Who is smiLE Therapy Practitioner Training for?

This training is for Teachers, Speech & Language Therapists, Occupational Therapists, SENCOs and Educational Psychologists. Special Needs Assistants are welcome on the training if they attend together with a Teacher or Therapist they work with.

What is smiLE Therapy Practitioner Training?

This training will provide you with all you need to start delivering smiLE Therapy effectively with your students. It consists of three parts:

1. Day 1 & Day 2:  two-consecutive days of training ONLINE: across 4 mornings

2. Implementation & support: time to implement your module taught in training in your work setting, & support to assist you including individual phone mentoring

3. Day 3 is the final follow up day to problem solve, role play, focus on generalisation and plan for your next module. ONLINE: across 2 mornings

​Day 1 & Day 2: 

You will:

• Learn the ten steps of every smiLE Therapy module and understand the structure, key principles and methodology of this innovative therapy

• Explore the structure of the therapy in detail by learning to implement one sample module

• Learn about the flexibility of the therapy and how to modify the sample module making it easier or more challenging for your students

• Learn to use specific visual techniques to actively teach new social skills and communication skills with your small group of students

• Practice in pairs to experience and learn how to implement key aspects of the therapy

• Practice in small groups how role play techniques are used in smiLE Therapy to actively guide and support students in the learning and rehearsing stages of a module

• Understand how important it is to ensure emotional safety in all sessions to enable students to achieve maximum learning

• Learn how to support students to self-evaluate by watching the before and after therapy videos

• Know how to run parent workshops and staff workshops to follow through with skills students have learned and actively support their maintenance and transference of skills

• Understand that there are many smiLE Therapy modules designed for a wide range of student needs: eg. from how to make a simple request in a school office, to how to communicate effectively at work experience

• Learn how to produce good quality videos of students completing their communication task before and after therapy

• Learn how to share your clear outcomes with managers, heads, commissioners, OFSTED

Support while you implement a smiLE Therapy module in your workplace:

After Day1 and Day2  training, you implement the smiLE Therapy module taught, with your students in your work setting. While you do this, you will receive the following support:

• one 30 minute mentoring session by phone with Karin Schamroth 

• The book smiLE Therapy: Functional Communication and social skills for deaf students and student with special needs, Routledge Publishing, Oct 2015, will provide a reference for you as you carry out your module,  with details of each step of the module, as well as templates for letters to parent/carers, video consent, outcomes measure, feedback forms and writing up your module to present to managers, heads and OFSTED

Day 3:  Follow-up day usually six months after Day 2 when you have completed your module

You will:

• Share your successes with the module you have completed and any difficult issues encountered and problem solve these together in collaborative reflective practice

• Reflect and learn further strategies of how to adapt and respond to the individual needs of students within a small group

• Practice in small groups how to manage unexpected situations

• Explore how to get the most from parent workshops and staff workshops to maximise opportunities for students to keep up their skills and start to transfer them

• Learn how to gain AQA Unit Award Scheme accreditation for modules

• have the opportunity to practice a 5 minute presentation of your module, including how to share transparent outcomes with heads and managers and how to inspire others

• consider which further modules are appropriate for your students and plan next steps

Learning outcomes:

By the end of smiLE Therapy Practitioner Training you will have learned and experienced how to

• actively teach functional communication and social skills for life, in a structured way to your students, by breaking down a communication task into its many small component skills

• support your students to learn effective communicate skills in everyday situations in school/college that can be transferred into the community

• actively teach communication for good teamwork & good social skills in your small student group

• establish an emotionally safe environment for your group

• differentiate a module for a small group

• keep all learning visual, effective and lively

• set an appropriate functional communication task for your particular students, break it down into its many component parts and then actively teach and rehearse those parts

• develop independent active learning and engage students in problem solving

• support your students to self-evaluate their before and after therapy videos

• produce good quality videos and do simple editing

• run a parent workshop and a staff workshop so ensuring that skills learned are actively generalised around school/college and at home/in the community

• share your clear outcomes for each module with managers, heads, commissioners, OFSTED

• deliver an innovative therapy that is highly motivating, effective and enjoyable for students and staff, that is much valued by parents and carers

Benefits to your school or service

Practitioners with skills to

• deliver a therapy that effectively prepares students with social skills & communication skills for life

• set up a range of smiLE Therapy modules in your workplace to maximise student success

• generate quantitative clear outcome measures and share these with students, parents/carers, management, heads, commissioners, OFSTED

• ensure that skills learned by students are maintained and transferred actively into the whole school by staff, and into the home and community by parents/carers

• provide cost effective therapy

• innovate service provision

How is training delivered?

Training consists of active learning, watching video clips, watching role play, trying out new ideas in a supportive small group and problem solving.

Cost of smile Therapy Practitioner Training is £ 600 and includes:

• Day 1 & Day 2 training

• Support while you deliver your module in your workplace: individual 30 minute phone mentor session with Karin Schamroth

• 'How to run smiLE Therapy parent workshops' (1.5 hour online training from 3.30-5pm, termly)

• Day 3: One-day follow up

• Q&A sessions online (1.5 hours from 3.30-5pm, runs termly)

• book  smiLE Therapy: Functional Communication and social skills for deaf students and students with special needs, Schamroth with Lawlor,  Routledge Publishing, Oct 2015 (retail price £44.99)

Special Offers

• Attend with a work colleague: 8% discount, bringing cost to £552. Saving of £48/person

UPGRADE  for those who have completed a one-day training previously

Take advantage of the opportunity to develop your knowledge and skills further by joining Day Two Onwards training. Special rates apply.

Training for your workplace

If you would like to arrange training

• at your school/college on an INSET day

• for your Clinical Excellence Network

• for a Continuing Professional Development day

• for you or your workplace to further develop smiLE Therapy provision

• for smiLE Therapy mentoring/coaching to further develop your skills

please email info@smiletherapytraining.com

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