• Do I need special training to be able to use the iA resources?

No special training is needed to use the online resources. All that is needed is a willingness to play. If you want to experience a specially facilitated workshop to develop your knowledge of the approach, we run training sessions for teachers and families in a range of venues (schools, arts centres, community settings). See this website for details and contact us for more information.

• Are the resources age specific?

We recognise that each child has a spectrum of different strengths, interests and difficulties. The activities have been designed and used by a wide range of participants in the original and follow-on projects, ranging from 4-18. There are suggestions for adapting the activities as appropriate to each participant.

• Is a puppet required?

Not necessarily; the activities can be done without a puppet if preferred. However, if the young person has a favourite toy or characters we encourage you to try working with a puppet or soft toy as in our experience, interest led learning and working with objects are very successful ways of encouraging communication and creative engagement. There are plenty of places for you to choose a puppet to buy or to get ideas to make your own. See our favourite hand puppets from Folkmanis (watch out for the Funky Chicken and  Funny Frog!)