Session Overview

What the move to secondary asks of autistic students, and the classroom changes that help

Plenty of autistic students arrive in Year 7 having done well in primary, then seem to lose ground within a term. They haven’t forgotten how to learn. The conditions around them have changed, and the effort of holding it all together uses up the capacity they need for the actual work. The ones who look like they’re coping are often the ones working hardest to look that way.

This isn’t about lowering expectations, it’s about removing the barriers that sit between a capable student and the learning. Across four short sections you’ll get twelve practical changes you can try the same week: the words that work, a calmer sensory environment, more predictable routines, and tasks students can actually start. It draws on professional expertise, evidence and lived experience.

What you’ll learn:

• Why a capable student can slip in Year 7 without anyone noticing, and what to watch for
• How to give instructions autistic students can act on straight away
• What regulation-first responding looks like when a student is overwhelmed
• How to audit the sensory environment and take down the load that competes with learning
• Why predictable routines and visible time free up capacity, and simple ways to build them in
• How to help a student start when intending to start isn’t enough

Who this is for:
Secondary teachers, teaching assistants, SENCOs and transition leads supporting autistic students in Year 7, with or without a diagnosis. No prior knowledge needed.