Attention Autism

What is Attention Autism?

Attention Autism is a programme created by speech therapist Gina Davies.

The programme aims to build on children's joint attention, turn taking and independent working skills through 4 structured stages.

• Focus
•  Sustain
•  Shift
• Transition

Each stage has its own targets focused around the above skills and can be linked to LNF and SCERTS.

All stages can also be adapted to suit subjects and topics and can incorporate other strategies and activities such as Numicon, Jolly Phonics, stories or cooking.

Stage 1 – The bucket (focus)

The aim of stage 1 is to build the child’s focus on an object shared with another person.

The attention group is presented with a bucket – the lead adult sings the bucket song to help build attention and will then reveal 3-5 items out of the bucket with excitement and enthusiasm naming the items to support understanding and meaning of words and develop their skills to show excitement and a desire for more.

The child does not get to touch the bucket toys as this helps their attention stay focused on watching in a shared attention space.

Stage 2 –The attention builder (Sustain)

Stage 2 aims to support the child in sustaining their attention for up to 5 minutes. A stage 2 activity has a sequence to it, which children have to watch so they can see the end product. Again in Stage 2 the child does not touch the resources to help build their shared attention with the lead adult and peers.

Stage 3 – Turn taking (Shift)

Stage 3 is where the child develops skills to shift their attention. The child will first watch a model of the activity then shift their attention to take part before again shifting their attention to observe again.

Stage 3 often involves a game to support turn taking or sometimes an activity such as sponge painting where the child comes up for a turn.

Stage 4 – Independent work (transition)

Stage 4 is where the child develops their skills to transition. Firstly the pupil will watch a demonstration of a work task then collect their individual resources; transition to a work area; complete the task independently before tidying resources and bringing everything back to the circle (bucket area).

These tasks can be differentiated between pupils dependent on ability.

For more information please get in touch with Katie Fairclough via Dojo.