The advanced certificate in special education: autism, children, and the post graduate certificate in special education: autism, children, run by the University of Birmingham, in association with St. Patrick's College of Education, Drumcondra, are academic courses which are not confined to any particular teaching method.
The training includes ways of assessing, evaluating and recording pupils' skills and behaviour. The courses consider a variety of educational approaches. They examine ways of working collaboratively and consider current theories and their implications for practice.
The training aims to give students the tools to understand the various approaches, to read, evaluate and assess research papers for themselves and to make their own decision in the context of a multidisciplinary assessment as to what will work best for the individual children they are working with.
Methodologies such as TEACCH and ABA are considered and workshops have taken place on these approaches in the above context.
The assessment and evaluation of the courses is done on an on-going basis through the normal academic procedures and standards in place in the university. In addition, the courses are subject to review by the Quality Assurance Agency for Higher Education, QAA, which is the statutory agency dealing with such matters in the UK.
