Special Educational Needs and Disability blog

  • How Digital Assessment Is Enhancing the Training Experience for the Clinical Psychology and Allied Health Professionals of the Future

    by Robert Reilly-Craig

    a hand laces an iPad in a bookcase full of books

    The sudden and unprecedented shutdown of university campuses due to the COVID-19 pandemic forced educators to face the most jarring and rapid change of perhaps any profession in history. With very little notice, educators were asked to quickly create a virtual learning environment. Online learning became the default with many employing a simple “remote learning” approach via live Zoom classes. This presented challenges for both educators and trainees alike including isolation, lack of motivation in online learners and  technical difficulties with online teaching tools.

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  • The Rise of Digital Assessments

    a woman standing in front of two computer screens

    The shift to digital 

    I wonder how often we stop to look at our work or home environment and reflect on when technology became the ‘norm’. If you are like me, the answer to this question may not be very often at all! However, as I write this, I am surrounded by a wireless mouse (launched 1991), a mobile phone (first launched in 1984), and a laptop (launched in 1981) just for starters.

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  • Undiagnosed

    In the UK, the average age of an autism diagnosis is four years old. There are many factors that affect when someone is given a diagnosis one of which is gender. Females – on average – are diagnosed later than males. This is not taking into account the emerging realisation that autistic people are more likely to be transgender as is becoming clear.

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  • Language acquisition with ASD

    Language acquisition is at the heart of children’s psychological development. Learning words underpins children’s ability to communicate with others and navigate the social world. However, word learning can be severely impacted by autism spectrum disorder (ASD).  

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