Case Studies: Autism and Phobias

Online learning can benefit children with autism and phobias

Sarah* is a bright student but she has been unable to attend lessons full-time at her special school for two years because of multiple phobias and the severity of her autism. Learning online with Accipio has enabled her to continue her education from home and given her the best chance of passing her GCSEs. The complex issues that have interrupted Sarah's learning at the Barbara Priestman Special School include phobias to hair, some regional accents and certain rooms. This made learning in a traditional group setting incredibly difficult for her. The school arranged for her to attend scheduled online lessons delivered by Accipio, where she had access to subject-specialist teachers who taught her in real time. This enabled her to continue her learning from home, an environment she feels comfortable in.

Sarah studied for GCSEs in English, Maths, Science and ICT online with Accipio. Learning in a secure online environment removed some of the issues that she struggles with and this had a positive impact on her attendance and achievement. With Accipio, she did not have to engage in face-to-face contact with teachers and classmates, which could be a challenge for her in her traditional classroom setting. She could also switch off the speech tool within the online classroom and communicate in real time via text messaging. This made it easier for her to manage her anxiety over certain voices.

Karen Ferguson, Sarah's teacher at Barbara Priestman School, says: "We were confident that Sarah was capable of getting good grades in her GCSEs but the phobias and other issues she experiences were getting in the way of her achievement. By allowing her to attend lessons online, we were able to create a personalised learning path for her that met her needs. She no longer had to worry about coming into contact with lots of different people in school each day and this enabled her to concentrate on her studies". Attending lessons with Accipio helped re-engaged Sarah in her education and allowed her to focus on what she was learning. She logged on for every lesson and made remarkable progress in her courses. Her school also arranged for her to take her exams from home.

Sarah attends her special school for one day a week to learn with her classmates and work with teachers and mentors on addressing some of her social difficulties. The confidence she has gained through learning online is helping her to develop effective coping strategies for dealing with her phobias. Without the opportunity to attend online lessons with Accipio, Sarah may not have had the chance to fulfil her full potential and her teachers are looking forward to her continued progress, both inside and outside school.

*Not the student’s real name