This term, our pupils have been enthusiastically engaging in Attention Autism sessions, with a special focus on understanding and expressing emotions.
Attention Autism is an approach designed to capture attention, build engagement, and develop communication through highly motivating and visually stimulating activities. It creates shared moments of joy, curiosity, and connection—something that has been wonderful to see in our classroom.
Learning Through Play and Interaction
During our sessions, pupils took part in a range of exciting group activities:
- A balloon anticipation game, where children watched, waited, and reacted together—building shared attention and turn-taking skills
- Interactive emotion games, using visuals and gestures to help pupils recognise feelings such as happy, sad, and excited
- Creative expression activities, including painting and mark-making to represent different emotions
- Sensory food play, where pupils explored textures and created expressive “faces,” linking feelings to real-life experiences
These activities are carefully structured to support:
- Attention and focus
- Understanding of emotions
- Communication (verbal and non-verbal)
- Social interaction and shared experiences
Building Emotional Understanding
A key part of our learning has been helping pupils to:
- Identify different emotions
- Match facial expressions to feelings
- Begin to communicate how they feel using visuals, gestures, or words
We have seen fantastic moments of engagement—pupils watching closely, anticipating what comes next, and increasingly joining in with enthusiasm.
Why This Matters
Developing attention and emotional understanding is fundamental for all areas of learning. Through Attention Autism, pupils are not only learning to focus, but also to:
- Connect with others
- Express themselves
- Feel confident and understood
We are incredibly proud of the progress our pupils are making and the joy they bring to these sessions!
If you would like to try attention autism at home watch the following videos for ideas…Have fun!
Have a great long weekend
ARP team
