017 – Present.
What is included?
| Life time access | 03:04:00 hours of video | 1 Module,
3 Units, 7 Topics |
Three months online support | Certificate/CPD |