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Tag: PDA
Celebrations: Neurodivergent-friendly ideas to help make celebrations a success for the whole family
(A guest blog, originally written for and published by ThePDASpace, May 2023) Family life can be busy and chaotic, and you may feel like you are constantly juggling to try and keep some balance to get through the day and avoid a crisis. Changes to everyday routines, such as celebration days and events, can be…
Building a Family Sensory Toolkit
Tigger Pritchard delivered a great workshop with The PDA Space where they discussed ‘The Sensory Impact of School Holidays’, which is available to watch here in The PDA Space Portal. I have also created a FREE E-BOOK ‘Building a Family Toolkit’ which is available in my shop. https://autisticrealms.com/shop/ Sensory Systems Everyone has a sensory…
Transitions – Supporting young people throughout the day
Recognising the demands of transitions and finding ways to reduce the pressure for the young people you support. Original article written for The PDA Space Recognising the demands of transitions and finding ways to reduce the pressure (thepdaspace.com) July 2023. Corrina Wood (specialist autism practitioner and advisor) has created a great webinar about recognising and…
Autism & OCD – What Could Help
According to OCD-UK charity, there are,’ around three-quarters of a million people thought to be living with severe, life-impacting and debilitating Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder (OCD) here in the UK’. Many of these people may also be autistic. Stone and Chen (2015) explain that the co-occurrence rate of OCD in autistic people ‘being 3-7% is 6-14% times the…
Supporting neurodivergent students who are struggling to attend school
Data shows that the number of pupils with identified SEND needs are rising. There is an increase in the number of pupils diagnosed as being neurodivergent e.g. Autistic, ADHD, Dyslexic, PDA or with sensory processing difficulties. We are also in the midst of a huge education attendance crisis demonstrated by the rising numbers of students…
Supporting pupils through Autistic Burnout (Teacher Guide)
This is written from my lived experience as a parent and teacher, supported by the amazing research of professionals and advocates in this field. I’m not a therapist or medical professional. Autistic Burnout: A Family Guide is available here: Shop | Autisticrealms nn My updated version of ‘Supporting your Young Person through Autistic Burnout‘…
Supporting autistic students experiencing OCD in a school setting
The National Autistic Society School report 2021 confirmed, ‘There are over 160,000 autistic pupils in schools across England. Over 70% are in mainstream school, with the rest in specialist education, home educated or out of education altogether’. This figure is likely to be much higher as there are many more who are either on…
Autism, OCD, Alexithymia & Interoception
Autism is a difference of neurotype and many autistic people refer to themselves as being neurodivergent. Neurodivergent people process, interpret and respond to the world in a way that is different to the neuromajority /neurotypical person. Obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) is characterized by recurrent, unwanted thoughts (obsessions) or repetitive behaviors (compulsions). Some individuals can experience both…
Education Crisis – Neurodiversity Affirming Teacher Training Needed
Language Identity First Language: In line with preferences from the Autistic community I will be using Identity First Language (ie. Autistic person, NOT person with Autism) Neurodiversity – This relates to the biological fact that human brains and minds differ from each other. Neurodiversity aligns with the idea that all children are unique and…
Supporting Children through Autistic Burnout (Parent/Carer Guide)
(This is written from lived experience as a parent and teacher, supported by the amazing research of professionals and advocates in this field. I’m not a therapist or medical professional). Autistic Burnout: A Family Guide 137 page resource is available in my shop. An updated 2024 version of this article is available here published…
Parent ideas for autistic children struggling with school attendance
If your child is autistic, then they are more likely to have additional anxiety, social, communication and sensory processing difficulties. Consequently, school can be a difficult and overwhelming place for them to be if they are not in the right environment with teachers that fully understand them or have the right provision to meet…
Ideas for Autistic Children who are Struggling at School
It can be difficult for autistic children to access an appropriate education and challenging for their parents to navigate the various paths to get their child an education that meets their needs. No one wants their child to just survive in school, all our children should be able to thrive in the…