SCERTS Model
How SCERTS is implemented at Frederick Holmes:
Frederick Holmes School cares for pupils with a diverse range of needs. Pupils who have a primary need of Autism Spectrum Disorder or Social Emotional difficulties are supported to make progress with input from the SCERTS ethos and assessment.
Frederick Holmes School values the diversity of its pupils, therefore, all appropriate pupils have their own SCERTS profile and range of transactional supports which work best for them. No one child is the same and so the support they require will not be the same either.
The SCERTS model is NOT a curriculum and therefore the pupils are also taught through the adapted and carefully considered curriculum, alongside personalised outcomes and targets, which helps to make up the structure of their day.
Many of these pupils will require time set aside to allow for self-regulation in whichever way suits them best (this could be time spent next to the window, time ‘stimming’ with a favourite toy, time typing on their iPad or making use of a sensory room) Without this time set aside, the pupils would struggle to maintain a state of regulation and it would not be possible to meaningfully teach them.
What is SCERTS?
SCERTS stands for:
- Social Communication
- Emotional Regulation
- Transactional Supports
The SCERTS model is a comprehensive, multidisciplinary approach to enhancing communication and socio-emotional needs of individuals with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) and related disabilities. It is designed to target priority goals in social communication and emotional regulation through the implementation of transactional supports.
The SCERTS model is based on research in child development as well as research identifying the core challenges faced by children with ASD and is focussed on improving the quality of life of children with ASD and their families.
Emotional Regulation
The emotional regulation domain for pupils accessing SCERTS focusses on supporting the child’s ability to regulate emotional arousal and be available for learning.
Children are most available for learning when they can: attend to the most relevant information in the activity or setting, remain socially engaged, process verbal and nonverbal information, initiate interactions using higher level abilities, respond to others in reciprocal interactions and actively participate in everyday activities.
Emotional regulation components include self-regulation (strategies a child has at his/her disposal to independently shift arousal and emotional state) and mutual regulation (how a child requests and responds to regulatory assistance offered by others.)
Social Communication
The social communication domain for pupils accessing SCERTS is focussed on helping a child to be increasingly competent, confident and an active participant in social activities. The components of social communication include joint attention (the reasons why a child initiates and responds to communication bids) and symbol use (the means a child uses to communicate with others – not always necessarily symbols, it could be body language, behaviour, verbalisation, AAC devices, etc.)
Transactional Supports:
The transactional supports domain for pupils accessing SCERTS refers to supports put in place by partners (teachers/ teaching assistants/ parents/ etc.) to help facilitate a child’s learning and development.
Transactional supports components include: Interpersonal supports(adjustments made by communicative partners in language use, emotional expression, and interactive style that are effective in helping a child with ASD process language, participate in social interaction, experience social activities as emotionally satisfying and maintain a well-regulated state), Learning support(includes environmental arrangement or other ways activities are set up or modified to foster social communication and emotional regulation), support to families and support to professionals.
