The LASER Programme
The LASER Programme is a training course developed by Studio 3 experts specifically for educational and classroom settings. This programme provides training and ongoing support for teachers, key staff members, families and pupils within a low arousal framework and inclusive ethos.
This programme is evidence-based with a strong experiential focus, and seeks to develop less stressful school environments and more resilient practitioners.
What is the LASER Programme?
For the past year, Studio 3 has become more and more involved in helping schools and other educational environments to manage incidents of aggression and behaviour of concern. Schools can be incredibly stressful environments for individuals with autism, intellectual disabilities, and other additional support needs, which can lead to moments of distress and meltdown in the classroom.
It is increasingly common for individuals with additional support needs to be taught within mainstream schools and as part of an inclusive environment. However, there is often a failure to provide sufficient training and support to teachers and other staff members about how to manage incidents of aggression and behaviour which can be challenging. As a result, we still see many instances of restraint and physical interventions as part of some children’s daily lives, both here in the UK and internationally.
Our Educational Adviser, Gareth D. Morewood, has been working tirelessly throughout his career to cultivate systemic change within the UK Education system, and to teach staff alternatives to restraint within an inclusive, whole-school framework. As of this year, we have teamed up with Gareth, teaching low arousal approaches within school settings, with incredible outcomes so far.
From this collaboration, the LASER project was born - a 2-day training course tailored specifically for mainstream education settings. The aim of this course is to train teachers, families and other support workers in whole-school and inclusive approaches to safely and calmly managing incidents of aggression and challenging behaviour.
Key Goals:
Excellence in the prevention of behaviours of concern and de-escalation.
Creating a school ethos and culture of Low Arousal.
Reducing restrictive practices, including punitive measures, seclusion and physical restraint.
A focus on stress reduction for pupils, teachers and family members, as well as within the environment of the school.
Meet the Training Team
Gareth Morewood
Educational Adviser to Studio 3 with over 25 years experience working in a mainstream school setting.
Gareth Morewood
Andrew McDonnell
Andrew McDonnell
Clinical Psychologist and originator of the Low Arousal Approach, with 30 years experience in the field of autism and challenging behaviour.
Steve Allison
Steve Allison
LASER Principal trainer and Studio 3 International trainer of over 20 years, specialising in low arousal approaches and crisis management.
Paul Burbage
Trainer in managing challenging behaviours with 13 years of experience in Australia, Ireland and the UK.
Paul Burbage
Physical Interventions
One of the key aims of the LASER Programme is to reduce instances of physical intervention and restrictive practices within educational settings. All schools must fill out our Training Needs Analysis Questionnaire, which acts as a Risk Assessment Tool to determine the needs of individual settings. This includes analysing the extent to which restrictive practices are currently utilised in each setting, and whether some non-aversive physical interventions training is required on a case-by-case basis.
To find out more about the LASER approach to Physical Interventions, read this short article on reducing physical interventions in educational settings: