Formatively self-assessing wellbeing with ASD students Kayleigh Hardy

Areas of interest Assessing and supporting wellbeing Participatory research with young people with ASD

Wellbeing SEN – holistic approach Positive links to progress and ability to learn Negative links to concerning behaviours, slowed progress, mental health conditions Mental health is defined as a state of well-being in which every individual realizes his or her own potential, can cope with the normal stresses of life, can work productively and fruitfully, and is able to make a contribution to her or his community. WHO's definition of health as contained in its constitution: "Health is a state of complete physical, mental and social well-being and not merely the absence of disease or infirmity."

Assessing wellbeing Young people with ASD are more likely to have mental health needs Lack of familiarity and easy vocabulary for my students; we didn’t comfortably talk about mental health – despite several students being referred to CAMHs Concerns over how you monitor wellbeing over periods of time and changes in staff Experienced ‘reactive’ practice; responding to poor mental health and challenges rather than ‘proactively’ encouraging good mental health

Participatory and emancipatory research "Nothing About Us Without Us!" Pupil voice Pupil power - ‘people with special needs and disabilities to recognise the importance of taking control of their own lives.’ Charlton (2000) Not necessarily empowering people but facilitating people empowering themselves (Oliver,1992)

‘parasitic researchers’ (Hunt, 1981) – biased research which does not take into account the views / experiences of the subjects Disabled people historically left out of decisions concerning their own lives (Shakespeare, 2104) ‘Disabled people have come to see research as a violation of their experience, as irrelevant to their needs and as failing to improve their material circumstances and quality of life.’ (Oliver 1992, p.105)

What this would look like… Pupils involvement throughout the project Acknowledging that the pupils brought their own experiences and judgements Making as many adjustments as needed to make the project accessible Asking the pupils to evaluate

The intervention Week Action 1 Well being lessons 2 Student questionnaires / Staff Questionnaires 3 Writing Pupil Plans with student Staff interviews 4-8 Students work on plan End of week 8 Review Pupil Plans with students and self-assess wellbeing

The big question! Are you happy? What can you do about that?

Ethics Informed consent – pupils and parents Concerns that I was opening a can of worms Pupil led

Conclusion Happier pupils! Process or outcome? Similar views across the school

What did I learn? To ask and to listen To check my presumptions To encourage talking

Going forward… The relationship between behaviour and wellbeing Teaching self-care Pupil friendly language relating to mental health The importance of staff wellbeing in supporting student wellbeing