I completed the ‘Understanding Autism’ course in February with ICEP- Institute of Child Education and Psychology.
I have been getting so many mails lately about CPD course recommendations, specifically for ASD so I thought now would be a good time to share how I fared with this one.!
So first I’ll go through the learning objectives of the course;
Module One: Autistic Spectrum Disorders
Module Two: Assessment and Diagnosis
Module Three: Research Based Interventions
Module Four: Understanding and Intervening with Challenging Behaviours
Module Five: Individual Planning for Children and Young People with ASD
Here is what is required to complete the course successfully:
In order to successfully complete this course, you are expected to meet the following criteria:
1. Learner Contract
Read the learner contract (located on the welcome page, and at the top of your course home page), and confirm that you understand the requirements for course completion.
2. Time Commitment
Spend a total of 20 hours (minimum) studying the course content, completing the interactive assignments, and preparing your reflective assignment. You are required to spend at least five hours of this time online engaging with the course content. Our learning management system will automatically take note of the time you have spent online.
3. Interactive Assignments
Complete the interactive learning assignments by making one contribution (minimum) to the interactive assignment forum in each module. You may also respond to the postings of your colleagues on the course with your own thoughts, views and critical reflections.
These postings will form part of your continuing professional development (CPD) record, and it is recommended that they are well thought out, based upon the course content, and draw upon your own experiences and reflections.
4. Reflective Assignment
As you progress through the course, you should take time to prepare your reflective assignment (located at the end of your course home page), by thinking about the key points from each module and considering how you might apply them in your everyday practice. You should complete your reflective assignment and submit it for inclusion as part of your CPD record.
5. Submit CPD Record
As you complete each of the criteria outlined above they are automatically included in your CPD record. Review your CPD record (located at the top of the course home page), to ensure that it accurately reflects the work you have completed on the course.
Once you complete the course, enter your total offline study time in Offline Hours.
If all the details are accurate in your CPD record, click on the button to submit the CPD record for approval by your course tutor.
Approval of your CPD record will entitle you to a Certificate of Continuing Professional Development from ICEP Europe. Primary schools teachers in the Republic of Ireland will also be eligible for EPV days (Applicable for Summer Term only).
In the unlikely event that you are asked to resubmit your CPD record, you are advised to rework your assignments to demonstrate a greater level of engagement with the course content.
6. Course Evaluation Survey
In addition to the criteria outlined above, when you have fully completed the course we request that you submit the online course evaluation survey (which you will find at the very end of your course home page). Your feedback will help us improve the quality of our courses and students’ learning experiences.
Note: Submission of the evaluation survey is mandatory to earn EPV days during the summer term.
This is my first year in an ASD class and I only wish I had known about this course last summer, it would have made September a much easier month! It covers essentially everything you should have knowledge of going into an ASD class. I loved learning about the different types of interventions and the history behind them. It went through the different interventions and strategies. I use TEACCH with my class and there was loads on this which was really really useful. The planning section was also incredibly helpful, as was the challenging behaviours section. There was a lot involved in this course, I couldn’t glide through it as I have with many courses in the past, it was the type where I actually had a pen and paper and was taking loads of notes. If you will be teaching in an ASD class in September I would recommend this course. I am six months into the year now and still took note of lots of strategies which I hope to use when we get back to school.
There is an excellent ‘key resources and websites’ section which will lead you to even more helpful information. There’s videos in each module too which demonstrate many of the activities.