St Conleth's Classes for Children with Autism
Our Síolta Pre-school caters for children up to the age of 6. The hours of opening are 9:20am to 2pm.
St Conleth's Pre-School takes a maximum of 6 pupils. The class has 1 fully qualified and highly trained teacher, and at least 1
special needs assistant for every 3
pupils.
The pre-school is also supported by multi-disciplinary external teams.
Our Síológa class caters for older children with Autism. The adult to child ratio is the same as that in the Síolta class.
Both classes are supported by multi-disciplinary external professionals.
SíoltaTeacher: Ms. Healy
Special Needs Assistants: Anne Richards & Leanne Farrell
SíológaTeacher: Ms Beatty
Special Needs Assistants: Audrey Stack,Helen Douglas & Karen Brennan
Intervention Approaches
The main approaches used in our classes include, but are not limited to, the following
TEACCH for pre-school. Treatment and Education of Autistic and Communication Handicapped Children. (Scholpler and
Mesibov, 1995)
PECS. Picture Exchange Communication System. (Bondy and Frost, 1994)
Intensive Interaction. (Nind and Hewett, 1994)
Social Stories. (Carol Gray, 1994)
EarlyBird Programme run by Beechpark Services and includes training for parents. Speech and Language therapy,
Occupational Therapy and clinical support are also provided.
Contemporary ABA
Sensory Integration
Music Interaction
Curriculum
The curriculum in Síolta is based on the TEACCH Programme for pre-schools. The Junior Infant Programme from Department of
Education and Science is also used where appropriate, as are the Curriculum Guidelines for Children with General Learning
Difficulties. The Síológa class work from the National Council for Curriculum and Assessment guidelines .
EPs are developed in conjunction with parents and visiting clinical support teams, based on the needs, incorporating
independent work, one-to-one work, and group work. Self-care and opportunities for mainstream integration are also
included.