SEN Magazine - Issue 108 - September/October 2020 by SEN Magazine

Sept • Oct 2020 • Issue 108

SEBD: Teachers are not therapists, but... Slow Processing Publishing for dyslexia School trips Dyspraxia in the classroom

Bilingualism and autism • Sixth form with SEN • Lockdown • Terminology Support for SENCo’s • Signing • Back-to-school worries • Thriving after a stroke CPD • SEN news and much more…

Sept • Oct 2020 Issue 108

Editor

Louise Alkema editor@senmagazine.co.uk 01200 409810

Advertising sales Denise Williamson Advertising Sales Manager denise@senmagazine.co.uk 01200 409808

Administration Anita Crossley (left) anita@senmagazine.co.uk 01200 409802 Amanda Harrison (centre) office@senmagazine.co.uk 01200 409804/800 Dawn Thompson (right) dawn@senmagazine.co.uk 01200 409804/800

Design Rob Parry design@senmagazine.co.uk

Welcome With the end of the Covid-19 lockdown finally in view, we’ve tried to ensure that at least some of the articles in this issue are about something other than the pandemic. Go to page 16 for Bambi Gardiner’s plea to other book publishers to see the value in catering specifically to children with special needs, and there’s a fascinating piece on page 49 about how bilingualism impacts children with autism. We also have a nine-page compilation of articles about social, emotional and behavioural difficulties (SEBD). I found Elaine Nicholson’s story about how she helped teenager Sean deal with his PTSD particularly heartwarming – flip to page 62 to read it. If, for some reason, you do want to be reminded of Covid-19, read the article by Elise Stirling (page 46) about how her family thrived during lockdown – it’s one of my personal favourites. On page 70, our regular contributor Douglas Silas decodes the baffling and overwhelming amount of advice,

legislation and other hard-to-read texts produced by the government in the past few months. Please stay safe, and hopefully by the next issue we’ll all be laughing about that silly time when we had to stay inside for an entire summer. If you would like to contribute an article or a point of view, or if you would like to see something featured in SEN, don’t hesitate – please send me an email!

Louise Alkema SEN Magazine Editor editor@senmagazine.co.uk

Director

Jeremy Nicholls Disclaimer

The opinions expressed in SEN Magazine are not necessarily those of the publisher. The publisher cannot be held liable for incorrect information, omissions or the opinions of third parties.

SEN Magazine Ltd Chapel House, 5 Shawbridge Street, Clitheroe, BB7 1LY Tel 01200 409800 Fax 01200 409809 Email info@senmagazine.co.uk senmagazine.co.uk

SEN Magazine ISSN: 1755-4845

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CONTRIBUTORS

Alexis Wolfe Anna Smith Bambi Gardiner Carla Melis Cornelius Debby Elley Douglas Silas Dr Margot Sunderland Elaine Nicholson MBE Hazel Richards

Jacqui Strubel Justin Farnan Katie Moylan Kim Griffin Marcia Squire-Wood Mary Mountstephen Maura Campbell Nicky Newell Steve Proctor

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The Motability Scheme enables disabled people to lease a new car, scooter or powered wheelchair without the worry of owning and running one. Parents and carers can drive on behalf of the customer. The vehicle should be used by, or for the benefit of, the disabled person.

Making life easier for disabled people

“We went on our first family camping trip. Something we couldn’t have done without the new car.” Sam, Elisabeth’s mum

Who can join the Motability Scheme? You may be eligible to join the Scheme if you receive one of the following: • Higher Rate Mobility Component of Disability Living Allowance (DLA). • Enhanced Rate of the Mobility Component of Personal Independence Payment (PIP). • War Pensioners’ Mobility Supplement (WPMS). • Armed Forces Independence Payment (AFIP).

What’s included on the Motability Scheme? Insurance Breakdown assistance Servicing and repairs

How Motability, the Charity can help We can provide charitable grants for: • Car adaptations to help make travelling as comfortable as possible. • Vehicle Advance Payments for larger, more expensive vehicles. • Up to 40 hours of driving lessons, to ensure disabled people have access to driving tuition in specially adapted cars as necessary.

To find out more visit motability.org.uk/sen or call 0800 500 3186

Tyres and battery replacement

To find out more about the Motability Scheme visit motability.co.uk or call 0800 093 1000 (quote SEN)

Motability is a Registered Charity in England and Wales (No.299745) and is authorised and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority (Reference No. 736309). The Motability Scheme is operated by Motability Operations Limited under contract to Motability. Motability Operations Limited is authorised and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority (Reference No.735390).

For additional Safe Patient Handling equipment to comply with social distancing guidelines within the classroom contact Hillrom. ukmarketing@hillrom.com Tel: 01530 411 000 hillrom.co.uk © 2020 Hill-Rom Services, Inc. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED. APR110704-UK-r1 JULY 2020

Sept • Oct 2020 • Issue 108

SEN Publishing Why resources designed specifically for dyslexic children are the way forward

Schools and colleges 24

36 38

44 46 49

Mainstream schools shoot themselves in the foot when they refuse to adapt to learning differences within their classes

Dyslexia What will help children thrive?

School trips How Calvert Lakes is adapting to the ‘new normal’ after lockdown

Dyspraxia Tips on how to help children with dyspraxia practice ideation

Regulars 9

What’s new? The latest products and ideas for SEN

Point of view

SEN news

About SEN Magazine

Book reviews

CPD, training and events

SEN resources directory

Have your say!

Autism and signing How my baby learned to sign

Autism and bilingualism Why you should not be afraid to teach a second language

Teachers are not therapists, but...

64 68 70 74

Teachers don’t need to be therapists, but it is vital that they learn how to listen to children with emotional issues

Slow Processing Children with SP will benefit greatly from the right coping skills

Coping with stroke Lucy’s personal journey

SEN law Making sense of post-lockdown legislation

SENCo woes Why SENCo’s need additional support

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Signing in lockdown senmagazine.co.uk

SEN publishing

School trips

68 senmagazine.co.uk

Lucy’s story

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Creative arts

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Trampolining

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What’s new?

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Could you be a foster carer?

EHCP services and products

More than a quarter of the foster carers registered with Action for Children have previously worked in education, and possess the qualities – patience, compassion, warmth – that the children the organisation looks after really need. Those willing to foster with Action for Children will be giving a child much-needed love and stability, and in return receive all the training and support they’ll need. Foster carers will also receive an allowance so that they can afford to carry out their work. If you believe that you could give a child a safe and loving home, the organisation would love to hear from you. To find out more, visit actionforchildren.org.uk/ fosterwithus or contact 0845 200 5162.

Enhance EHC, established in 1996, offers a range of SEND services and products for Local Authorities, schools and SEND professionals, including an EHC Plan Writing Service to help improve timeliness and quality of EHCPs; Quality Assurance services to enable impartial monitoring and analysis of EHCPs and assessment advice; and EHCP Good Practice Resource Packs, which share best practice and offer a national perspective.

Can’t find the pupil behaviour and intervention logging system you need? IRIS Adapt completely replaces cumbersome paper systems with an efficient online application which delivers live data to school leaders on demand. We take the time to understand your needs and work with you to provide an application which retains the best features of your current systems - language, layout, workflow etc - but with none of the disadvantages. Whether you use Team Teach, SCIPr-UK or other positive handling systems, IRIS Adapt can be fully customised to suit, giving in-depth analysis of staff interventions and more at the click of a button.

Enhance EHC also offers a range of CPD accredited online EHCP training courses for EHCP writers, assessing professionals and SEND support staff, which can be completed in the workplace as part of on-the-job training or continued professional development. enquiries@enhanceehc.co.uk 01245 362056 enhanceehc.co.uk

Coleg Ty’r Eithin Ruskin Mill Trust is delighted to announce the opening of Coleg Ty’r Eithin in September 2020. Set in the beautiful Gwendreath Valley, Carmarthen, Coleg Ty’r Eithin offers day and residential placements for students ages 16+ in a therapeutic educational setting. Coleg Ty’r Eithin provides outdoor learning environments, using practical land and craft activities to support the development of work and life skills for both day and residential students aged 16-25 through Practical Skills Therapeutic Education.

irisadapt.com/special

To find out more, or become part of the team at sites throughout England, Scotland and Wales, contact 0330 055 2653 or admissions@rmt.org.

Change lives – foster for Derbyshire

Safe patient handling

Derbyshire County Council needs foster carers to help it keep brothers and sisters in its care together. You don’t need any special qualifications to be a foster carer and the council provides training, a wide range of benefits and additional financial support to people who foster siblings. Foster carers need to be aged 21 or over, have a spare room and go through a few checks to make sure fostering is right for them before they’re assessed. If you could help siblings in care get the best start in life, visit derbyshire.gov.uk/fostering or call 0800 083 77 44.

Hillrom is a global manufacturer and supplier of safe patient handling equipment into Acute care, the home and special education facilities. Hillrom’s safe patient handling portfolio offers slings, mobile and overhead hoists to give you the convenience and safety you need. As part of a safe patient handling & mobility programme, our solutions can help you mobilise patients earlier and often—and help mitigate complications from immobility. Within special education facilities, we can help you find the right solution for your unique patient mobility needs, care protocols and room requirements to achieve safety for both staff and child. Further information please contact Hillrom – ukmarketing@hillrom.com

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What’s new?

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Ambitious College accepting new learners now Ambitious College, London’s first specialist day college, serves young people aged 16-25 with autism and learning disabilities. We are aspirational and ambitious for our learners and believe that with the right support they can fulfil their potential and go on to live active lives in their communities. We are located within two mainstream further education college campuses in Tottenham and Isleworth, allowing us to offer a wide curriculum and provide learners with a broad range of mainstream vocational learning, and social and work experience opportunities. The college is run by Ambitious about Autism, the national charity for children and young people with autism.

Medpage introduces the MEDBM-05 The MEDBM-05 by Medpage is everything you expect and need from a modern baby monitor. The video quality is superb, and with night vision auto-switching you will always have your pride and joy in clear sight down to zero lux (total darkness). The pan/ tilt and zoom function (controlled by the parent unit) is perfect for locating toddlers in their room without disturbing them or your peace. See more (and it’s on special offer): easylinkuk.co.uk/sale-items?product_id=1667

ambitiouscollege.org.uk

Worcestershire-based care provider expands Our Place Schools of Bransford has opened a new facility in a £1.5m project backed by Allied Irish Bank (GB). Lakeside @Our Place is a purpose-designed, 10-roomed residential centre for adolescents on the autistic spectrum or with severe learning difficulties.

Left to right: Mark Duggan, Allied Irish Bank (GB), David French, Our Place Schools of Bransford and Colm McGrory, Ormerod Rutter.

David French, lead investor and executive director at Our Place Schools, said: “AIB (GB)’s backing has been vital to achieving our mission to develop this new facility.” Mark Duggan, head of AIB (GB)’s healthcare team, West Midlands, added: “Our Place Schools has built a fantastic reputation in its field of expertise, and their care is secondto-none.” aibgb.co.uk

The Moat Sixth Form The Moat Sixth Form opens its doors in September 2020. This unique Sixth Form is one of the few SEN specialist schools for post-16 pupils. Focusing on a mixture of A-Level and Btec courses with inbuilt Speech & Language Therapy, Counselling and SpLD trained staff throughout, the college hopes to set a new standard for what is possible to achieve with extra support. Steve Proctor head of the Sixth Form says “I’m extremely excited to be able to provide what we considered to be a missing part of SEN education. Something that provides all the pastoral support required alongside the academic freedom that these highly intelligent pupils all deserve”. moatsixthform.org.uk

The Motability Scheme

Rapid Reading

The Motability Scheme enables disabled people to use their mobility allowance to lease a new car, scooter or powered wheelchair without the worry of owning and running one. Insurance, servicing and breakdown assistance are all included and car adaptations are available. Family members and carers can also drive the car on behalf of the disabled person.

Schools up and down the country use Rapid to help their struggling and disadvantaged children with SEN catch up in reading.

Motability, as a national charity, provides grants to disabled people towards the cost of a Scheme vehicle, adaptations or driving lessons. For more information, visit motability.co.uk or call 0800 093 1000.

With over 112 print books to choose from, there’s plenty in each fine level to give repeat practice to children who may move on to the next level slowly, with a wide variety of highly engaging topics from animals to space travel to hook in even the most reluctant readers. Find out more and try free samples now: pearsonprimary.co.uk/rapidreading Also available as single titles and Learn at Home packs on Amazon.

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What’s new?

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National Autistic Society online training With more than 50 years of learning from first-hand experience, no one has more practical knowledge of autism than the National Autistic Society. Developed by autistic people, the National Autistic Society’s online modules will enhance your knowledge of autism and fit into your busy schedule. Modules include: Understanding autism; Autism and communication; Autism and sensory experience; Autism, stress and anxiety; Autism, sport and physical activity; and Safeguarding children on the autism spectrum. Training is £30 + VAT per online module licence. Bulk purchase or subscription packages are available.

Download the Handy little Guide to Dyslexia Pearson’s practical guide that can provide valuable insight and advice on how to support your Dyslexic students in the classroom, no matter their background or language skills is now available to download. This comprehensive guide includes a range of support to help your dyslexic learners progress their reading skills including recommended teaching methodology, specific learning difficulties associated with Dyslexia and best practices to help learners overcome their difficulties.

autism.org.uk/training

Visit pearsonclinical.co.uk/dyslexiasen to get your digital copy.

Homefield College offers new provision

Rapid Phonics

The College has recently opened an exciting new venture; local coffee shop Breward’s in the heart of Leicestershire. The site also has an artisan bakery and outlet for students’ creative work. Breward’s joins existing café and sweetshop Barrow of Treats as on-site enterprises for Homefield students to gain practical work experience in a friendly and welcoming environment.

Rapid Phonics makes phonics catch-up sessions quick, memorable and fun from Year 1 to Year 6. Proven to work - even for children who have struggled on other phonics programmes, Rapid Phonics includes snappy lessons, 56 100% decodable, age-appropriate books and fantastic interactive online activities to build confidence and fluency. Discover everything you need to help struggling learners catch up and close the gap.

Along with a new enterprise, the College is now offering more courses including Graphic Design, Motor Vehicle Care and Woodland Construction.

Find out more and try free samples now: pearsonprimary.co.uk/rapidphonics

To find out more, or to book on an upcoming Open Day, contact: homefieldcollege.ac.uk / 01509 815696.

Also available as single titles on Amazon.

Take part in a Supported Internship in North London

CVI Range assessments at WESC Foundation

Supported Internships are aimed at young people aged 16-25 who have an Education, Health and Care plan and want to move into work but need extra support to do so. Taking place at Whittington Hospital, interns can develop a variety of workplace skills including administration, maintenance, hospitality and housekeeping.

WESC Foundation is still offering initial assessments for families who are considering placements for their child or young adult. A specialist centre for visual impairment, WESC Foundation offers education, care and support services for children and young adults.

The unpaid Supported Internships are part of the intern’s education and equip young people with special educational needs and disabilities with the skills needed for adulthood and employment. The programme is run by Ambitious College in partnership with DFNProjectSearch and Whittington Trust. To learn more about the programme, visit ambitiouscollege.org.uk/supported-internships.

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Assessments are currently being carried out by telephone, video call, or face to face (where social distancing permits). Please contact Richard Ellis for more information REllis@wescfoundation.ac.uk

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What’s new?

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Safespaces in Schools - Book your virtual assessment

Sunken Trampolines for schools and residences

Safespaces provide a calm, high or low sensory environment to meet a range of complex needs. For students who may feel anxious or stressed in a busy classroom, the Safespace offers a safe environment in which to retreat and begin to manage their own behaviours. This may be particularly useful when other rooms provided as calming spaces are now unavailable due to social distancing. Safespaces are ideal for one-to-one therapy and sensory play and have proved invaluable in many schools throughout the UK.

Since spring 2019, Sunken Trampolines have been producing and installing the first wholly UK manufactured in-ground Rebound Therapy trampoline.

To book an assessment contact us: 01706 816274, info@safespaces.co.uk, safespaces.co.uk

sunkentrampolines.co.uk

New sensory garden at Slindon College

57 webinars now available from The Festival of Learning Spaces

Slindon College is using money raised from this year’s fundraisers to create a Sensory Garden for its pupils. The project offers pupils the therapeutic benefits of nature, which can help ease anxieties, improve physical and mental health as well as ameliorating sensory processing issues. It will also be another stimulating outdoor educational space at the College. Pupils will play an active role in the creation of the garden, which will teach life skills like patience and nurturing whilst they wait for their seeds to flower and bloom. Furthermore, the project forms part of a wider commitment to the environment, creating a habitat for the wildlife that flock to the College’s impressive grounds.

Two sizes have been made, a standard schools trampoline size 15’ by 9’ and a 12’ by 8’, both of which comply with sporting equipment safety standards, meaning schools and residences can have an easily accessible sunken option instead of a heavy, clumsy above-ground trampoline. Compatible for outdoor and indoor use, the ST100 and 110 are perfect for Rebound Therapy and recreational use with great responsiveness and power combined.

TG Escapes, providers of ecobuildings for SEN, are sponsors for The Festival of Learning Spaces which features 133 speakers over 57 webinars which are now available free ondemand at www.festivaloflearningspaces.com. Topics include; Inclusive design, Designing for well-being, Responding to the zero-carbon challenge TG Escapes webinar, “Designing additional spaces for special needs”, features Kiran Hingorani CEO Swalcliffe Park School, Jayne Wilson CEO Petty Pool and Matthew Ellis of Acorn Care and Education answering questions about their eco-spaces for SEN. To see these and other SEN building case studies visit tgescapes.co.uk.

slindoncollege.co.uk

Play equipment from Sovereign As education sector professionals, you know how critical genuine SEN experience and expertise are in delivering outstanding play and learning environments that are easily accessible to all. From exploring and stimulating their senses, to interacting and participating in activities with their peers, Sovereign’s range of bespoke SEN play equipment has been carefully designed and developed over nearly 30 years to promote inclusion and beat isolation in the playground. From the initial consultation and creative proposals through to manufacture, installation and aftercare, you can relax and know you’re in safe hands. Get in touch and together we can make a difference. sovereignplayequipment.co.uk

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Online Skills-based Trainings, Conferences, Webinars Vital CPD and training needs for all child professionals (from education, social work. counselling, psychology, occupational therapy etc.) on child and adolescent mental health and child trauma. Upcoming live stream events include ‘Enabling Children to Speak About Feelings Through Storytelling’, ‘The Neuroscience of Emotions and Relationships – what you need to know to support children, teenagers and adults’, ‘Working with Bodies to Heal Minds (for children, teens and adults)’ and ‘Brain-Based Attachment Interventions to Transform Troubled Lives’ childmentalhealthcentre.org

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What’s new?

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TOUGH FURNITURE One of the latest additions to Tough Furniture’s SEN furniture range is the Fixed Computer Workstation (FCWS). Designed specifically for school environments where challenging behaviour is a feature of day to day life, the FCWS offers substantial long term savings through the protection and preservation of expensive computer equipment. The unit features all of the heavy duty construction qualities that Tough Furniture are known for, including a polycarbonate protection screen for the monitor, which can withstand even the most serious of impacts, and lockable cabinets for all computer hardware except the mouse and keyboard. For more information, visit: toughfurniture.com/product/fixed-computerworkstation/

Would you like to create an outdoor sensory space but have no funding? The outdoor sensory space in any setting should be fully inclusive and provide the same opportunity for everyone to explore regardless of their ability or special need. It should be a place where diversity is respected and valued, enabling children of all abilities to explore their surroundings in a safe child-centred inclusive environment. Timotay Playscapes have a free funding guide and free inspiration guide to outdoor sensory play spaces and outdoor sensory play equipment. For a free copy, email enquiries@timotayplayscapes.co.uk or call 01933 665151.

A New Chapter - Renaming Gryphon School

Oaka Books has launched KS4 science revision packs for GCSE pupils

This February Gryphon School, a specialist therapeutic school for young people became part of the Cavendish Education Group. An exciting renovation has begun to deliver specialist teaching facilities, purpose-built classrooms with enhanced access to technology, a broader range of specialist therapeutic areas and adding GCSE qualifications to its curriculum.

‘With the challenges faced by Year 10 and 11 pupils, especially our SEN pupils, we are thrilled to have the first packs ready,’ comments Bambi Gardiner, Oaka founder.

Principal Ian Thorsteinsson said, “The School has supported and worked with a number of young people in the local area. To mark this new chapter, and to celebrate the magnificent building that we occupy, we have decided to rename the school ‘Quorn Hall School’, with effect from September 2020.” Quorn Hall School will be fully integrated within Cavendish Education Group. quornhallschool.com

Welcome back Eddie after lockdown “Welcome back Eddie” aims to help young children to understand the issues around the coronavirus and to prepare them for a return to school. It sets out to explain how their classroom may look different and how they will be supported in having to adapt to social distancing. Eddie experiences a number of emotions and these are named. It is anticipated that children will be able to identify with Eddie through his findings and enjoy some fun with spot-the-difference pages!

nrsaunders.com

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As always with Oaka packs, the focus is on breaking key information down into bite-sized chunks, each supported by an illustration. Pages are divided into numbered sections and there are no long paragraphs. An illustrated glossary ensures that pupils are familiar with vocabulary. A workbook reinforces learning and Q&A cards enable pupils to practise information retrieval. Topic packs cost £7.97 each and are available from oakabooks.co.uk. There are volume discounts available for schools.

The Emotion Game: A Fun Resource to Help Children Manage their Emotions As children face the prospect of returning to school, many may struggle to manage their emotions, anxiety, fear, and stress, all of which could affect their behaviour in the school environment. The Emotion Game is a resource designed to help children express their emotions in a calm, relaxed environment. Children select “emotion” cards to reflect how they feel, then discuss these emotions with their peers and teachers. The Emotion Game helps children recognise their emotions, how to manage them, and encourages positive behaviour in class and at home. To learn more visit www.emotionsgame.com

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Point of view

Point of view: parent

Back to school during Covid-19 Alexis Wolfe discusses her worries for her son in the next school year.

Before COVID-19, my list of back-to-school worries were; will the escort and driver be the same friendly faces? Are key members of school staff unchanged? Where’s his spare white cane? But the pandemic brings extra concerns. My sixteen-yearold son has CHARGE Syndrome, multi-sensory impairment and is tube-fed. He’s enrolled at a specialist school for deaf children, which he hasn’t attended since the beginning of lockdown. Parenting a child with complex needs, I thought I’d developed nerves of steel, but the idea of my son returning to school is daunting. My son has a reasonable EHCP, enabling him to learn to the best of his abilities. I’m conscious that duties on Local Authorities to secure EHCP provisions were relaxed to ‘reasonable endeavours’ during the pandemic. Although this is due to be reversed before he returns, I do hope his school will follow his EHCP and consult us if certain elements are currently not possible.

“The idea of my son returning to school is daunting”

Transport is also causing anxiety. Our council has suggested parents make their own transport arrangements initially, but with school a sixty-mile round trip and his siblings at local schools this isn’t logistically possible. Can we ensure safety and distancing in his school taxi? Should we start practising with face covering? Personal care also concerns me. Previously he’s been assisted by a different staff member each day during lunch, now I’d prefer fewer close contacts. His Intervenor helps him navigate school using his cane and sometimes they link arms: will that be prohibited? He also benefits from visiting teachers for the Visually Impaired, MSI, and Mobility. Will that provision be suspended? I’m unsure what I’d prefer. SEN108

About the author Alexis Wolfe is a parent of three boys. alexiswolfe.co.uk @LexiWolfeWrites

My son misses socialising at school and he’s excited to return. Hopefully he’ll cope with new routines after the lengthy disruption. I’ve also heard other SEN parents expressing this worry. What’ll happen if our kids are unable to adhere to social distancing? It’s not easy if you’re visually impaired or don’t understand the concept. In order to prepare our children, we need details of what’s different, how ‘bubbles’ and classrooms will be set up. I was impressed with how his school adapted online learning for him. Undoubtedly, they’ll do their best to keep children and staff safe. However, my biggest fear, the one I hesitate to share with others, remains him catching Covid. I know the risk for children is statistically very low and I don’t have the same visceral fear for his two siblings. But my son has medical vulnerabilities. I’ve seen him intubated in PICU in the past, a trauma I’d never want to repeat. When you’ve experienced the reality of critical illness, it’s no longer an abstract concept. We’ve been safe and secure cocooning the last few months and I foresee being on tenterhooks all term. I’m conflicted because, of course, I want him to get back to his learning and therapies. To seeing friends. With no access to respite clubs or SEN activities for months, I’m as ready as the next SEN parent for a break from caring responsibilities. I just wish the virus had been eliminated to a greater degree. Setting out into the world again feels like a risk, however small. Parenting a child with additional needs has always involved an element of holding my breath, of living with uncertainty, and in the forthcoming term I expect this feeling will be intensified. senmagazine.co.uk

Point of view

Point of view: parent

How church helped my daughter during lockdown Marcia Squire-Wood talks about the support her daughter Ruby has received from her church during the Covid-19 lockdown. Lockdown started for Ruby on March 17th when I had to come and collect her from school as she had a high temperature. Honestly, I was filled with uncertainty, as I had no idea what to expect when caring for a sick teenager during the pandemic. Thankfully, Ruby’s high temperature did not affect her much, and as a family we soon adjusted to the “New normal” of home schooling two daughters and juggling work demands. Every morning Ruby and her sister settled down at 9.00 and embarked on the day’s home schooling with some degree of enthusiasm and lots of encouragement from my husband and myself. From the outset, Ruby’s special school devised a Covid-19 Pecs story book, which enabled us to explain to Ruby what was happening in the world and the reason why she was not going to the special Olympics swimming, the Girl’s Brigade, ballet and most importantly, church on Sunday. As parents, we knew from an early age that we wanted to include Ruby in as many community-based activities as possible in order to ensure she was part of the community and to reduce the isolation that she may experience due to her disability. Going into lockdown has had a huge impact on her ability to connect with other girls in different settings. Ruby is fifteen years old and has Down’s syndrome –Trisomy 21. She was also diagnosed with ADHD when she was six years old. I noticed that Ruby was feeling isolated, which presented itself in her talking to herself loudly. She has always enjoyed acting and talking to imaginary friends, however, this worsened in week six of the lockdown. This was really frustrating for us as a family, as we were all trying to work from home.

“I’m proud that our local Baptist church has embraced the challenges brought on by the pandemic.” house as she searched for items that were integral part of the games during zoom meetings. The meetings gave Ruby the opportunity to be part of the social group that she was missing educationally. The girl’s brigade leader utilised these sessions to also check on the girl’s emotional well-being, whilst incorporating a large dose of fun. I am grateful and impressed by the continual support that the Baptist church has offered Ruby, and she has welcomed every meeting by waiting by the laptop for the session to start. Without this spiritual support, Ruby would be further marginalised. The new normal has only highlighted how socially isolated children with disabilities can be. I am proud that our local Baptist church has embraced the challenges brought on by the Covid-19 pandemic and proved to be an inclusive setting that welcomes all through its doors.

How the church helped Ruby At the start of lockdown our Baptist church had set up a weekly girl’s brigade zoom meeting. Initially I did not see the importance of ensuring that Ruby joined the Girl’s Brigade group, as it clashed with my weekly team meeting. However, once Ruby joined, I saw an instant difference in her mood. She would chuckle with joy as she took part in the structured activities set up by the girl’s brigade leader. They sang hymns and prayed as a group which clearly benefited Ruby spiritually, as she has been drawn to going to Sunday school from a very young age and loves the choir. She skipped around the senmagazine.co.uk

We are always looking for new Point Of View articles from our readers. Do you have an interesting, thought-provoking or important point of view to share? We would love to hear from you! Feel free to send an email to our editor by contacting her via editor@senmagazine.co.uk

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SEN publishing

Why teaching children to read is not the answer Bambi Gardiner, founder of Oaka books, discusses the benefits of developing and publishing resources designed specifically for dyslexic children.

iteracy is the foundation that the education system and everyday life is built on. This is tough if you are one of the 16% of the UK population who is dyslexic (Dyslexia Action 2017). Reading is an important skill, which affects even the simplest of tasks – reading signs or menus, finding your way around a shop or scanning ingredient lists. As such, reading is heavily emphasised at school and has knock-on effects on the rest of the curriculum and life in general. But importantly, schools often focus so heavily on reading skills that the ‘what next?’ can be forgotten. Both publishers and schools have a responsibility to fill that space. The problem for large publishers is that the SEN market in the UK is very small, so why would you focus on that when you can make far more money in non-SEN resources? For those

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“How do you get your products to the children who will really benefit from them?” who do choose to make SEN their passion, the problem is; how do you get schools to take a look at your products and to take a look at the curriculum beyond teaching a child to read? How do you get your products to the children who will really benefit from them? senmagazine.co.uk

SEN publishing

“For people who read fluently and effortlessly it can be hard to appreciate the struggles faced by those with dyslexia.”

Some would say that it is not necessary to market products to schools, as schools will differentiate between pupils themselves while teaching them to read. However, SEN children, especially children with dyslexia, will always struggle with the written word, even if they have mastered basic reading, and in reality, schools do not always differentiate. But these pupils deserve the best shot at education. They need accessible resources to at least have the same opportunities as their peers who are reading fluently.

About the author Bambi Gardiner is the founder of Oaka Books, specialist publisher of curriculum-based resources for dyslexic children with the aim to help teachers and parents provide accessible material for their SEN pupils to enable them to be the best that they can be in the classroom. oakabooks.co.uk @OakaBooks

@oakabooks

The ongoing relevance of dyslexia There’s an assumption that once a child ‘can read’, at the correct level dyslexia becomes far less relevant. It doesn’t. Dyslexia doesn’t go away, you don’t recover from it, rather you learn to work with and around its drawbacks and benefits. But in an environment like school, where life is so text heavy, pupils often experience a daily uphill battle. What can we, as publishers do? We can step away from the profit margin and look at how and who we can benefit. Small, niche publishers can achieve big things for struggling children, but they need teachers to take time to have a look at new resources and, sometimes, to think differently for their pupils. For people who read fluently and effortlessly it can be hard to appreciate the struggles faced by those with dyslexia. A dyslexic child does not fluidly scan across a page, grasping meaning as they go. Instead, they battle with every letter and every word. The time, energy, and concentration it takes to read is frustrating and tiring. Reading and writing will probably remain slower and more difficult for the rest of their lives. Processing and comprehension can be slow and painful. Both my husband and daughter are dyslexic and both are exhausted when required to read and assimilate large amounts of text.

The problem with unadapted resources At school in Years 1 and 2, pupils are often given age appropriate reading resources to work with. The complexity of language used is clear and simple and they can often manage to just about keep up with some help and luck. The problem really becomes evident when children move into and beyond Year 3. They may now have different teachers for different subjects, and not all teachers will be knowledgeable or sympathetic to the needs of their SEN pupils. Things can start to unravel very quickly. Struggling pupils are either expected to work from the same resources as their fluently reading peers or they are given resources for younger children because the reading age is more suitable. This can be extremely distressing. For nonsenmagazine.co.uk

■ Reading can be exhausting for those with Dyslexia.

dyslexics it is difficult to comprehend, as it is not a problem we have ever encountered. However, it is often a humiliating experience for dyslexic students. Occasionally, they will be given resources that are designed to help dyslexic pupils and are the correct academic age for them. Now, put yourself in the place of that dyslexic child and imagine your relief at being given age-appropriate resources that you can actually use, independently. This can be a real game changer. Some dyslexic people describe visual effects of letters moving around. Spelling remains a challenge and neat handwriting takes them more effort than their peers. It is common for some letters to be written backwards, such as mixing up a b and a d.

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SEN publishing

Other effects of dyslexia There are also other effects of dyslexia completely unrelated to reading. Dyslexic children might struggle with planning and organisation or find it hard to retain a series of instructions, losing their thread part way through. The effects of struggling with parts of their classwork can sometimes include difficulty in maintaining concentration which can result in lost confidence and poor behaviour. The knock-on effects of dyslexia can be huge. Cracking phonics does not help here. But providing pupils with well thought out resources that play to their strengths and enable them to grasp logic because there are images to help reinforce information through games and quizzes and don’t require huge amounts of writing will have a big impact. This is not only an impact on their academic achievement but also on mental wellbeing and self-confidence in the classroom. After all, who wants to always be last to finish, or not even get started because you are stuck on the first few words? It is crushing, and it happens daily. Even children with dyslexia who can read well will benefit from specific resources designed for them. Because reading is such hard work, they respond well to visuals such as illustration and pictures. Large chunks of text are overwhelming and off-putting. Even a single textbook for one subject is incredibly daunting and runs the risk of not even being opened. What’s the benefit in that budgetary spend? Small amounts of information on a page, careful use of colour, reduced distractions, clear page layouts and large amounts of repetition in different ways all create the scaffolding a dyslexic child needs in order to thrive in the classroom.

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“Dyslexic pupils are often stuck in a loop of using inadequate reading and learning materials.”

Dyslexic pupils often have good creativity and problem-solving abilities. They can respond well to using puzzles to take in new information and prove what they know. Quizzes in a verbal format rather than a written one are often successful and give students the chance to shine without the stress of needing to read and write. Dyslexic pupils are often stuck in a loop of using inadequate reading and learning materials. If you are spending money, try something different, something that works and speaks the language of its most important audience; children and young people with SEN. The ability to read is important, but mastering reading doesn’t mean that a child’s dyslexia is now irrelevant. It will remain a factor for the rest of their education and the rest of their lives. Dyslexia cannot be mended because a child with dyslexia is not broken. We can, at least, level the playing field by publishing resources that work for them and with them. After all, such resources will benefit all the pupils in the class.

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Dyscalculia

Phonics

Deaf pupils “failed by education system” five years running Deaf pupils are yet again being let down by a badly-designed, inaccessible education system that does not deliver for them, according to the National Deaf Children’s Society (NCDS). Deafness isn’t a learning disability, so it is clear that hearing-impaired students are not achieving their potential, falling behind now for the fifth consecutive year The NCDS says deaf children have been seriously disadvantaged because the coronavirus pandemic made it much more difficult for them to get support from the key staff they rely on. In addition, despite the best efforts of schools, many resources offered for learning at home were simply not accessible to deaf pupils due to a lack of subtitles and translation into British Sign Language. The charity is calling on the Government to urgently re-examine how it is providing for deaf children and make sure that any tuition or catch-up lessons are fully accessible. NCDS Chief Executive Susan Daniels said: “This year every child in the country has experienced what it’s like to be excluded from education. For many deaf children, this is the daily reality in a system that is badly designed and consistently lets them down.” senmagazine.co.uk

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SEN news

Hearing loss and social distancing A new report into how people with hearing loss have been experiencing the coronavirus measures, and has found there have been many negative effects on them, but also a few unexpected positive ones. The study was carried out in a rapid turnaround by experts in hearing disability at the University of Nottingham’s Hearing Sciences Scottish Section at the Glasgow Royal Infirmary. • Video calls without subtitles. Remote learning by video conference was much more common under lockdown, but live subtitling was often not provided (but was appreciated when it was). On the positive side, meeting participants with less impaired hearing used their hearing aids less than before lockdown. • Widespread increased anxiety, especially in the worse hearing group, particularly about verbal communication situations and not being able to access their audiology services. Some people also reported dwelling more on their hearing loss during lockdown than in normal times. However, people with more severe hearing loss showed substantial relief at not having to attend challenging social gatherings.

• Most of the participants said they found it hard to converse with people in face masks due to muffled sound and not being able to see lips moving. Transparent face masks were suggested as a partial solution. • There was some evidence of face mask fixtures interfering with hearing aids. More information: shorturl.at/jmuBD

Getting ready to go back

Who do we trust?

“Coming back to school after lockdown has its own stresses and some children will also have suffered personal trauma. The start of the new school year requires everyone to centre the health, comfort and wellbeing of children and we are hopeful that our advice will be part of this approach.” Dr Sally Payne, Professional Advisor for Children and Young People, Royal College of Occupational Therapists (RCOT).

Back to school – and who do we trust to make decisions about returning to school after lockdown? Scientists and doctors, apparently. A recent survey by Dynata asked people who they trust, and found that:

The RCOT has produced a guide entitled ‘Preparing your child for returning to school’. The guide is available at www.rcot.co.uk/node/3556

Sunflower lanyard now national All Britain’s rail companies now recognise Sunflower lanyards and cards, so that passengers with hidden disabilities can travel with confidence by train. The Sunflower scheme enables people with nonvisible disabilities to discreetly let others know that they might require a little more time, support or assistance. Sunflower lanyards are available from participating stores. If you have experienced help (or otherwise) when using the lanyard, please tell us about it. Email editor@senmagazine.co.uk SEN108

•

21% say scientists and doctors

•

19% say Public Health Authorities

•

14% say Central Government – but it seems the younger you are the less you trust the government (see below)

•

13% say Department for Education

•

10% say management/teachers at schools

•

Trust in government advice is apparently much stronger for older people – only 9% of 16-24 year olds trust the government to make the decision, compared to 15% of 55-64 year olds and 18% of 65-74 year olds.

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Choosing the right school or college

Mainstream education should cater to all Steve Proctor, head of sixth form at MOAT school, discusses the many upsides to inclusive teaching in mainstream schools.

hen working with pupils with dyslexia, there is often a focus on coping strategies to work in conventional education. The requirements for success for these pupils who think differently are often stacked against them. Repetitive learning, large class sizes, hard set deadlines and no one-to-one support build up to a confusing and disheartening final result for many pupils who don’t fit into the box of mainstream education. Whilst there are many SEN specialist schools throughout the UK, they often focus on vocational qualifications, which although are fantastic in their own right. However, they don’t allow for highly intelligent pupils to get their foot in the door of higher education, which unfortunately still runs on narrow entry requirements. After leaving secondary education, pupils with Education Health Care Plans often find themselves either thrown into Sixth Form or College with little to no support, or unable to attend a conventional institute at all. In mainstream sixth form or college, up to 10 pupils can access shared support in already large classes, even though they require individual help. Pupils in post-16 education often want to blend in with their mainstream peers. A delicate and collaborative approach to supporting these students needs to be adopted. Within this complex situation the classroom teacher and learning support staff need to work together. Far too often, SEN pupils are still viewed as the responsibility of the support assistant. The Department for Education’s (DOE) Teachers Standards require each teacher to adapt their teaching to meet the strengths and needs of all the students in their class. Every teacher should be a teacher of SEN and not focus on the individual but make classes accessible for all pupils to achieve their potential. A central change in SEND Code of Practice has been focussed on ensuring all teachers see themselves as teachers who have

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About the author Steve Proctor is the head of The Moat Sixth Form part of the Cavendish Group. Steve joins the Sixth Form in its first year opening in September 2020. Previously, Steve has experience as a SENco and Learning Assistant at William Morris Sixth Form focusing on pupils with dyslexia and SPLDs. moatschool.org.uk moatsixthform.org.uk

“Pupils in post-16 education often want to blend in with their mainstream peers.” responsibility for the progress and well-being of every child in their class, including those who have SEND. A significant amount of SEN pupils suffer high anxiety in Year 11 and the further transition period to year 12. Pastoral and academic support to guide them through this transition is crucial in their steps to adulthood and individual learning. SEN students should not be disadvantaged by their needs when trying to gain entry into BTEC and A Level courses and bespoke support should be in place for each individual that does not serve to give them an advantage over non SEN peers but simply levels the playing field.

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Opening September 2020

The Moat Sixth Form is a dyslexia and SpLD specialist Sixth Form with a focus on whole school SEN support. Providing an academic and nurturing environment for pupils with both unique learning profiles and learning difficulties. A-Level, Btec and GCSE resits at it core with a built in work experience programme for all pupils. Visit www.moatsixthform.org.uk for full course list and more information

All children can achieve

The Moat Sixth Form 23-31 Beavor Lane, Hammermsith, London W6 9AR Email: office@moatschool.org.uk Tel: 020 7610 9098

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Choosing the right school or college

Exploring post-16 or post-19 college placements for students with visual impairment and complex needs? Discover our beautif ul Exeter campus with facilities that include a sensor y room, swimming po ol, hydrotherapy suite, outdoor learning sp ac es an d a range of residentia l accommodation. Specialist teaching an d support staff inclu ding in-house health, mob ility, orientation and therapy teams. Options to access em ployability and work experience, horticultu re and gardening, dr ama, music, social events and much more!

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The right support. The right environment. The right approach.

At the Hesley Group we work hard to create the right environment within our schools. Vibrant, fun and supportive places to be where young people aged 8 to 19 with complex needs can discover new skills and find new confidence. With our unique settings, highly skilled multi-disciplinary teams and a true person centred approach we see, firsthand, how individuals can overcome challenges and achieve great things.

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To find out more about the great work we do visit www.hesleygroup.co.uk or call 0800 055 6789

Established in 1975, the Hesley Group provides specialist support through its schools, colleges and adult residential services with a highly experienced and expert multidisciplinary educational, care and therapeutic staff resource, in high quality purpose built settings. We’re focussed on positive outcomes and progress towards sustainable independence.

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Choosing the right school or college

Back to school, engaging and learning…. Starting at Fullerton House Lisa arrived at Fullerton House in 2016. Her former accommodation had been extremely sparse due to high levels of property damage. On arriving at her new home at Fullerton House, Lisa challenged and damaged her environment. Initial attempts to introduce Lisa to school were difficult, as she would refuse to dress, rip her clothes or strip almost daily. With no formal method of communication, Lisa could not convey her needs and wants. Frustrated, she displayed extreme levels of physical aggression.

An MDT Approach As a young person with autism, learning disabilities and complex needs, Lisa found engaging with the world around her very challenging. Living on her own, without school or her local community, Lisa’s world risked becoming very small. The Multi-Disciplinary Team (MDT) at Fullerton House needed to develop strategies to reverse this trend as soon as possible. The Speech and Language Therapist (SaLT) team trialled a number of approaches to support Lisa’s communication. Daily Makaton signing sessions proved particularly successful, helping Lisa to start developing critical communication skills. A box of sensory items was introduced, helping Lisa to more effectively self-regulate and engage in her environments. The Psychology Team began work with Lisa’s respite service whilst she was still there as part of a thorough transition process. A functional behaviour assessment was carried out resulting in a number of recommendations and agreed strategies; the MDT worked together to ensure these were implemented across both care and education settings. A core support team was developed that worked altered hours to ease the transition. A bespoke education package, based on Applied Behaviour Analysis (ABA), was implemented to re-integrate Lisa into the school programme. The psychology team provided extensive input to address her reluctance to attend school.

So how is Lisa doing now? Lisa attends school every day now. She wears her school uniform and now dresses appropriately almost all of the time. She attends community-based activities, particularly enjoying swimming and cycling. She communicates using Makaton signing, gestures and pointing and her staff team sign key words with her frequently. She also chooses her lunch from symbols available at the school canteen. Previously, Lisa made very limited food choices but she is now eating a varied and healthy diet.

still relatively minimal in terms of furnishings, but with property damage now minimal, more homely furniture is being trialled. Having been unable to live within her family home for a number of years, developing good quality contact time has been really important for Lisa. She has made so much progress during her time at Fullerton House that family meals with her parents to busy restaurants and regular family outings have all been possible. Obviously, this has brought great joy to Lisa, her family and the staff at Fullerton House.

What next? As Lisa approaches young adulthood, the future looks bright for her. Back to school, engaging in her learning and accessing her local community mean many doors are now open for her. With all Lisa’s progress, a range of young adult service options now can be explored with confidence. If you would like to learn more about Fullerton House School or Hesley Group’s other children and young people’s services visit their website at www.hesleygroup.co.uk or call on Freephone 0800 055 6789.

With her communication needs now far better met, Lisa rarely displays aggression towards her staff. Her home environment is senmagazine.co.uk

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Choosing the right school or college

St. John’s School (Seaford) and St. John’s College (Brighton) are delighted to announce the appointment of one of our existing experienced colleagues as our new ‘Autism Leader‘. Although all our education, residential and therapy staff are highly trained in good autism practice, we aim for continuous improvement in what we offer. We have a long and proud history of supporting children, young people and adults with autism and by appointing a specialist Autism Leader across all our sites in Sussex, we are taking our work up to another level. Alexandra is working at post-graduate level on a Master of Education course in Autism at the University of Birmingham. Alexandra’s appointment comes as we sharpen our admissions criteria to be even more focussed on autism. Our new policy states: St. John’s will admit a child, young person or adult with a learning disability if they meet an appropriate number of these criteria: 1. Age: 7 – 25 2. Primary need: Communication and Interaction (primarily Autism Spectrum Condition, ASC). We also accept placements where the primary need is described as: Asperger’s Syndrome, High Functioning Autism, Atypical Autism, Pervasive Development Disorder, Oppositional Defiant Disorder, Pathological Demand Avoidance or similar. Some non-ASC primary needs are similar in presentation and we will assess such requests sympathetically. 3. Some EHCPs still use terms such as BESD and SEMH to stand for autism! Where the need is primarily autism, we will consider such applications. 4. Secondary needs: a) Mental Health needs where community mental health services are already fully involved b) Down’s Syndrome c) Hearing Impairment d) Visual Impairment e) Pathological Demand Avoidance or Demand Avoidance f) Gender Identity or Gender Dysphoria g) Fragile X h) Other chromosomal disorders i) Other: where we can meet need.

For more information, contact the College on 01273 244 000 / 244 003 or the school on 01323 872 953 or email admissions@st-johns.co.uk senmagazine.co.uk

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Choosing the right school or college

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Choosing the right school or college

At Homefield College, we empower our students to achieve their future goals. As an independent specialist college, we offer: • person-centred educational pathways • innovative learning and development programmes • vocational placements in high street settings • full and varied social opportunities You can now find us in Warwickshire too! We have recently opened a successful new campus in Nuneaton. Join us for an upcoming Open Day to explore our college sites & learn about the Homefield experience. Sat 26 Sept & Sat 10 Oct 10am - 2pm

Contact us to express your interest: www.homefieldcollege.ac.uk/OpenDays 217 Loughborough Road, Mountsorrel, LE12 7AR senmagazine.co.uk

Choosing the right school or college

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Dyslexia

Specific Strategies for Supporting Dyslexia Katie Moylan discusses a number of strategies you can use to support those in your classroom who have dyslexia.

ow do you currently accommodate the needs of children with dyslexia in your classroom? The British Dyslexia Association estimates that 10% of the population has dyslexia, meaning that in a mainstream public classroom, as many as 3 students may have needs relating to dyslexia. The most common dyslexia support in schools often includes using coloured background, overlays and reading interventions. However, is that really the best use of our time and resources to support, enable and empower students with dyslexia?

“Educators need to pay more attention to the needs of students with dyslexia.”

The Department of Education’s paper ‘Developing a Dyslexia Friendly Learning Environment’, states that teachers should “Use coloured paper instead of white” (DoE, p7). Despite this guideline, Uccula et al (2014) researched the effectiveness of using coloured overlays for dyslexic students, and found that this helps only 46% of people with dyslexia. This implies that we as educators need to pay more attention to the needs of students with dyslexia in order to develop specific strategies for effective dyslexia support. Here are a few suggestions for developing skills surrounding the reading process.

to be able to spot a pattern in sounds and spellings, we need to explicitly teach pattern spotting in the wider learning environment, to be able to apply this skill to letters and phonemes. Simple activities and games that involve replicating shape patterns or colour sequences should be integrated into the learning experience on a regular basis. Patterns should be brought to the forefront of the minds of the teachers, students and parents. This could be implemented through a ‘Pattern non-uniform day’, whereby students are allowed to wear their own clothes which have patterns. This can initiate discussions and activities based on pattern spotting, which then in turn can be extended to pattern spotting in spellings.

Pattern spotting

Visual tracking

Much of phonics teaching is based on teaching students to recognize spelling patterns, as advised by the BDA; “Draw attention to patterns in words” (BDA Dyslexia Checklist). But

Visual tracking is often overlooked as a key sub-skill of reading. In order to read, we need to be able to follow a word or a line, and often refer backwards to look for context cues. Spot the

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Dyslexia

“This transforms ‘mistakes’ into an inherent and positive aspect of the learning process.” difference is a great way to teach and practice this skill as it involves tracking and referring back to the previous picture. If used as a starter or baseline introduction to a reading activity this is also an effective way to encourage motivation in children with dyslexia to then lead into reading.

About the author Katie Moylan is studying an MA in Special and Inclusive Education from the University of Nottingham. She has a PGCE in secondary English and has also taught primary for several years. She currently works as the secondary SEN and EAL teacher at an international school in the Netherlands. linkedin.com/in/katie-moylan-77257017a/

Tactile activities It is a common practice when teaching phonics to teach using a range of sensory activities, such as writing the letter or phoneme in sand or foam. As children get older though, they may need a wider range of kinaesthetic activities to continue their sensory learning of word sounds. Phoneme flip books can be an engaging activity for students to create their own phonics books. Using a piece of card, first write the letters of a phoneme or split digraph. Then on separate smaller pieces of paper, students can write a range of consonants. They then staple the consonants into place either side of the phonemes or digraphs, creating a flip book of rhyming words which all use the same sound. For example,the o-e digraph could have letters stapled on the create, ‘wrote’, ‘vote’, ‘hope’, etc. when the student flips through the pages. Using a hands-on activity such as this should hopefully stimulate different cognitive areas for the student creating a more profound learning experience.

Alphabet activities Knowledge of the alphabet is fundamental to a vast array of further skills needed in life. Due to issues with sequencing as well as letter recognition, people with dyslexia often struggle greatly with the alphabet, developing many tricks to mask this difficulty. The alphabet arc is widely used as a teaching aid in primary schools. Learning the sequence in an arc helps to visualize the order more easily than if it is learned in a straight line. The arc often colour codes the sections of the alphabet to further help students to remember the alphabet without having to recite it from the beginning every time then need to know the order of a letter. This could be extended further in the classroom by using these colours for words in lessons. Kinaesthetic activities could also be employed. For example, students could create their own mini dictionaries of the first 100 highest frequency words, using a different coloured paper for each letter of the alphabet. This type of activity could be an effective support intervention for the teaching of the alphabet with older students as it is kinaesthetic as well as using the visual cues of colours, and auditory sense if the students then read their colour coded dictionaries aloud.

Miscue analysis as formative assessment Goodman (1969) first coined the term ‘miscue’. This is when a person reading a text says a word which is different from the word on the page. This is common in younger children senmagazine.co.uk

as they are constantly growing their vocabulary and so sometimes ‘misread’ words. The interesting thing about this as an intervention strategy is the importance placed on the positivity of miscues. Goodman explained how to see mistakes made by the student as a formative tool: what the child reads aloud can tell us an awful lot about their current reading and phonetic level. We can then use this to formulate effective and specific next steps, tailored to the understanding and needs of the individual. When a student misreads ‘move’, for, ‘more’, we can see that they have a firm grasp of the split digraph ‘o-e’ yet need more support with differentiating between consonant sounds. This transforms ‘mistakes’ into an inherent and positive aspect of the learning process. If we can transmute this positivity surrounding mistakes to our students, then we can hopefully begin to build self-esteem and confidence in their reading too. References British Dyslexia Association (Undated) Dyslexia [online] Available at: https://www.bdadyslexia.org.uk/dyslexia [Accessed on 28th November 2019] DfES (2015) Miscue Analysis [Online] Available at: https://www. excellencegateway.org.uk/content/etf1257 [Accessed on 2nd December 2018] Department of Education (2007), Developing a Dyslexia Friendly Learning Environment [Online] Available at: https://www.education-ni. gov.uk/sites/default/files/publications/de/dyslexia-friendly-learningenvironment.pdf [Accessed on 17th June 2019] Norwich B., and Lewis A. (2007), How Specialized is Teaching Children with Disabilities and Difficulties? Curriculum Studies [Online] , 39(2), pp 127-150 Available at: https://www-tandfonline-com.ezproxy.nottingham.ac.uk/ doi/full/10.1080/00220270601161667?scroll=top&needAccess=true [Accessed on 26th April 2019] Uccula A. Enna M., Mulatti C., (2014) Colors, colored overlays, and reading skills. Frontiers in Psychology [Online] 5. Available at: doi: 10.3389/ fpsyg.2014.00833 [Accessed on 7th June 2019]

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School trips

Post Covid-19 Lockdown Operations Justin Farnan looks back on the lockdown and discusses the future of socially distanced holidays at Calvert Lakes.

ere at Calvert Lakes, we have been welcoming school groups to our residential outdoor activities centre in the Lake District since 1978. We focus exclusively on those with disabilities and their support and can cater for all complexities, including those that other centres may struggle to accommodate. We were the first of our kind in the country, although there are now other centres who have focussed on the SEN residential sector and will operate in a similar way.

“A core difference between specialist and mainstream centres is the entirety of the range of adapted facilities they will have.”

A core difference between specialist and mainstream centres is the entirety of the range of adapted facilities they will have. We have no dormitory rooms, with all bedrooms featuring en-suite wetrooms A selection of rooms also have raisable hospital-style beds, and we can put additional equipment such as hoists and shower chairs into rooms as required. We also have a hydrotherapy pool with a tracking hoist, and a sensory room. The centre has additional safeguarding features such as vibrating alarms which fit under a pillow for those with sensory disabilities and special security doors to prevent flight risk. Every aspect of the facilities at the centre has been designed with the additional needs of our disabled visitors in mind, with lifts and ramps throughout.

Activities

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We offer everything you would expect from a mainstream centre, but we may deliver it in a different manner. For example, we have specialist frames to allow wheelchair users to abseil straight from their chair, hoists to get chair users in and out of boats or onto horses, wheelchair accessible trap-driving and a host of other adapted activities. Perhaps the biggest difference in terms of activity provision are our instructors, who view their work here as almost a vocation. In normal circumstances we are open all year round (with the exception of Christmas and New Year) which allows us to retain permanent staff who then build up the soft skills senmagazine.co.uk

School trips

About the author Justin Farnan is the Sales and Marketing Manager at Calvert Lakes, as well as one of the Duty Managers responsible for site safety. calvertlakes.org.uk @calvertlakes

@CalvertLakes

“The capacity of the centre will be reduced by at least 35%” relevant Visit Britain ‘Good to Go’ guidelines and accreditation with our Covid-19 policies given prominence on our website. The key areas to address are changing room allocations, communal spaces and bedrooms to fit the new standard, enforcing social distancing, ensuring catering and meal times are safe, facilitating desinfection and sanitisation throughout the center, team training and PPE. required to encourage and coach SEN pupils to participate. The majority of the children who visit here will have learning disabilities, rather than just physical, although many may have a combination, so these soft skills are as important as the instructing qualifications which our instructors also have. The facilities, the adapted activities and the soft skills of the instructors allow us and similar centres to cater for groups with a high number of SEN participants, whereas mainstream centres can be overwhelmed if there are more than just a few. This is especially the case when those with learning disabilities also display challenging behaviours. However, regardless of specialisations, the entire sector has felt the ongoing impact of the Covid-19 lockdown.

Broadly speaking, we have to accept that the capacity of the centre will be reduced by at least 35%. This is due to restrictions on numbers we can accommodate within individual activity groups, over-allocation of rooms to ensure households or bubbles are kept separate and also use of the communal areas and dining room where limited numbers can be accommodated at the same time. We have put markings on floors throughout the centre, put Perspex screens up in reception and the tuckshop and erected multiple cleaning and sanitisation points throughout the centre.

After Lockdown Back in February, before the world changed, we were looking forward to another successful year and anticipating a higher number of visitors to the centre than ever before with forward bookings looking very positive for the whole of 2020. Needless to say, that all stopped with the centre being fully closed to residents from mid-March until our reopening date of 31st. July 2020. Although at time of writing schools are unable to participate in residentials until at least 2021, unlike a lot of centres we have the benefit of other types of residential disabled visitors, some of which will be visiting the centre over the coming months. We have spent a lot of time in the last few weeks looking at all operations making sure we minimise risk as much as possible and ensuring we comply with all the senmagazine.co.uk

SEN108

School trips

Learning Outside the Classroom for SEN Groups – A Case Study Astley Park School is a special needs state school for pupils with a range of learning difficulties whose needs cannot be met fully in a mainstream school. Each year they take a group of at least 30 pupils on a learning outside the classroom residential. Their aim is to challenge and develop the pupils’ social skills, alongside having a good experiential adventure helping to develop their independence. Their lead teacher Carol outlines their approach: “The setting, the staff and the fact that we have been before and had a very positive experience means this outstrips everywhere else for me. It’s a 5-star experience in terms of a residential, and I have been on many.” Carol also appreciated that the week’s schedule was devised in collaboration between the centre’s staff and the school before they arrived, which meant they were able to plan a programme that actually suited their group’s specific requirements. “We walk through the centre doors on the Monday and know we are going to be a very different group walking. In terms of the relationships that have developed during the course of the week, we become a more cohesive group which will be extremely beneficial when we are back at school. The insight I have gained into the pupils, what the pupils have experienced and learnt is priceless.” Her colleague Joe agrees. “A lot of the students have been at our school since nursery and through to 15 [years old] so to have this insight into what challenges and barriers lie ahead, and get them ready for them leaving school, developing their independence, is invaluable.” “It has been a privilege to witness our students’ selfconfidence, self-esteem, life skills and independence develop. I’m very proud of all they have achieved.” continues Carol. Joe too feels the same about the group; he has seen most students stepping out of their comfort zone and he sees them grow in self confidence over the duration of the week alone.

While we are doing everything within our power to ensure that all guidelines are followed to make a stay with us safe and secure, it is the responsibility of visiting staff to ensure that the social distancing of those in their care is managed. If members of a group are unable to maintain social distancing, we need to know in advance so that we can do a personal risk assessment for the safety of staff and other residents. We will not be able to deliver some of our normal activities, while others will hardly be impacted. We won’t be doing any horse or trap driving during the course of this pandemic due to proximity of staff to users. Similarly, we would need to assess the risk for individuals who need a high level of proximity when fitting harnesses. Some of the activities however, such as guided walks, accessible cycling and canoeing, require very little adaption other than awareness of the need for social distancing and sanitation. Whatever the disabilities of the group, we can ensure we will still be delivering a meaningful programme of exciting and enjoyable activities. As we all know, guidelines and restrictions are changing regularly as we go through this post-lockdown period and we will be constantly adapting and changing our practices as we go. The good news for SEN School groups is by the time they are able to return to the centre in 2021 we will have had at least 4 operational months to tweak and finesse what we do. Rest assured, when you do return we will have plenty of experience in delivering safe and secure Covid-19-compliant learning outside the classroom residentials.

Praise was given to the supportive staff by both Carol and Joe, for their understanding of the needs of the group: “You get that very quickly,” Carol commented. They appreciated that at the Centre we have someone on site, on call, even throughout the night. Joe said, “It’s the staff that make it – it’s the knowing when you need a little bit of extra support; it’s always just timed just perfectly; their change of face just at the right time. The staff just have that experience.”

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Fostering

Room for more Could you give a child a loving home? Foster with us and you’ll help a child to feel safe, happy and cared for. The children we look after have been through a really difficult time. But you can give them the love and stability they need. And we’ll be by your side – offering training and support every step of the way. We’d love to hear from you: actionforchildren.org.uk/fosterwithus Registered charity nos. 1097940/SC038092. Company no. 4764232. © Action for Children 2020.1465.

We’re always looking for foster carers for children of all ages and abilities but we currently have an increased need for carers for children with complex disabilities. These carers provide family-based, long-term and short-break foster placements for children and young people who continue to live with their families or carers. The role is self-employed, paid at a higher rate equivalent to a wage and carried out full time as a main job. Carers would have experience of working with young people with complex disabilities, have suitable accommodation or be willing to have it adapted with our help. If you’re interested we’d love to hear from you. Find out more about fostering for Derbyshire by visiting www.derbyshire.gov.uk/fostering or call 0800 083 77 44.

Change lives – foster for Derbyshire SEN108

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Dyspraxia

Six tips for supporting children with dyspraxia Kim Griffin shares her six useful strategies to help children with dyspraxia feel at ease in the classroom.

yspraxia is a term used to describe the difficulty children and adults have when they struggle to plan and organise their movements. It is sometimes used interchangeably with the term Developmental Coordination Disorder (DCD). This is because dyspraxia itself isn’t a formally recognised medical diagnosis, whereas DCD is.

Defining dyspraxia The term dyspraxia is frequently used to describe anyone that is a little clumsy. However, dyspraxia is more than just a little clumsiness. Sensory integration therapists would also expect an individual with dyspraxia to have difficulties with ideation or planning, as well as execution. Ideation means coming up with an idea, or coming up with a plan on what to do. Some individuals with dyspraxia struggle with this. They cannot think about what they could do with equipment, or items. So, if you give them a box of Lego they won’t be able to think of what to build. Or if you ask them to write a story, they may struggle to come up with an idea. Planning is the ability to figure out how to execute the idea. This includes organising the steps and movements of an activity. To build a house with Lego, steps might include putting a row of bricks along the bottom to create a base, and then building more bricks upwards to create the doors, walls and roof. As SEN108

“Ideation is often the forgotten part of dyspraxia.” another example, in the case of writing a story, the child needs to think about the introduction, problem and conclusion of the story and how to link those sections together. Doing is the part where your body moves to execute the plan. For Lego, it involves using your fingers to put the bricks together and having the ability to line bricks up so that they fit. It includes making sure that enough pressure is used when pushing the bricks together. With writing a story, it includes the ability to write, and the ability to put the ideas down in the right order. Dyspraxia can be a great hindrance in day-to-day life, so I have included some tips on how to help those who suffer from it.

1. Supporting ideation Dyspraxia can have a huge impact on day-to-day life. Here are some tips you can use to help children with dyspraxia be successful. When children have trouble with ideation, they often struggle to get started. Because of this, they are often the senmagazine.co.uk

Dyspraxia

“Playing ‘what if’ games can be a nice way to practise planning.” ones that follow rather than lead. This is because following is much easier for them than coming up with an idea. For these individuals it is important that they are given extra opportunities, and more encouragement, to come up with their own ideas.

2. It’s all about planning Planning is very important to remember if you are the one helping a child or adult with dyspraxia. They will need more help and more time when learning new tasks. They will likely benefit from visual demonstrations alongside verbal instructions. They will also benefit from extra opportunities to practise when learning a new skill or task. Parents and teachers can help by setting activities up to ensure that children are successful. Sometimes, this means that they do all of the planning for their children or pupils. If there is enough time and the child is calm, it is essential that they do start to plan on their own. Sometimes, it can help if the adult talks through their steps out loud. This helps the child to understand how the adult is thinking and planning. Playing ‘what if’ games can be a nice way to practise planning skills.

3. Generalising It is also important to understand that children with dyspraxia often can’t generalise skills. Generalisation is the ability to transfer skills learnt from one activity to the next one. For example, transferring the ability to put on a heavy winter coat with large buttons across to putting on a light autumn coat with a zip. For some children, this may be like learning the skill of putting on a coat all over again.

About the author Kim Griffin is a paediatric occupational therapist. She has extensive experience working with children who have sensory and/or motor skill challenges, including those with autism and dyspraxia. Her current focus is creating online training and resources for schools, teachers and parents, including training on sensory processing and dyspraxia. @Griffin_OT

@GriffinSensoryOT www.GriffinOT.com

think they can achieve their idea. Help them to stay engaged with the task by helping them with their planning.

5. D ifficulty with planning can also increase anxiety levels Imagine a movement you are asked to fix a broken car. How does this make you feel? Unless you are a mechanic, you will likely feel quite anxious. You most likely do not even know where to start! You might not even know how to open up the bonnet, let alone what you should be looking for once it’s open. This is because it is an unfamiliar and unknown task.

This can be very frustrating for those working with children who have dyspraxia, as it may look like they are being ‘difficult,’ or ‘challenging’ when they actually don’t know how to start an activity or don’t know what to do. It is important to not make the assumption that because they have learnt ‘Skill A’ they will automatically move the knowledge to ‘Skill B’. You may need to teach them again, from the start.

Individuals with dyspraxia have this feeling all the time. Even for tasks that are similar to what they have done before, they may not know where to start. If they have not had multiple opportunities to practise, they may not remember the steps, which can increase anxiety. Children may need reassurance and extra help with the planning and extra time.

4. Poor planning can sometimes be mistaken for inattention

The final piece of advice is to teach the child to ask for help. Teach them to ask ‘Can you show me?’ or ‘How should I do that?’ or ‘I’m not sure I understand what to do’. This gives them a strategy they can use when they are stuck with their planning. So, rather than avoiding the activity, getting worried or escalating their behaviour, they will have a functional strategy to use.

Sometimes children who can’t plan look like they are inattentive. This is especially true if they have good ideas. For example, they might have the Lego box and want to build a car, a house and a tree. However, they can’t figure out how to create their idea. So, they move over to the K’Nex. Then they want to build a car and a gear. Again, they can’t make the plan. So, they move on to playdough. Here, they might push the dough out, and roll it up again, but then become bored when they can’t figure out how to use the cutters. These children need support with planning so they can complete a task. Use their idea, and help them to be successful by showing them how to plan it. Ask them questions on what might come next and how they senmagazine.co.uk

6. Teach the child to ask for help

Patience is key! Finally: be patient! If you can help to support planning, this will also decrease anxiety and increase participation. Individuals with dyspraxia typically need more support at the start, but once they have learnt the activity they can be successful. With the extra support for planning, they really can fly. SEN108

Signing in lockdown

Lockdown helped my baby learn to sign In this article, Elise Stirling, an autism specialist teacher, shares how lockdown helped her family bond with her newborn child, and how Makaton signing is helping baby Saria communicate.

aria was six months old when she signed her first sign – Daddy. After three months of pandemic-related lockdown with our family, she showed exactly how much she had been taking in from her surroundings, and demonstrated her priorities loud and clear. Daddy, More, Yes and Bobo (milk) were her first signs, which she ‘shouts’ with great fervour and frequency. Unexpectedly, this vital time in our baby’s life has been boosted enormously by the constant presence of her immediate family due to the Covid-19 lockdown. Where in normal circumstances her father would be working full time, and siblings would be at school all day, lockdown measures meant that we were all together, all the time. Saria’s big sisters, Alyssa and Tabitha, are both autistic and, although verbal, have been using Makaton signing for the last five years. Makaton is a simple yet effective key-word signing system used alongside the spoken word for all ages and abilities as an alternative or augmentative communication (AAC) tool, most often for children with additional needs and disabilities. Makaton Signing for Babies (MSB) can be encouraged for all babies whether they have additional needs or not. As the sibling of two children with autism, Saria has an increased likelihood of also being autistic and therefore may also require support using AAC. This, however, was not the primary motivation for Saria learning to sign. SEN108

“When she was 5 months old, Saria started to wave, her first deliberate gesture.” As an autism specialist teacher and avid Makaton user myself, signing has come naturally to us as a family. Saria was therefore ‘born into’ Makaton. We started actively signing with her when she was three and a half months old, just before lockdown began. Everyone was encouraged to use Makaton with and around her. She was fascinated, and watched people’s hands almost as much as she watched their faces, even on video chats. I also signed us up for a MSB class for babies and young children. When she was five months old, Saria started to wave, her first deliberate gesture, and the reciprocal signing relationship with her family began! Research shows that before babies talk, they are likely to regularly exchange gestures, eye contact and sounds. Typically, there are quantitative and qualitative differences in the exchanges between the baby, their mother and their father, but the time spent on joint attention activities with parents under the age of 18 months is indicative of subsequent development of vocabulary. senmagazine.co.uk

Signing in lockdown

“Responsive parenting will build vital connections in the brain.” We cannot say for sure, obviously, whether or not this would have happened if Saria was born at another time, with no pandemic, and no lockdown. However, the lockdown’s beneficial socio-emotional effects between Saria and her other family members have been clear. A natural conclusion to be drawn from observing her speedy development may be that the cosy close quarters of lockdown have boosted not only her immersion of verbal and non-verbal language, but also that Saria’s attachment bonds with her immediate family are extra strong as a result. The human brain has a knack for adapting to the circumstances it finds itself in, which can work either for or against the developing baby. Daily interactions with babies are how parents and other caregivers can help to develop the baby’s brain in a positive way. Responsive parenting will build vital connections in the brain, creating secure attachments and setting them up for a lifetime of positive relationships. In the case of autism, this may look different (using AAC for example), but it is the responsivity that is key and “warm attentive parents will repeatedly activate the release of [oxytocin], creating a secure bond with their child” (Sunderland). These ‘happy hormones’ relating to attachment and bonding also help with the development of the frontal lobes of the baby’s brain, creating neural pathways that underpin language learning and development. Between three and nine months, the anterior cingulate, a part of the brain associated with responsivity to social cues, starts to develop, which gives babies greater capacity for reciprocity, language and non-verbal communication (Schore). Relationships, communication and language are so closely related that they often overlap with each other, which is unsurprising considering the commonalities and shared goals. The interrelatedness lies in the organisation of the brain, as

the same circuits are used for both social perception and interpersonal communication (Roseman). Saria’s sisters have been by her side, day in and day out, for four months during this critical period of development. Often siblings’ impact on development is underestimated, but it is not only adult caregivers that participate in many day-to-day interactions, siblings often play a significant role. Even when her sisters were not communicating directly with her, perhaps speaking or signing to others in the family, they were influencing her capacity to communicate with them (Topping, Dekhinet and Zeedyk). So it would seem to be that, as babies’ brains mature most rapidly between three and six months of age, it was serendipitous for Saria’s development that she was essentially primed for optimum nurturing during the unanticipated and widely unwelcomed lockdown of the Covid-19 pandemic. At the age of seven months, against all odds, she can use a range of signs that communicate her needs and wants and enjoy a reciprocal relationship with those close to her. Who knows whether this development would have come about sooner or later in other circumstances, but given the literature it stands to reason that the close quarters of the lockdown, the strong responsive and nurturing relationships developed during this time, and the everyday use of Makaton has boosted in a sense the natural path that she would have taken in her language and communication development. While lockdown has (presumably) been a one-in-a-lifetime situation, what can we take away from this experience? Drawing together literature from language development, human relationships, and AAC use, it might appear that using Makaton signing with babies to nurture a responsive relationship and strong attachment bonds may enhance a baby’s ability to learn sign-supported language. Whether or not they go on to speak verbally (in the case of children with a higher likelihood of being autistic), the young child will have an AAC tool for communicating with parents, carers and siblings as well as potentially reaping the benefits of secure attachments with caregivers and well-developed brain architecture going forward. References Ford, J. (2006) Enhancing Parent and Child Communication: Using Makaton Signing for Babies. Makaton Charity. Harris, J. (2015) Chapter 6: Autism Spectrum Disorder. In Zigmund, M., Rowland, L. and Coyle, J. (Eds). Neurobiology of Brain Disorders: Biological Basis of Neurological and Psychiatric Disorders. Academic Press, London. Roseman, M. (2008) Early Language Development and Adult/Child Relationships: An Intricate Connection. In Jalongo, M.R. (Ed) Enduring Bonds: The Significance of Interpersonal Relationships on Young Children’s Lives. Springer, Indiana PA. Schore, A. (2014) Early interpersonal neurobiological of attachment and autism spectrum disorders. Frontiers in Psychology, 5, 1049. Sunderland, M. (2007) What every parent needs to know. Dorling Kindersley, London.

■ Signing means children can start communicating early.

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Topping, K., Dekhinet, R. and Zeedyk, S. (2013) Parent-infant interaction and children’s language development. Educational Psychology, 33(4), 391-426.

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Autism

Bilingualism and autism barrier or an advantage? Carla Cornelius discusses the positive impact bilingualism can have on children and their families.

ilingualism, the ability to use two languages with equal or semi-equal fluency, is a way of life for many families across the world. In Britain, too, there are many communities and families where two languages are spoken. The benefits of being exposed to multiple languages from a young age are widely discussed. The assumption is that being bilingual makes your brain more flexible. But is this really true? Research shows that human beings have an innate mechanism for language acquisition. We are biologically programmed to ensure we are connected with our immediate social environment. Infants as young as four months are able to distinguish between different languages, showing a preference for the languages spoken by their parents. Infants are able to detect a person talking silently in their mother tongue by paying attention to their facial movements and are more drawn to their face as a result. They can also discriminate word boundaries by listening to the rhythm of the languages spoken around them. These are truly fascinating findings since infants’ language is not fully developed, yet their brain can process it with highly accurate detail. This evidence may corroborate the idea of the bilingual brain’s increased flexibility.

Bilingual benefits Although some children acquire two languages simultaneously from birth, others acquire the second language sequentially. Studies on bilingualism and brain scanning highlight that the acquisition process is the same in both languages and for both groups, without additional stress on the brain. The child starts babbling, which then turns into single words, followed by two-word combinations and finally, more sophisticated senmagazine.co.uk

“Infants are able to detect a person talking silently in their mother tongue by paying attention to their facial movements” combinations of words to form sentences. The bilingual child will switch between the two languages with apparent ease and, at times, might mix them within a sentence. This process called ‘code switching’, rather than being a sign of confusion, is very sophisticated and follows logical grammatical rules. For example, words from one language are borrowed to complete a sentence in the other language and grammatical rules are automatically applied to the word order and the verb tense.

Autism and bilingualism But is this still true for a child with autism who has delayed language or a-typical language development? Is bilingualism still an advantage and does the language acquisition process follow the same steps? Language delay is a key component in the identification of Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) and the choice of bilingualism is therefore a difficult subject for both parents and professionals.

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Autism

“More should be done to ensure that cultural differences are taken into account when developing early intervention programmes.” A high proportion of parents assume that bringing up their child bilingual would cause further delay. Moreover, most interventions to support language development are delivered in the dominant language of the country where the child lives, to the detriment of the home language. Are these the only obstacles?

About the author Carla Cornelius is a freelance trainer specialised in Early Communication and Language Development with particular interest in Social Communication Difficulties, Selective Mutism and Bilingualism. Carla has worked in a range of Early Years SEN and inclusion leadership and advisory roles in the private, voluntary and public sector. www.linkedin.com/in/carla-cornelius-9026892a

Language is more than just verbal behaviour conveying social conventions and emotional meaning with variants according to different cultures. Deciding to expose the child to only the dominant language dilutes cultural heritage and alienates them from their family life. Imagine a child who cannot participate in a conversation held over a family meal because the family language is alien and inaccessible to them, or a parent whose interactions with their child revert to rehearsed commands due to their own limited fluency in the intervention language. The result will be parents struggling to make emotional connections with their children. This dilutes the attachment bond between them - a worrying outcome as we know that emotional connections are fundamental for social interaction.

Although research findings are positive, they suggest that it is the quality and the amount of language exposure that makes the difference. In fact, the the amount of language exposure was the strongest predictor of vocabulary skills for both typically developing children and children with ASD. Evidence proves that there is no negative impact in raising bilingual children with ASD. When provided with adequate language exposure and good quality affective social exchanges, many children with ASD are capable of acquiring two languages.

I personally prefer the idea of early social exchanges between parents and children based on natural interchanges through their common language. These interactions should focus on supporting mutual understanding, rather than aiming exclusively to produce and teach language. This option would promote a natural language acquisition process overall more positive to the child.

However, more should be done to ensure that cultural differences are taken into account when developing early intervention programmes and when looking at diagnostic tools for ASD. Particularly, emphasis should be given to assessing language competencies by understanding the wider social context and providing parents with the right tools to be able to use their own language to support their child’s development.

Negative impacts

Dispelling the myths around bilingualism and supporting the use of the home language whenever possible could be the starting point.

Having established the social advantage of being bilingual for a child with ASD, do we have any evidence that being bilingual impacts negatively on the language or general development of children with ASD? Interestingly, most of the research on the subject highlights that bilingual children with ASD have comparatively equal vocabulary size and comprehension as their monolingual peers regardless of their presenting social skills. Two studies show that bilingual children with ASD show an increased amount of functional gestures compared to monolingual children after intervention. This is a considerable improvement, since gestures are more sophisticated expressive language skills. Moreover, there is an indication that some executive function skills, such as planning and switching easily between activities, may be improved in neuro-typical bilingual children, which could be an interesting line of research to explore for children with ASD. SEN108

References Byers-Heinlein K., Lew-Williams C. (2013) Bilingualism in the early years: what the science says in Learn Landsc Volume 7(1) Pages 95-112. Dai G. D., Burke,J. D., Naigles D., Eigsti E. M., Fein A. D. (2018) Language abilities in monolingual and bilingual exposed children with autism or other developmental disorders in Research in Autistic Spectrum Disorders Volume 55 Pages 38-49 Gervain J. and Werker J. (2008) How infant speech perception contributes to language acquisition in Language and Linguistics Compass Volume 2 Pages 1149–1170 Smith J., Bent C. A., Green C. C, Woollacott A., Hurdy K. (2020) Nonnative Language Proficiency May Influence the Responsiveness of Bilingual Parents Towards Young Children with Autism: A Short Report in Sage Journals Volume: 5

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Autism

Mind your language Far from helping us to move on, modern autism terminology may be getting in our way, according to Debby Elley and Maura Campbell.

fter parents learn that their child has autism, they stumble through a forest of terminology and jargon, waiting to trip them up unexpectedly. Debby Elley, co-editor of the autism parenting magazine AuKids, aims to demystify this language together with Maura Campbell, senior editor of Spectrum Women Magazine.

The problem with definitions The root of the problem is the fact that the very terms used for the condition itself can be confusing. Historically, autism has been referred to in different ways. Yet instead of old terminology being superseded by more up-to-date phrases, we tend to get a gradual drift as society’s views move on. This means that more than one phrase is used to describe the same thing, which can be bewildering for parents. For instance, has your son got ASD – Autism Spectrum Disorder or ASC – an Autism Spectrum Condition? (it’s just autism). Is your daughter’s autism ‘classic’ or ‘high functioning’? (it’s still just autism). In addition, there’s often confusion about what’s included in the definition itself. We receive letters from parents stating that their child has ASD and SPD (Sensory Processing Disorder). Or a parent will say that their child has a speech and language SEN108

“When parents start to join support forums on social media, there’s a further minefield to negotiate.” delay and autism. This is often because a parent will have received separate diagnoses at different times and rather than replace one with the more recent term that overrides the last, they’ve just stacked them up. No one seems to have explained to them that speech and language delay and SPD are part of the definition of autism. Anxious to be accurate, they’ve carried around a list of jargon instead.

The need for refinement of autism terms Once meetings between parents and therapists begin, there’s another, more worrying aspect to the language we use around autism. Parents are highly conscious that if professionals underestimate them, they could lose the power to be heard. senmagazine.co.uk

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“A dialogue about an autistic child where one of you uses jargon and one doesn’t creates an unhelpful imbalance of power in that relationship.” Afraid of looking uninformed, parents might just pretend to understand some jargon that is in fact alien to them. For this reason, Debby and her co-editor have presented talks to parents and professionals about bridging the communication gap. ‘We ask professionals to look for blind spots where jargon has become part of their daily vocabulary. And we advise parents to have the confidence to ask for clarity when a term is used that they aren’t familiar with. Often people use jargon to mean one thing when it is being understood as quite another.’ Both sides can also be guilty of using jargon as a smokescreen to cover lack of knowledge. A dialogue about an autistic child where one of you uses jargon and one doesn’t creates an unhelpful imbalance of power in that relationship. If you’re a professional talking about behaviour, for instance, you need to explain terms that are unfamiliar to a layperson, such as ‘high arousal’ or ‘self-regulation’, or stop using them.

About the author Maura Campbell is Senior Editor and Features Writer for Spectrum Women Magazine. She was one of the contributors to Spectrum Women – Walking to the Beat of Autism and she is one of three authors of Spectrum Women – Autism and Parenting, due for publication in August 2020. neurodizzy.blog @mauracampbell00 Mother to autistic teenage twins, Debby Elley is co-founder and co-editor of AuKids magazine together with Tori Houghton. She is the author of 15 Things They Forgot to Tell You About Autism and co-author of a new children’s book, The Ice Cream Sundae Guide to Autism. aukids.co.uk

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Online echo chambers When parents start to join support forums on social media, there’s a further minefield to negotiate. Innocent phrases popped into a Facebook post can cause a sudden flurry of keyboard fury from fellow users. Debby, who has written about autism for 12 years, was surprised one day to find that someone angrily called into question her description of herself as ‘an autism parent’, a frugal shortcut she used for ‘being a parent of two children with autism’ – so what was the problem? Debby had unwittingly made a political statement. ‘Autism parent’ is now seen by some as synonymous with ‘Autism Warrior

Moms’ who seek to ‘combat’ their child’s autism, a stance that is offensive to many autistic adults. Over the past few years, the authors have seen a growing tendency for autistic adults, parents and professionals to engage in angry exchanges over ‘correct’ terminology.” One of the key examples is whether you use identity-first language (autistic adult, Jim) or person-first language (Jim has autism/Jim is a person with autism). The abbreviation PFL (Person First Language) may well be unfamiliar to a parent new to autism circles. The use of identity-first versus personfirst language has been a hot topic for some time. Most adults who express a view have a clear preference for ‘autistic’, since they see autism as inseparable from who they are as a person. They tend to give short shrift to those who insist they should be using ‘with autism’. They don’t always differentiate between those who are deliberately overstepping the mark - by dictating to them what they’re allowed to

■ ‘Autism Parent’ is now a polarizing term.

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“In the last 50 years we’ve grown to understand the positives that come with autism. Terminology should reflect that.”

call themselves - and those who innocently think they’re being helpful, since it’s been drilled into them on training courses and in most autism-related literature that person-first language is more respectful. Being a parent of an autistic son and autistic herself, Maura can see both sides of the story and understands why feelings on social media can run high. The autistic community are a passionate bunch and they sometimes forget that not everyone is as immersed in these debates, or indeed as interested. Social media can become an echo chamber in which we end up overestimating the extent to which the ‘approved’ terms are more generally understood. And if something isn’t ‘right’ to them, autistic advocates can find it hard to scroll on by instead of reacting to it. Equally, parents and professionals could at times be more sensitive to the fact that when they talk about autism in exclusively negative or very narrow terms, they make autistic adults feel belittled and invalidated. ‘Well, you’re nothing like my child!’ is a common refrain and a source of great frustration to autistic adults. Of course we’re not – the whole point is that all autistics are different! It should be safe for people to self-identify and recount their personal experiences however they prefer, provided they are not being deliberately malicious or provocative. It should be fine to challenge and educate other people, but the chances are it will be much more effective if done in a constructive and respectful way. There is a lot of energy within the autistic community that could be directed in a more positive way.

■ Autism forums can be daunting for someone whose child has just been diagnosed.

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The benefits of online forums Online autism forums have a lot to offer parents who are new to autism. Debby remembers how daunting and confusing it all was ten years ago when her son had just been given a diagnosis of ASD. ‘I’m sure I used terminology back then that I wouldn’t dream of using now. I try to recall those feelings whenever I hear another parent use clunky language and give them the benefit of the doubt. I know that what they need is support and guidance, not judgement. If they choose not to take it, that is of course their prerogative, but it would really benefit their child if they did.’ Perhaps the focus should be instead on our most basic outof-date terminology when it comes to autism. For instance, we were quite uncomfortable about the first definition that Debby was given as a parent to explain exactly what autism is. It was defined to her as ‘a triad of impairments’. This term was once ground-breaking as it formed the basis for identifying people whose functioning was widely varied. But in the last 50 years we’ve grown to understand the positives that come with autism. Terminology should reflect that. ‘Functioning’ labels, awkwardly used to describe an autistic person’s abilities, are also deeply unhelpful and misleading, since ‘high functioning’ tends to underestimate a person’s challenges and ‘low functioning’ underestimates their capabilities. In clinical circles, these terms are no longer used, but elsewhere they are still common, with ‘high functioning’ sometimes used as a by-word for perceived intelligence. It is the varied nature of the spectrum that causes such enormous problems with jargon. Parents seek more ways of clarifying their child’s condition to others. Autistic people reject and dislike the generalisations caused by clumsy labelling. While difficulties connected with autism shouldn’t be minimised, if definitions become less negative, parents stand more of a fighting chance of explaining autism to their children. Debby recently co-wrote the children’s book The Ice Cream Sundae Guide to Autism to address this issue. “It’s a neutral description of the different elements of autism without a negative judgement,” she says. “Autism is very complex for kids to understand. We wanted to give people the language they were missing”. Language dictates how we feel about people and this is a very difficult line to tread. On the one hand, no one wants to minimise the distress that having autism can cause people or reduce public perceptions of difficulties until no accommodations are made. On the other hand, neither is it fair to belittle or reduce capable individuals by using terms that limit them. In the end, it’s down to us to think more carefully about our language, to make proportionate arguments, to explain ourselves - and most importantly, to use terms that accurately describe this collection of neurological differences. senmagazine.co.uk

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Social-Emotional and Behavioural Difficulties

58 Unaddressed distress in schoolchildren

As many teachers as possible should be emotionally available to children who are having a tough time at home, writes Margot Sunderland.

62 Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder and ADHD

Elaine Nicholson writes about Sean, her teenage client who developed PTSD after being mistreated for his special interest at a young age.

Supporting children with processing issues

SEN Specialist Jacqui Strubel offers some guidance on helping children deal with processing issues.

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Unaddressed distress in schoolchildren As many teachers as possible should be emotionally available to children who are having a tough time at home, writes Margot Sunderland.

hen something upsetting has happened at home and there is no emotionally available adult to help the child think about it (known as processing), a child can’t learn properly. They don’t have the space in their mind to take in what the teacher is saying or do what the teacher is asking them to do. Evidence-based research demonstrates that raw, unprocessed, painful emotions derail learning due to poor activation of the frontal lobes in the neocortex, coupled with high activation of the emotion centres in the old mammalian and reptilian parts of the brain. Frontal lobes are the key to focussed attention and concentration. Moreover, when we learn something, new synaptic connections form in the frontal lobes. The more synaptic connections we have in our frontal lobes, the more sophisticated our cognitive intelligence. The stress from unprocessed painful life events blocks the forming of new synaptic connections in the neocortex and suppresses the strengthening of existing synaptic connections, derailing both the child’s ability to learn and the consolidation of what they have learnt. SEN108

“One million children in the UK have mental health problems.” Unadressed distress in schoolchildren today The ‘Make it Count’ campaign (Mental Health Foundation, October 2018) found that nearly half a million children in the UK said they had no-one to speak to at school when they were experiencing feelings of sadness or worry in their lives. As a result, many developed sleep difficulties, got into fights, struggled with homework and/or withdrew socially. Additionally, one million children in the UK have mental health problems. Most of these will be struggling with unprocessed painful life experiences or trauma. This raises the question: how many hours of learning are wasted due to a lack of emotionally senmagazine.co.uk

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“Having an emotionally available adult brings down toxic levels of stress from a painful life event.” available adults in schools? A few counsellors coming in to see a few children each week just isn’t enough. Lord Layard, key figure in ‘Improving Access to Psychological Therapies’ and economist, says that school counsellors will never be enough, and that ‘we need an army’. Such an army will only be attainable if we train more current school staff in listening skills. We are not asking them to be quasi-psychotherapists, but rather to learn to replicate best parenting. Examples include using good listening, validating empathy and mental state talk instead of lecturing the child or simply staying silent. Some schools in Bradford responded in a creative way to this research. Each morning, school staff asked their children to pick an ‘emotion ball’ as they arrived. Any child who picked a sad, frightened or angry face was given time with an emotional nurse, a member of the school staff who was naturally warm and empathic. This intervention proved very effective for the many children with painful home lives. It often only took a few minutes in a one-to-one situation to positively impact on the children’s learning and behaviour for the rest of the day. In short, children thrive in school if they feel heard by trusted adults who are open and encouraging and who know when children are in emotional distress.

About the author Dr Margot Sunderland is CoDirector of Trauma Informed Schools UK, director of Education and Training at the Centre for Child Mental Health and the author of over 20 books on child mental health. She specialises in the long-term impact of adult-child interaction on the child’s brain, mind and body. Relevant organisation Trauma Informed Schools UK traumainformedschools.co.uk @TraumainformedschoolsUK

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How can we do this? One way is to adopt the “I wish my teacher knew” intervention. This was pioneered in a high school in America: a teacher asked the children to write down “What I wish my teacher knew.” For the most part, pupils said they wanted a trusted teacher to know about their home life and particularly how it was impacting on their school experience. The answers were deeply moving, very honest, and often heartbreaking. My organisation, Trauma Informed Schools UK, have adopted this practice in all our schools across the UK, with children and teenagers repeatedly telling us that they feel so relieved because they are no longer alone with their problem. Here are some examples: Billy, age 8, had extremely low self-worth. He wrote, “I wish my teacher knew that when mum gets angry, she says she wishes I had never been born.” He sent his message to Mrs Brown, who he adored. As a result, from then on Mrs Brown spent five minutes every day with Billy. After a few weeks, Billy wrote:

■ Children with difficult home lives can be hard to teach.

They want to tell us, but are we ready to hear? We fail our children if we have no curiosity or concern about how painful life experiences may be fuelling their challenging behaviour and/or blocks to learning.

Why it is vital to listen to a child’s distress We now have neuroscientific research to show that having an emotionally available adult brings down toxic levels of stress from a painful life event. Toxic stress both derails learning and is damaging to mental and physical health. 1. J ust listening brings stress levels down. One research study of 130,000 people who were asked to speak about their painful childhood experiences and were listened to with acceptance and respect, resulted in reduced GP visits the following year by 35% and emergency department visits by 11%.

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2. Helping a child/teenager find words for feelings (affect labelling) brings down toxic stress. 3. Feeling understood brings down toxic stress and also activates brain regions associated with reward and social connection.

“Many teachers feel frightened and unskilled when it comes to listening to distressed children.”

4. Empathic listening leads to calm physiology, long term. 5. The more skilled the adult is at voicing empathy, the calmer the recipient is long term.

A can of worms The ‘can of worms’ myth is based on a belief that it is dangerous for children to talk about painful life events and that schools are certainly not places where they should be encouraged to do so. This is tantamount to emotional neglect. If an adult is worried about ‘opening up a can of worms’, they are not fit to listen to a child. In the words of the poet Maya Angelou: “There is no greater agony than bearing an untold story inside you”. Research shows that many teachers feel frightened and unskilled when it comes to listening to distressed children. Two out of three teachers for example say they are worried that if they talk to children who self-harm it will make things worse.

So, what should be done? 1. Teachers in training should be taught basic counselling skills including having an openness and readiness to hear a child who wants to talk about painful experiences. 2. All key adults in schools who have natural empathy should be trained in ‘narrative competence’, listening skills, and empathic response. Such conversations help children make sense of what’s happened, develop a language to talk about their emotions and form a coherent narrative about the key events in their life, based on self-compassion instead of shame and self-blame.

3. Schools should provide a strong and encouraging message to children that staff are there to listen, and that they treat emotional pain as seriously as physical pain. 4. Schools should ensure that all children who need it are offered the time and space to talk about what matters to them in their life should they wish to do so. They should be assured that they will be listened to by an emotionally available adult who will maintain confidentiality within the remit of the school’s safeguarding policy. 5. Teachers should be aware of the following key research studies on the healing power of relationship: a) W hen a pupil knows that a teacher really cares about them it dramatically improves learning, behaviour and motivation. b) The Government Green Paper, ‘Transforming Children and Young People’s Mental Health Provision’ (December 2017) states: There is evidence that appropriately-trained and supported staff such as teachers, school nurses, counsellors, and teaching assistants can achieve results comparable to those achieved by trained therapists in delivering a number of interventions addressing mild to moderate mental health problems (such as anxiety, conduct disorder, substance use disorders and post-traumatic stress disorder). We owe it to every child to support them in this way. References Schwartz, K. (2016). I Wish My Teacher Knew: How One Question Can Change Everything for Our Kids. Boston, MA: Da Capo Lifelong. Gottman, J., Katz, L. and Hooven, C. (1996). Parental Meta-Emotion Philosophy and the Emotional Life of Families: Theoretical Models and Preliminary Data. Journal of Family Psychology, 10(3), pp.243-268. Bergin, C. and Bergin, D. (2009). Attachment in the Classroom. Educational Psychology Review, 21(2), pp. 141-170. Furrer, C and Skinner, E. (2003) Sense of Relatedness as a Factor in Children’s Academic Engagement and Performance. Journal of Educational Psychology 95(1), pp. 148–162.

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Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder and ADHD Elaine Nicholson writes about Sean, her teenage client who developed PTSD after being mistreated for his special interest at a young age.

utism is a lifelong condition for which there is no cure. It is characterised by social communication deficits and restricted, repetitive, behaviour patterns. Individuals on the spectrum may also suffer sensory and fine or gross motor issues. Although autism spectrum condition is referred to as a disorder, many autistic individuals prefer to see their autism as an identity instead. The neurotypical 99% of the world use imprecise language to communicate, which autistic children struggle with. Autistic children are known to use very formal, exact language and tend to struggle to understand clichés and metaphors like “get your skates” on, or, “I will see you around 7.00 p.m.” It seems ironic that, because autistic children speak with precision, they are often seen as poor communicators by the neurotypical masses who struggle to understand why autistic children cannot understand their generalised speech filled with tropes, idioms and proverbs. When human beings can’t communicate and be understood, frustration builds. In autistic people, frustration can lead to meltdowns. When in meltdown mode, autistic children experience the adverse psychological and physiological effects of “fight/flight/freeze/ appease” modes of functioning. SEN108

“Sean was impacted so severely by his past experience that my work with him will take years and I believe that he will never be truly over it.” It is well-documented that autistic people often have comorbid conditions, with ADHD, depression and anxiety being the most common. It has also been posited that autistic individuals have a higher chance of being significantly affected by traumatic events, with 17.4% of children with autism going on to develop PTSD. My experience with hundreds of autistic children tells me that they can, and do, go on to develop PTSD symptoms following unsympathetic and uncaring interactions from early caregivers, misunderstanding of their autism and how it affects them from early caregivers or a poverty of positive regard with senmagazine.co.uk

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“In Sean’s mind, there was a war going on - Sean and Rupert against Mrs Jones.” a heavy focus from caregivers on what they cannot do rather than celebrating what they can do. One of my early and most memorable clients came to me when I worked as a counsellor in a Special Educational Needs (SEN) college. Sean’s PTSD had its roots in his primary education, when, aged ten, he was castigated persistently by a school teacher for his special interest, Rupert Bear. Sean knew absolutely everything there was to know about the Rupert Bear series. When I first met Sean, he asked me, “Elaine…do you know who drew Rupert the Bear first? Did you know Rupert has been drawn by many people?” Of course, I knew nothing about Rupert the Bear aside from the basics, but I quickly learnt the facts through my therapeutic relationship with Sean. After a while, Sean opened up and shared that his teacher, Mrs Jones, would ridicule him. Mrs Jones would exclaim loudly and angrily “only babies like Rupert bear!” Mrs Jones would also warn Sean to “stop going on” about Rupert, and threatened to keep him in school all night if he didn’t stop talking about Rupert. As an older boy, aged 19, when Sean was stressed, he would pace up and down the college yard, flapping his hands with a pained look on his face, berating himself. In this state, Sean would then graduate to the phase of constantly repeating lines from the Rupert Bear series, as in a desperate attempt to selfregulate and alleviate his anxiety. In Sean’s mind, there was a war going on - Sean and Rupert against Mrs Jones. Despite the fact that more than nine years had passed since Sean’s unfortunate experience with Mrs Jones, the memories were as fresh as the day when they first occurred. It was clearly evident to me that Sean had symptoms of PTSD. He reported experiencing nightmares and flashbacks to his year 5 & 6 school days and “seeing” his old teacher berating him. He also tried to avoid talking about Rupert the Bear because he believed avoidance would help him to feel better. When Sean felt threatened, he became the year 5/6 pupil and lost his adult self. He would lash out or run away and hide when a memory of the past came too close to his current day existence and he was emotionally numb most of the time. Sean also had difficulty focussing at college. When Sean began counselling with me, discussing the lovely Rupert Bear was the first thing I did, a sort of exposure therapy, a cognitive behavioural technique (CBT) that exposes an individual to the source of mental torture in a safe, controlled, warm and welcoming manner without any threat to self. I allowed Sean to teach me things about Rupert the Bear. To senmagazine.co.uk

About the author Elaine Nicholson, MBE, is the founder and CEO of Action for Asperger’s. Elaine is a qualified counsellor with a Master’s degree in autism and post-graduate certification in Asperger’s syndrome. actionforaspergers.org @Action4Asperger

@ActionForAspergers

this day I consider that I gathered enough information to safely compete on Mastermind on the subject of Rupert! Not only was gradual exposure to the source of threat part of my plan for Sean, so too was my allowing him to teach me something. All too often, and regardless of neurology, children are taught by adults, but they never get a chance to teach us something. Children who can see that they are teaching us something greatly grow in confidence. In time, Rupert Bear aided my therapeutic work with Sean enormously. Sean could see that his love of a little white bear with a red jumper and check yellow scarf was something to be proud of, and slowly, he began to heal. Sean was impacted so severely by his past experience that my work with him will take years and I believe that he will never be truly over it. While I have helped Sean to manage his symptoms better and reduce the frequency of his flashbacks, obliteration of Sean’s harsh memories is not possible. I will continue to help Sean to accept these memories without allowing them to block his shining light going forwards. References American Psychiatric Association. (2013). Diagnostic and statistical manual of mental disorders (5th ed.). American Psychiatric Publishing. Elsabbagh, M., Divan G., Koh, Y., Kim, Y.S, Kauchali, S., Marcin, C., …Fombonne, E. (2012). Global prevalence of autism and other pervasive developmental disorders. Autism Reearch, 5, 160-179. Doi:10.1002/aur.239. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2080482/ Joshi, G., Wozniak, J., Petty, C., Martelon, M.K., Fried, R., Bolfek, A., …Biederman, J. (2012). Psychiatric co-morbidity and functioning in a clinically referred population of adults with autism spectrum disorder: A comparative study. Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders, 43(6), 1314-1325. Mehtar, M., & Mukaddes, N.M. (2011) Posttraumatic stress disorder in individuals with diagnosis of autism spectrum disorders. Research in Autism Spectrum Disorders, 5, 539-546. https://h2g2.com/entry/A13269486

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Supporting children with processing issues SEN Specialist Jacqui Strubel offers some guidance on helping children deal with processing issues.

s a SENCO, I have noticed that while a lot of resources go to more well-known issues such as dyslexia and autism, the same cannot be said of the less “popular” special educational needs, such as dyscalculia, dysgraphia and particularly, processing issues. In this article I hope to shed some light on what slow processing looks like and how you can help children get the resources they need. Slow processing is a below average pace of absorbing and responding to information. It often coexists with other needs such as ADHD or dyslexia and is often not discovered in isolation, as traits can be misdiagnosed, often as dyslexia. The child may then be given different work based on a need for dyslexia, which won’t address or support the main need.

“Children with processing issues often have trouble understanding what they hear.” stress often follow. Planning is often compromised, as difficulty accessing the memory will cause problems when there is a need to remember rules, sequences, or formulas.

What are the needs of a child with Slow Processing?

The auditory system may be functioning perfectly, but children with processing issues often have trouble understanding what they hear. This may be due to a number of factors relating to speech such as talking speed or vocabulary.

As with all learning difficulties, each child is different. Some children only have a couple of the signs of slow processing, while others will be severely impaired. Children will often have difficulty concentrating, which will affect memory and may give the impression that the child is not listening. Anxiety and

Children with processing issues often struggle with reading. This may be due to specific reading difficulties like dyslexia, but this is not always the case. If a text is long and laborious, it may be difficult to maintain concentration without visuals

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“Focus on understanding rather than speed.” or different styles to maintain interest. Concentration issues, memory problems and reading difficulties can all contribute to poor self-esteem, as the individual may feel that they are not as intelligent as their peers.

How can we support children with slow processing?

About the author Jacqui Strubel is a SEN Specialist, currently working online, supporting schools and parents with SEN pupils. Bringing skills gained training at Place2Be and Arts4Life to support children socially and emotionally through art and play. jbellassociates@aol.com linkedin.com/in/jacqui-strubel-85bab129

Clarifying instructions & improving listening skills. To improve listening skills a number of processes can be introduced which will provide a foundation for listening in any scenario. Once these skills are practised enough, they will become a natural way of listening to understand, ensuring that children can more easily retain information that they are given. Before effective listening begins: Do I understand what is being asked of me? If not, what can I do? Ask for help? What can I do to remind myself what needs to be done? Use pictures, doodles, or notes. What can the teacher do to ensure I understand? Children can ask for a recap from the teacher to ensure understanding & clarify any confusion. During a task involving listening: What can I do to ensure I remember what is being said? Children should be able to answer “What?” “Why?” “How?” style questions, enabling greater understanding. Draw relevant doodles or notes to support understanding. What can I do to ensure I understand what is being said? Write down “tricky words”, so I can find out their meaning later. Think about questions that I can ask to find out more.

After a listening task: Was everything clear to me? If not, what do I need to do? Ask for help? How will I remember what is said? Notes, pictures, or doodles can help understanding.

Managing expectations Expectations need to be managed for both the child and the adults involved to facilitate clear communication. For example, if a class comprehension exercise has been set for completion within the lesson the following options will be helpful and supportive to the child: Supply a choice of two different levels of work which is still focussed on learning the same elements as other work being done in the class. Within the work, provide elements that will help the child focus. Use images that are visually stimulating or use content that reflects the child’s interests. Once the skills in the task have been mastered and the child is confident in their abilities, the level of difficulty can be increased. Remove time constraints and pressure for completion. Out of ten questions, ask the child how many questions they feel they are able to complete. This will demonstrate that they are being listened to and reduce pressure and subsequent anxiety on them to complete the task. Focus on understanding rather than speed. Remaining questions can always be completed for homework, if they are essential.

■ Children with processing issues often need one-on-one support.

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Improving reading skills Even when reading skills are at an average level, understanding of what is being read is often very poor in children with processing issues. To ensure what is being read is also understood, a number of processes may be introduced. The following instructions will help a struggling child practise their reading comprehension.

“It is always helpful to supply an example to support learning, assume nothing!”

Look at the Title: What is this telling me? (Story, new ideas, history, instructions, memories, etc) How do I feel about it? (Familiar, strange, unknown, unsure, interested, bored) What is the style? (Fiction/Non-fiction) Reading the passage: Read first to try to understand what is going on. (Setting, characters, plot, facts). Cover up remaining sentences, if they are too distracting to look at all at once. Read a second time to make notes on a passage about what isn’t clear and/or underline “tricky words”. Read more times, if needed. Many students often struggle to “make notes” about their reading. It is often an assumed skill, which few will admit to not knowing how to do. I have found what often helps is to have children answer the following questions; What? Why? When? Where? How? Who? If they cannot answer some of these questions, there may be a need for further clarification.

What could the answers be? For example; why is the character sad? Maybe he is missing a loved one? Summarize the passage: Draw in 3-4 boxes a summary of the passage, with some words if it helps understanding. This helps secure what has been read and can be useful as a reference point for the future.

Strategies to help poor working memory Strengthening poor working memory is essential when following instructions and knowing what to write down. Often the child will be able to answer questions verbally but will also often struggle to articulate what they want to say and frequently have difficulties writing down what’s in their head. • Give clear instructions, no more than two at a time. • Visual timetables are often useful. • Short tasks with regular checking in to help ensure that the child understands their task. • Allow for practise and repetition, enabling information to be embedded. • Link learning to relevant areas for the child, like visuals or topics of interest • Visual records of learning aid memory and ease of reference. • Use reference cards with definitions to enable regular recapping of facts in a user-friendly format.

General advice for teachers It is always helpful to supply an example to support learning, assume nothing! However, examples of what is expected from an assignment or task should be used to support teaching and not replace it. Examples also give the opportunity for questions, which are vital for both teacher and child to assess understanding. It will be helpful to teach in a multi-sensory style, as this increases concentration and engagement.

Figure out tricky words Write the “tricky word” out & try to work out its meaning. Look at the rest of the sentence to try to gauge meaning. See if there are any clues within the word or look up the meaning. Write a sentence including the tricky word. Ask questions: What questions can I ask about the passage that it doesn’t tell me already? SEN108

Breaking up your teaching style will keep the student engaged. Focus on them recording their learning by varying the evidence collected and not only them writing on paper. Using a laptop is always received well for recording evidence of learning, producing Power point presentations and interactive quizzes. Finally, it is incredibly important to ensure that each and every child gets an opportunity to learn. This will open up a world of opportunities to them. If a child does not learn the way we are teaching, then it is imperative that we adapt the way we are teaching to the needs of the child. senmagazine.co.uk

SEBD

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Management system

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Coping with strokes

Lucy’s story Lucy is 23 years old and has Down’s Syndrome and Type 1 diabetes. She attends a small charity based in Ripon and had a stroke 8 months ago. Below, her mum Nicky Newell shares Lucy’s story.

ucy is my daughter; she is 23 and has Down’s Syndrome and Type 1 diabetes. We had had a normal day at work. Lucy had been busy painting and chatting with her friends. She had not complained of feeling unwell at all. She fell asleep waiting for me to finish in the office, which is not unusual as she is often tired after a busy day. It was only when we got home, I noticed that her eyes looked odd. She was also unsteady on her feet and began to complain of a terrible tummy ache. After a visit to the GP, she was admitted to the surgical ward with suspected appendicitis. Two days later, we discovered that Lucy had actually had a stroke; A thalamic bleed to be precise. The thalamus is like a server for the brain, receiving signals, interpreting them and sending them on. The tummy ache was because of the bleed and all the messages were getting muddled up. Lucy didn’t have any obvious paralysis or facial droop that is commonly associated with a stroke. The ‘muddle’ caused by the bleed had resulted in her being unable to coordinate her movements and only minor muscle weakness. Once on the high dependency stroke unit, Lucy’s swallow was assessed and led to her having a feeding tube. Once stable she was transferred to a stroke rehab ward. There we spent 3 weeks working with physios and speech therapists before Lucy was able to come home. This was only possible because we could look after Lucy ourselves without additional support. Gradually, and with lots of

“We spent 3 weeks working with physios and speech therapists before Lucy was able to come home.” SEN108

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Coping with strokes

About the author Nicky Newell, Lucy’s mum and Chief Officer of a Productive Workshop for adults who have learning disabilities. Anna Smith, a volunteer at Jennyruth Workshops where Lucy attends. jennyruth.co.uk @JennyruthW

@JennyruthWorkshop @jennyruthworkshops

■ Lucy has also been baking in lockdown.

help, Lucy has progressed through the stages of liquidised food to a normal diet. 8 months on, her recovery is remarkable when I think back to those early days. She still gets tired very quickly and the nystagmus hasn’t gone away. Further scans, before lockdown, have not revealed any underlying cause for her stroke. We have no idea why and don’t know whether it will happen again. Keeping busy is a good way to not have time to think about the ‘what ifs’. COVID-19 has delayed a few things; Lucy is still waiting to be referred to the ophthalmologists and hasn’t seen the physios yet. Consultant appointments are now over the phone and unlikely to be in person this year. Before her stroke, Lucy attended Jennyruth Workshops 4 days a week, taking part in production, community events, talks and a number of other courses and activities. During her recovery she was visiting for an hour twice a week to see the staff and her friends. COVID-19 has meant that she has been able to video-call her friends from work on a daily basis and take part remotely in activities provided by the workshop she attends. Lucy has benefitted greatly from this and the workshop will be continuing this remote service after lockdown so that Lucy and others unable to attend as usual can still take part. Modern technology has made sure that Lucy can stay connected. She even took part in a Makaton video remotely recently and I can honestly say I was overwhelmed when I watched it for the first time to see her giggling and full of joy. I can’t say for sure that we are out of the woods, but we can see a light at the end of the tunnel. Lucy herself, who finds it difficult to write since the stroke, also shares her opinions on the lockdown and on how she feels about missing her normal work; senmagazine.co.uk

“Modern technology has made sure that Lucy can stay connected.” ‘In lockdown, I have been talking to my friends on zoom, colouring, and card-making. I miss my normal work activities, such as painting and seeing the other workers. But it’s nice to be safe. I haven’t been in the workshops because of my stroke, but lockdown has let me be part of more activities. It makes a difference that I can still do Jennyruth stuff while at home. I wasn’t a part of the courses before, but I can do them on zoom now. I’m also still working on my eyes at the moment, as both of my eyes are a bit wobbly. The first thing I’ll do when lockdown is over is come back to the workshop and paint. My two favourite things are the Paintshop and making mosaics with Jackie [Lucy’s key worker]’ Over the past few weeks, Lucy took part in the creation of a Makaton video called “I’m only one call away”. The video was created with the mental health difficulties that a lot of people are struggling with during the pandemic in mind. It was created as a message that mental health matters and provides the names of several charities to contact if you need someone to talk to. The filming for the video was done by the parents and carers of the adults with learning disabilities who attend the same charity, as well as over Zoom. Lucy was very excited to open the video. The progress she has made is incredible, so it was a really special moment for her and her family when the video went live. Lucy continues to make good progress and we remain hopeful that, in time, she will make a full recovery. SEN108

SEN law

Getting Back To School Douglas Silas looks at the issue of children and young people getting back to school after the initial impact of the Coronavirus.

What is happening? As you will be aware, after the Covid-19 (Coronavirus) ‘lockdown’ took effect at the end of March 2020, only children of ‘key workers’, or those who were considered to be ‘vulnerable’ (e.g. they had an Education, Health and Care Plan (EHCP) or a Social Worker), were allowed to return to school. Despite this, many parents (particularly of children with EHCPs) chose not to return them to school for a number of reasons, such as safety or educational concerns. For other students, although some education went ‘online’, the pandemic highlighted the disparity between those who were able to fully benefit from digital home schooling and the support from their families and those who did not. This led to a lot of media coverage and arguments between the Government, teaching unions, schools and education & disability organisations, as to when and how students should SEN108

be allowed to return to school. There were also many parents of children and young people with SEND who felt that their needs were being overlooked. Although Covid-19 measures were relaxed for schools from the beginning of June, a great many students have effectively been without proper education for many months. Although the Government has pledged additional funding for schools to help them provide extra support to help students ‘catch-up’, at the beginning of July, the Government also issued guidance for mainstream placements called ‘Guidance for full opening: schools’, which stated; ‘It is our plan that all pupils, in all year groups, will return to school full-time from the beginning of the autumn term.’ There was also other guidance issued at the same time called: ‘Guidance for full opening: special schools and other specialist settings’ which contained similar advice for specialist education settings. senmagazine.co.uk

SEN law

What does the guidance actually say? The Government says that both sets of guidance have been prepared with input from school leaders, unions and sector bodies and in consultation with Public Health England (PHE) and the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) and has been split into five main sections, as follows:

About the author Specialist SEN solicitor Douglas Silas is the Managing Director of Douglas Silas Solicitors.

1. actions schools should take to minimise the risk of transmission of Coronavirus (Covid-19); 2. school operations;

SpecialEducationalNeeds.co.uk @douglassilas

@douglassilas

3. curriculum, behaviour and pastoral support; 4. assessment and accountability; 5. contingency planning to provide continuity of education in the case of a local outbreak. There is also further guidance, focussed on how the Department for Education (DfE) expects schools to operate in this new context. The Government says that it will also keep the guidance under review and update it as necessary.

So, do I have to send my child back to school?

have an up to date risk assessment done for them. The way different schools react to reopening will differ based on their individual circumstances and the guidance does not create any new legal obligations.

The short answer is ‘yes’ - all students are expected to return to school in September 2020. The Government says that the decision to ask schools to open only to a small number of children was done with the vital aim of reducing transmission, but that the situation has now improved. The guidance says: ‘Returning to school is vital for children’s education and for their wellbeing. Time out of school is detrimental for children’s cognitive and academic development, particularly for disadvantaged children. This impact can affect both current levels of learning and children’s future ability to learn, and therefore we need to ensure all pupils can return to school sooner rather than later.’ The guidance also points out the economic disadvantages of an extended school lockdown. As such, all schools are expected to welcome all children/young people back at the start of the Autumn term in September 2020 and provide them with full-time education. Schools should still try to minimise contact between children, wherever possible (although ‘social distancing’ may be very hard, if not impossible for many students, especially younger children).

The guidance adds that: ‘School leaders will be best placed to understand the needs of their schools and communities, and to make informed judgments about how to balance delivering a broad and balanced curriculum with the measures needed to manage risk’ and also: ‘we expect schools and trusts to work closely with parents, staff and unions, as they normally would, when agreeing the best approaches for their circumstances.’

What about children and young people with underlying health conditions, or who are ‘shielding’ someone with an underlying health condition?

• Guidance for parents on ‘Elective home education’ – April 2019

The guidance says that the risk to young people becoming severely ill from Coronavirus is very low and that this is outweighed by the negative health impacts of them missing school. It also says that school is a vital point of contact for public health and safeguarding services, which are critical to the wellbeing of children and families. Additionally, the guidance says that students with underlying health conditions should senmagazine.co.uk

Where can I read more? There has been a plethora of Government guidance issued over the past few months. I also think that there may still be some further guidance to come. Even I, as somebody specialising full-time in SEN law, have found it hard to keep on top of everything, so my heart really goes out to parents and professionals everywhere who are also trying to find out what is happening and to get their heads around it! The only other guidance that I would highlight for now though are the following things:

• Guidance on ‘Safe working in education, childcare and children’s social care settings, including the use of personal protective equipment (PPE)’ – June 2020 • Guidance on ‘Shielding and protecting people who are clinically extremely vulnerable from COVID-19’ – July 2020 • Guidance on ‘COVID-19 - ‘shielding’ guidance for children and young people’ (Royal College of Paediatrics and Child Health advice) – updated July 2020 SEN108

Book reviews

Book reviews Dyslexia and Inclusion:

Classroom Approaches for Assessment, Teaching and Learning ( 3rd Edition)

G.Reid

Gavin Reid is a recognised international expert who has written over 30 books in the field of dyslexia and learning. He has sat on government panels and been engaged in United Nations funded projects. Key features of this new edition include updates on research and legislation, additional sections on teaching strategies and developing independent learning, as well as extensive references to additional resources. This is an impressive text that manages to combine the best of academic and practical information for the reader. The style is accessible and guides the reader through the overwhelming maze of information. Chapters include: ‘Five signposts for successful inclusion’, ‘Inclusion and Intervention’ and ‘Curriculum access: Identifying needs’

Reid points out that each individual with dyslexia needs to be taught in ways that are appropriate to them and that there is a ‘fairly superficial and almost stereotypical view of dyslexia’ that can lead to inappropriate teaching approaches. He provides information about factors to take into account and links this to practical suggestions that take into account learning preferences, motivation and the learning environment. In the conclusion to the book, he points out that misconceptions about dyslexia have led to ‘miracle cures’ and ‘new breakthroughs’ that are promoted through vigorous marketing and he calls for teachers to be supported in gaining a full understanding of dyslexia to guide them in devising effective interventions. An excellent text.

Routledge (David Fulton) ISBN: 978-1-138-48749-9 £24.99

Mental Health Education: Building Good Foundations S. Garner

The author is an education consultant and trainer who has also written a Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (CBT) mental health programme used in schools worldwide. In this book, she sets out to look at what can be done environmentally to support good positive mental health and well-being, and, significantly, to ensure that mental harm is not caused for staff or pupils. For Garner, the terms ‘mental health’ and ‘well-being’ are interchangeable and she maintains that it is the ability ‘to be able to cope with the bad parts of life and enjoy the good parts.’ She explains briefly the core concepts of CBT that can be summarised as a process of changing thoughts and negative cognitive bias. She also provides a working example of CBT interventions to affect behaviour change. Chapters include: ‘Staff mental health and well-being’, ‘Pupil experience’, ‘Positive motivation’ and ‘Behaviour systems’.

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This is a concise text that focuses on low cost and easy-toimplement strategies for use in the classroom, supported with downloadable activities and planning sheets based on cognitive behavioural therapy techniques. The final chapter is a very useful summary of the ideas in each chapter, presented as a handy checklist. Given the current heightened awareness of mental issues and well-being, this is a timely publication that is based on the author’s extensive training, research and experience in this field. Its style is accessible and she aims to empower individual teachers to ‘make a difference’ whilst also looking after themselves.

A Speechmark Book (Routledge) ISBN: 978-1-138-38632-7 £24.99

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Book reviews

by Mary Mountstephen

The Arts in Primary Education: Breathing life, colour and culture into the curriculum G. Kenyon

The author was a primary school teacher before becoming Head of Education at the National Gallery, and then Head of Learning at Somerset House, a working arts’ centre. She delivers training in the arts for primary schools and is passionate about empowering teachers with effective, inexpensive and practical ways to integrate the arts across the curriculum. In the opening chapter, she makes a compelling case for placing the arts at the centre of primary education, enabling children to discover passions and talents that might otherwise remain unrecognised. For children with learning differences, this can be an area where they shine and can be recognised for their creativity. Keynon does however recognise that teaching the arts can be

challenging for many teachers and this book is supportive and informative in that context. Chapters include: ‘Why the arts should play a central role in primary schools’, ‘Visual and plastic arts’, ‘Music’, and ‘Dance and Drama’. The chapter on music is interesting in terms of its focus on rhythm and how it can be applied across the curriculum as well as recognising the power of singing for improving the emotional and physiological aspects of learning. This is a thought-provoking book, with a central section of colour illustrations of artwork. Kenyon makes a powerful argument for placing the arts at ‘the very heart’ of education. A very readable and inspiring text

Bloomsbury Education ISBN: 978-1-4729-6105-1 £19.99

Working With Parents of Anxious Children:

Therapeutic Strategies for Encouraging Communication, Coping & Change

C. McCurry

McCurry is an assistant clinical professor in the Department of Psychology, as well as working in private practice, in the assessment and treatment of childhood anxiety. In this book, he draws on the latest clinical and developmental research in relation to parental behaviours and provides a guide to the assessment and intervention process. The book is divided into three parts, with the first outlining classifications of different types of anxiety, such as Social Anxiety Disorder, Panic Disorder and Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder. Parts 2 and 3 cover areas including: ‘Talking to Parents About Anxiety’, ‘Helping Parents Develop Effective Communication Skills’ and ‘Fostering Self-Care and Resilience’. The book also includes appendices with handouts, a questionnaire and resources such as breathing activities.

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The author provides some background to early brain development in the context of anxiety, using case studies to illustrate his points.The chapters are well-written and accessible and provide clear insights into causes and strategies that can support the anxious child. A summary of key ideas at the end of each chapter provides the reader with a clear and helpful overview of content. The meaning of the child’s symptoms and behaviour is explored and linked to ways to improve communication skills and to face difficult conversations. In terms of schools, McCurry claims that real changes to a child’s anxiety require changes to the systems or situations where the anxiety typically occurs.An interesting insight into anxiety in childhood.

W.W. Norton & Company 978-0393-73401-0 £22.00

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SEN careers

Support for SENCos SENCos provide invaluable support for vulnerable learners, but the nature and size of their workloads mean that they themselves can be vulnerable, so clear support mechanisms are needed, writes Hazel Richards.

ENCos are responsible for the strategic direction and development of SEN provision, teaching and learning, leading and managing staff and efficient and effective deployment of staff and resources in their setting. They are also the key implementers of the SEND Code of Practice (2015). This requires them to recognise complex needs, to interface with setting staff, families and expert professionals, and to apply for and implement education, health and care (EHC) plans. This means that SENCo’s are often overworked, and their mental health suffers.

Variability Whilst the SENCo role is statutory, differences in the leadership, ethos, knowledge and priorities of settings mean that the status and support available to practitioners varies. Although the Education Committee in Parliament has recognised the need to develop knowledge and understanding in order to further SEN108

“SENCo work is personally and emotionally difficult.” the implementation of the SEND policy reforms, the resourcing available to Local Authorities has been shown to be too limited to successfully put into effect many aspects of the policy.

Challenges In practice this means that SENCos are working in difficult circumstances. Despite this, a positive experience and outcomes for individual children are central to SENCo purpose. SENCos themselves know that they have the passion and senmagazine.co.uk

SEN careers

“SENCos themselves know that they have the passion and drive needed for their job’.” drive needed for their job, but the conflicting demands of resourcing and person-centred care, of supporting both families and hiring staff, and of advocating and securing support from limited resources requires them to be incredibly determined and resourceful. This dedication, accompanied by the sheer amount of work that SENCos have to do means their own work-life balance may not be their main priority. Further issues for vulnerable learners and their families, created by lockdown and Covid-19, have added a whole set of extra pressures to the mix.

About the author Hazel Richards PhD is a registered speech and language therapist and senior lecturer for the Department for Children and Families at the University of Worcester. worcester.ac.uk @drhazelrichards linkedin.com/in/hazel-richards

Personal and emotional aspects SENCos, in keeping with other professions where care and caring is central, can experience conflicts with their values and identity. Feelings of frustration and guilt at not being able to provide all of the support that children and young people with SEND in their care need are common. They can also be personally affected by individual cases, caught between processes and structures. Indeed, the personal and emotional aspects of SENCo work can be unseen, unrecognised and undervalued. SENCos themselves know that what often makes the difference is caring, involved practice. Emotional dissonance and workload are two significant factors in burnout and departure from the role and SENCO’s can find it hard to mitigate this. Additionally, SENCos can feel vulnerable or insecure due to the nature of their work. There is therefore a need to recognise the inherent personal and emotional effort required. Clear support mechanisms would help to relieve some of the pressure on SENCos.

The need for support Most SENCos work in individual settings. Some have assistants or cover other settings, for example, if they are part of a MultiAcademy Trust. SENCos may access online support through the SENCo Forum, and may have local SENCos they can contact, through for example, a local pyramid. SENCos operating in the early years can access the support of an Area SENCo, who provides advice and practical support about how to identify, assess and intervene for children with SEND. However, this service has been reduced in recent years. Such a provision is also not available to SENCos operating in primary and beyond. Instead, SENCos working in these years must seek out guidance and information themselves, often from services that are stretched or fragmented and from staff that lack necessary knowledge and experience. Additionally, there are difficulties with communication. These are due to both timetable constraints (since many SENCos hold the role alongside class duties, which restrict the times they are available for liaison) and due to the skills and vocabulary needed to communicate effectively with a range of other professionals. senmagazine.co.uk

This means that SENCos working in the primary years and beyond are carrying out a challenging and emotionally demanding role in a context that requires them to persevere and fight for limited resources without any formal point of reference to secure advice and practical support. Whilst the assistance offered by supportive settings and by fellow SENCos can go some way to mitigating this, this is not available to those who work in less helpful settings, or who have a reduced support network. This is a concern, particularly for SENCos new to the role, or for those encountering particularly demanding cases. The additional challenges created by the increasing incidence of mental health issues in children, by lockdown and by the changes to practice required to address the Covid-19 pandemic are further increasing the workload. Whilst the National Award in Special Educational Need Coordination (NASENCo) seeks to equip SENCos for the role, the reality is that a third of SENCos are likely to switch jobs after five years due to workload and funding concerns, and that there are concerns about the wellbeing of those in post. In summary, SENCo work is personally and emotionally difficult and there is no formal support system available to SENCos operating in the primary years and beyond. While SENCos working in early years can access an Area SENCo, this provision is also limited. This is a concerning situation because the need for support for our SENCos is likely to grow as they are increasingly required to support mental health issues. Though a provision similar to that provided by Area SENCos could meet the need for consistent advice and practical support about procedure and interventions, clinical supervision, accessed by other caring professions to enhance skills and confidence and to provide a reflective space and emotional support, would be worthy of consideration. SEN108

SEN careers

Social care cuts have devastating impact on people with learning disabilities According to Mencap, a lack of social care support during the coronavirus crisis has negatively impacted people with a learning disability, at a time when their need was suddenly greater. One family carer said the family hadn’t left the house since March, while another who is shielding said that their loved one can only be supported to go out for a daily walk at night. Carers speak of loved ones with a learning disability who were previously independent and confident but, since their support has been taken away, have ‘lost their life skills’. “He was at residential college supported by an active programme of learning and life skills. This has stopped since mid-March. He has regressed, he has become subdued and is ripping his clothes and being destructive.” Mother of 22-year-old son with a learning disability “We have worked hard for years to support my daughter to join in group activities. Due to COVID-19, she has been confused, is completely shutting down and is refusing to communicate.” Mother of 15 year-old-daughter with a learning disability The fear is that cash-strapped councils will be obliged to make further cuts as lockdown eases.

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CPD, training and events

CPD, training and events Your indispensable guide to SEN courses, workshops, conferences and exhibitions.

Virtual CPD Events 5 September 2020 Live stream training:

Enabling Children to Speak about feelings through Storytelling 10.00-16.30 (BST) Cost: £99 The Centre for Child Mental Health 020 7354 2913 info@childmentalhealthcentre.org childmentalhealthcentre.org

Autumn 2020 start Diploma in Trauma and Mental Health Informed Schools and Communities Practitioner Status 12 weekend days

Autumn 2020 start Certificate/Diploma in Counselling skills with children using the Arts

Impact of remote learning

020 7704 2534 info@artspsychotherapy.org

Listen along to our panel of industry-leading SEN experts who examine the impact remote learning has been having on students with additional learning needs, and hear what they think the future looks like for supporting these students in a blended learning environment.

artspsychotherapy.org

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Part time training

The Institute for Arts in Therapy and Education

October start National Award for SEN Coordination ONLINE

Liverpool Hope University Cost of Postgraduate Certificate - £1,733 hope.ac.uk

Understanding autism

Autism and communication

Identify communication differences for autistic people and what factors impact upon successful communication to improve your support

Autism and sensory experience

info@artspsychotherapy.org

Recognise the strengths and challenges experienced by many autistic people and how to create enabling environments

artspsychotherapy.org

autism.org.uk

020 7704 2534

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Explore the factors that impact on stress and anxiety, in order to provide effective support to reduce the impact of stress and anxiety on autistic people. autism.org.uk

Women and girls on the autism spectrum This module aims to support diagnosticians to better understand autistic female characteristics and therefore enhance confidence to diagnose successfully. autism.org.uk

autism.org.uk

This introductory module explores how people respond to information from the senses and how this can be experienced differently by autistic people.

The Institute for Arts in Therapy and Education

Autism, stress and anxiety

Please check all details with the event organiser before you make arrangements to attend.

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CPD, training and events

Autism: supporting families

Discover the experiences of families, consider common difficulties and acquire effective approaches for support. autism.org.uk

Autism, sport and physical activity

New Skills Academy New Skills Academy pride themselves on providing courses to further your career. Their experienced tutors have meticulously created some incredibly well received diplomas. Their diverse portfolio includes courses in

Safeguarding children on the autism spectrum

Awareness Diploma. Use

Online training

Understand how autism is defined, identify safeguarding issues in autistic children and improve your communication and support. autism.org.uk

Autism in the workplace

This course will increase participants’ understanding of autism (including Asperger syndrome) and develop their confidence in identifying and implementing reasonable adjustments for their autistic colleagues. £15+VAT per user - 50% of our usual cost, this offer will be available until 30th September 2020. autism.org.uk

Wednesday daytimes

Friday/Saturday delivery

Postgraduate Certificate in Management and Leadership of SEN

MBA Educational Leadership

the following areas: Autism Awareness Diploma; ADHD Diploma; Asperger Syndrome Code SEN80 for up to an 80% discount on all courses this month. newskillsacademy.co.uk

Dated CPDs, Events & Exhibitions from Sept 2020 Wednesday daytime

National Award for SEN Coordination Liverpool Hope University Cost of full Postgraduate Certificate - £1,733 hope.ac.uk

Liverpool Hope University Cost of Postgraduate Certificate - £1,733 hope.ac.uk

SEPTEMBER 2020 19 September 2020 Livestream Event (Conference)

The Neuroscience of emotions and relationships

(Sat) 10.00 - 16.30 (UK time zone) | Cost £125 What you need to know to support children, teenagers and adults with Expert Neuroscientists Professor Eamon McCrory, Professor Kerstin Uvnäs Moberg, Professor Mark Solms

The Centre for Child Mental Health 020 7354 2913 info@childmentalhealthcentre.org childmentalhealthcentre.org

30 September 2020

Special Yoga For Special Children Foundation Special Yoga flagship online training empowering you with confidence and accessible tools to support children with special needs to thrive physically, physiologically, emotionally, mentally and energetically. specialyoga.thinkific.com

from October 2020 Postgraduate Certificate Education Leadership & Management ONLINE Liverpool Hope University Cost of Postgraduate Certificate - £1,733 for UK students, £2,600 for International students hope.ac.uk

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from October 2020

the best online education

A comprehensive introduction to the autism spectrum focusing on the delivery of sport. autism.org.uk

from Sept 2020

Liverpool Hope University Designed to develop the business management and leadership abilities of experienced professionals working within education. Cost £10,500 hope.ac.uk

from October 2020/ January 2021 Saturday and twilight delivery available Liverpool Hope University

MA/MEd Leading in Education Designed specifically for leaders in education Cost of full Masters - £5,200 hope.ac.uk

from October 2020/ January 2021 MA Leading for Educational Advantage

Liverpool Hope University Designed specifically for leaders in education who work in areas of deprivation and high challenge. Cost £5,200 hope.ac.uk

OCTOBER 2020 8 October 2020

Special Yoga & Mindfulness for Autism & ADHD

Equip yourself with a comprehensive toolkit allowing you to inspire children with Autism & ADHD, help them to develop a mindful and selfregulating approach towards their wellbeing and support their learning. specialyoga.thinkific.com

15 October 2020

Special Yoga For Cerebral Palsy & PMLD Online

Discover adaptive and accessible yoga practices for challenging physical limitations. Learn techniques to help relieve tension, pain and reduce spasms, giving a greater sense of comfort for the children. specialyoga.thinkific.com

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Liverpool Hope University

Postgraduate Certificate in Specific Learning Difficulties (Dyslexia) This specialist programme enables professionals to develop the knowledge, skills and confidence to be a specialist teacher and/or assessor for SpLD (dyslexic) learners (up to the age of 18) through completion of two key modules: Module 1: Identification, intervention and teaching (ATS/APS)

Content

• The statutory and regulatory context for SpLD (dyslexia) and the implications for effective specialist teaching and assessment. • Critical reflection upon the theory and practice of psychometrics. • Identification of opportunities to increase inclusive approaches. • Critical appraisal of teaching programmes and specialist practice. • Develop an understanding of the social, emotional and community issues that may affect learners with SpLD (dyslexia). Successful completion of module 2 will enable participants to apply to the British Dyslexia Association (BDA) for Associate Membership of the British Dyslexia Association (AMBDA) status.

• Developing understanding of the practice and principles involved in the identification and assessment of learners with SpLD (dyslexia). • Critical reflection upon the role of IT. • Follow and individualise a teaching programme to meet individual learner needs. • Evaluation of personal specialist practice. Successful completion of module 1 will enable participants with Qualified Teacher Status (QTS) or Qualified Teacher Learning and Skills (QTLS) to apply to the British Dyslexia Association (BDA) for Approved Teacher Status (ATS). Participants who do not hold QTS or QTLS status who successfully complete module 1 will be able to apply to the BDA for Approved Practitioner Status (APS). Module 2: Psychometrics and diagnostic assessments (AMBDA) Delivery: Via face-to-face taught sessions at Liverpool Hope University. Dates: Starts January 2021, Full Day Saturdays Cost: £1,540 – Module 1 only. £2,600 Full Postgraduate Certificate in Specific Learning Difficulties (Dyslexia), includes modules 1 and 2.

How to apply: For further information or to request your application pack please contact:

‘Early Bird Discount’ – Applicants to the full Postgraduate Certificate in Specific Learning Difficulties (Dyslexia) whose application is received by 1st October 2020, will receive a 20% discount, reducing the fee to £2,080.

T: 0151 291 3061 E: cpd@hope.ac.uk www.hope.ac.uk/cpd/education

The CPD Team Liverpool Hope University, Hope Park, Liverpool L16 9JD

The Post Graduate Certificate in Specific Learning Difficulties (Dyslexia) is accredited by the British Dyslexia Association (BDA).

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YEARS OF ACADEMIC EXCELLENCE

CPD, training and events

31 October 2020

20 and 21 November 2020

Livestream Event (conference) Dr Dan Hughes and Dr Jonathan Baylin present

The Autism Show

Brain-based Attachment Interventions to transform troubled lives

(Sat) 12.00-17.00 (UK time zone) | Cost £125 The Centre for Child Mental Health 020 7354 2913

info@childmentalhealthcentre.org childmentalhealthcentre.org

NOVEMBER 2020

Event City, Manchester In association with the National Autistic Society, The Autism Show is the national event for autism. It attracts over 10,000 parents, family carers, and professionals looking for trusted information, practical advice, and specialist products and services. Choose from over 100 hours of talks, clinics and workshops. All content is CPD certified. Book your tickets now and save 20%. manchester.autismshow.co.uk

DECEMBER 2020 4 and 5 December 2020

The Autism Show ExCel London

In association with the National Autistic Society, The Autism Show is the national event for autism. It attracts over 10,000 parents, family carers, and professionals looking for trusted information, practical advice, and specialist products and services. Choose from over 100 hours of talks, clinics and workshops. All content is CPD certified. Book your tickets now and save 20%. london.autismshow.co.uk

11 and 12 December 2020

9 and 10 November 2020

The Autism Show

Naidex

NEC Birmingham Naidex is back for its 46th year! This is Europe’s most established event for everyone involved in the support and care of those with special educational needs. Join the Naidex community on the 9th & 10th November at NEC, Birmingham by securing your free ticket here.

NEC Birmingham

Please check all details with the event organiser before you make arrangements to attend.

http://bit.ly/2BUfkI5

2021

Find new people... ...through

from January 2021

Postgraduate Certificate in Specific Learning Difficulties (Dyslexia) Liverpool Hope University

Cost - £2,600 (20% Early Bird discount for applications by 1st October 2020) hope.ac.uk

If you have training courses to publicise, let people know about them through the pages of SEN Magazine. With a targeted audience of over 36,000 special needs professionals, it’s the obvious choice. Call Denise on 01200 409808 or email denise@senmagazine.co.uk

Tuesday daytimes

National Award for SEN Coordination (Liverpool Hope University) St Mary’s College, Blackburn Cost of full Postgraduate Certificate - £1,733 hope.ac.uk

from February 2021 Tuesday daytimes

Postgraduate Certificate in Management and Leadership of SEN (Liverpool Hope University) St Mary’s College, Blackburn Cost Postgraduate Certificate - £1,733 hope.ac.uk

Kidz to Adult Events Check website for details Boost your CPD by attending

Saturday daytimes

SEN is read by special needs teaching and support staff throughout the UK. If you are recruiting special needs staff, advertise in SEN Magazine’s recruitment section.

from February 2021

one or more FREE CPD accredited seminars taking place at our exhibition. The seminars cover a wide range of topics including: toileting, autism, employment, seating and much more! All suited for families/carers of children with disabilities and special needs, and the professionals who support them. kidzexhibitions.co.uk/whats-on

JANUARY 2021 8 and 9 January 2021

TES SEN Show

Business Design Centre, Islington, London Boost your professional development with CPD seminars at the Tes SEN Show (8-9 January 2021 | Business Design Centre, London). Register your free place and book early bird seminars for just £16+VAT with the early bird discount (full price £19+VAT).

For the latest news, articles, resources, cpd and events listings, visit: senmagazine.co.uk

https://bit.ly/2N94Bij

SEN108

senmagazine.co.uk

CPD, training and events

senmagazine.co.uk

SEN108

SEN resources directory

Sen resources directory Information, advice and support for all things SEN

Autism Ambitious about Autism National charity for children and young people with autism. ambitiousaboutautism.org.uk

Mental health MIND

Advice and support for people experiencing a mental health problem. mind.org.uk

Rebound Therapy

Autism Alliance Network of 16 UK autism charities. autism-alliance.org.uk

Autistica Autism research charity. autistica.org.uk

National Autistic Society Help and information for those affected by ASD. autism.org.uk

Dyslexia British Dyslexia Association Information and support for people affected by dyslexia. bdadyslexia.org.uk

Driver Youth Trust Charity offering free information and resources on dyslexia. driveryouthtrust.com

Dyspraxia Dyspraxia Foundation UK Dyspraxia advice and support.

ReboundTherapy.org

The UK governing body and international consultancy for Rebound Therapy. reboundtherapy.org

SEN law Douglas Silas Solicitors

Douglas Silas Solicitors are the legal experts specialising exclusively in SEN, helping parents successfully throughout the SEN process. SpecialEducationalNeeds.co.uk

Special educational needs nasen Organisation for the education, training and advancement of those with SEN. nasen.org.uk

SEN.fyi (App) Everything You Wanted to Know About SEN – all in one place! Download this app free to your smartphone or tablet for iOS (on Apple App store) or Android (on Google Play store). specialeducationalneeds.co.uk/ senfyi-app.html

Visual impairment New College Worcester Advice and support for those teaching

IPSEA

Free, legally-based advice for parents of children who are visually impaired. children with SEN. ncw.co.uk ipsea.org.uk

SLCN Communication Matters

Royal Society for Blind Children Support and services for families and professionals.

Support for people with little or no clear speech. communicationmatters.org.uk

rsbc.org.uk

I CAN

Support and advice for those affected

Children’s communication charity. ican.org.uk

RNIB by visual impairment. rnib.org.uk

dyspraxiafoundation.org.uk

Learning outdoors Council for Learning Outside the classroom Awarding body for the LOtC quality badge. lotc.org.uk

Literacy National Literacy Trust Literacy charity for adults and children. literacytrust.org.uk SEN108

senmagazine.co.uk

Liverpool Hope University

National Award for Special Educational Needs Coordination Postgraduate Certificate (Online) The National Award for Special Educational Needs Coordination (NASENCo) is a mandatory qualification for SENCOS in mainstream, academy and free schools. The NASENCo allows aspiring or current Special Educational Need Coordinators (SENCos) to meet the requirements of the Special Educational Needs (SEN) Code of Practice through completion of two key modules: Module 1: Professional Knowledge and Understanding of the SENCo Role. Content • The statutory and regulatory context for SEN and disability equality, and the implications for practice in your school/ work setting. • The principles and practice of leadership in different contexts. • How SEN and disabilities affect pupils’ participation and learning. • Strategies for improving outcomes for pupils with SEN and/ or disabilities. Dates and Delivery: Starts October 2020 and takes 12 months to complete. Both modules will be delivered on a part-time basis, through fully online learning, including: • Reflective learning that will enable you to gain knowledge and understanding of the SENCo/Aspiring SENCo role. • Participation in online webinars. • Access to the extensive Liverpool Hope University Library including e-books and journal collections. • Academic tutorial support via zoom and email. • Online discussion forums with academics and other students.

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YEARS OF ACADEMIC EXCELLENCE

Module 2: Leading and Coordinating SEND Provision. Content • Work strategically with senior colleagues and governors. • Lead, develop and, where necessary, challenge senior leaders, colleagues and governors. • Critically evaluate evidence about learning, teaching and assessment in relation to pupils with SEN. • Draw on external sources of support and expertise. • Develop, implement, monitor and evaluate systems.

• Practice -based reflection. • Online support from Liverpool Hope University including IT support and library support. Cost: £1,733. Group discounts available. How to apply: For further information or to request your application pack please contact: The CPD Team Liverpool Hope University, Hope Park, Liverpool L16 9JD T: 0151 291 3061 E: cpd@hope.ac.uk www.hope.ac.uk/cpd/education

READING

Catch up and close the reading gap

l l

Independently proven to help children catch up quickly in word reading and comprehension

Learn at Home packs and single titles are now available on Amazon.

Ideal for children who need a boost after a disruption in their learning as well as children with longer-term needs

Increases children’s confidence in reading and encourages success Readers available in print and online formats to enable children to make progress in school and at home Discover the difference Rapid has been making in schools across the UK and try free samples on our website: www.pearsonprimary.co.uk/rapidreading A2188

SEN Magazine - Issue 108 - September/October 2020

Articles inside

Book reviews

Autism and signing