Food Chaining To Help Children Try New Foods After living and working with children who favour beige foods I have only just stumbled across the idea of food chaining. If you are a parent of an autistic child, you may have experienced similar challenges with feeding your child. Some autistic children have a restricted diet,…
Tips for Designing Activities To Reduce Processing Demand As an experienced special needs teacher in the United Kingdom, I have learned that it is crucial to design activities that meet the specific processing requirements of my students. There have been discussions about autistic energy and Spoon Theory. This seems to relate to the capacity of…
How Sand Timers Can Help Autistic Children One tool that can help autistic children to deal with time-related issues is a sand timer. A sand timer is a simple device that consists of two glass bulbs connected by a narrow tube, filled with sand that flows from one bulb to the other. Sand timers can…
10 Special Education Teaching Styles & Approaches Special education is a broad term that encompasses the provision of education for pupils with special educational needs (SEN). SEN can include learning difficulties, physical disabilities, sensory impairments, communication disorders, emotional and behavioural difficulties, and autism spectrum disorders. According to the 2001 SEN Code of Practice, there are…
The Best Home Made Sensory Toys for Autistic Children For autistic children, finding easy DIY ways to engage their senses and promote self-regulation can be incredibly beneficial. Home made Sensory toys are a great tool for providing stimulating and calming experiences, and homemade sensory toys can be even more valuable because of their personal touch and…
Autistic Nesting: What Does It Mean & What Is It For? Autism, a neurodevelopmental condition characterised by differences in social interaction and communication, is often accompanied by unique sensory experiences. One such behavior that has attracted limited attention but makes perfect sense is ‘Autistic Nesting’, a fascinating aspect of the autism spectrum experience. This article…
Using Signing For Communication With Autistic Children One of the common elements of autism is difficulty with communication, including delayed or limited speech, and expressive and receptive language impairments. Many parents of autistic children wonder if teaching their child sign language might help improve their ability to communicate. This comprehensive guide covers everything parents need…
Infantilizing Autism & Autistic Adults There are many misconceptions and stereotypes surrounding autism in society today. One of the most pervasive and harmful is the myth that autism solely affects children. From nonprofit organizations to the media and even policymakers, the narrative around autism is overwhelmingly child-centric. Autism has become infantilized in the public consciousness,…
Understanding Low Arousal Environments Before we dive into the specifics, it’s important to define what we mean by a “low arousal environment.” At its core, such an environment minimises sensory, cognitive, and emotional overstimulation. This can be achieved through a variety of methods, including controlling physical elements like light and sound, managing classroom activities, and…
A Guide to Vocal Stimming and Autism As a parent to Autistic children and an SEN teacher, it’s essential to raise awareness and understanding about the different aspects of autism (ASD). One such aspect is “vocal stimming,” a term that refers to self-stimulatory behaviours exhibited by autistic individuals, it may also be called verbal stimming….
Supporting Children with Dyspraxia in the Classroom What is Dyspraxia? Dyspraxia, also known as Developmental Coordination Disorder (DCD), is a neurological condition that affects physical coordination and can impact a child’s fine motor skills, gross motor skills, and planning abilities. These challenges can affect a child’s performance and wellbeing in various areas, including academic achievement,…
Sleep Issues and Autism: A Guide for Teachers, SENCOs and Parents Sleep plays a crucial role in child development and daily functioning. However, for children with Autism (ASD), achieving consistent, restful sleep can be a challenge. Understanding the intersection of autism and sleep issues is essential for educators, as it can have significant impacts on…
Aphantasia and Autism For Parents and Teachers. Understanding the nuances and complexities of neurodivergence is an integral part of supporting children with different cognitive processing abilities. Two such cognitive phenomena that have gained increased attention in recent years are aphantasia and autism. This article aims to provide parents with a comprehensive understanding of these conditions,…
Self-Advocacy Through Communicating Needs. Children can experience social, emotional, and mental health (SEMH) issues at any stage of development. These challenges can stem from specific life events, like bereavement, trauma, illness, family stresses, or bullying. In other cases, the underlying causes may relate to longer-term factors such as learning difficulties, challenges with social skills, prolonged…
Autism and Clumsiness: Why Does my Child Keep Falling Over? Autism, or Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD), is a developmental disorder that affects children and adults in a whole range of ways. It is known as a “spectrum” disorder because its symptoms and severity vary among those who have it. I really liked Donna William’s Autism…
How to Care for Yourself While Caring for Your SEN Child: Preventing Parental Burnout Parental burnout is reaching alarming levels among parents of children with SEN in the UK. With cuts to services, rising mortgage rates and inflation, families are under more pressure than ever. The daily struggles of raising a child with additional needs…
Turn-Taking and sharing Activities for Toddlers Turn taking is a pivotal social skill that children must acquire early in life. It’s an essential component of social interaction, allowing them to effectively, and positively, engage with others. Turn taking is a behaviour for learning that helps in activities where the child needs to share attention, participate…
The 5 Best Free Online Autism Courses for Teaching Assistants in 2023 A common question I am asked on our Facebook page is “What are the Best Free Autism Courses for Teaching Assistants?” I will share the professional development courses our TA’s have been accessing this year. There is a lot of evidence about effective…
The Impact of Lockdown on Autistic Children The COVID-19 pandemic and subsequent lockdowns have had a profound impact on’s lives, including children and adolescents. At the time of writing this article, June 2023, we are seeing the challenges and outcomes of this upheaval including much-reduced attendance. It feels like there has been a subtle shift…
Autism is a complex neurodevelopmental difference that is characterised by a spectrum, or fruit salad of different elements. These can include difficulty with social interaction and communication. Increasingly this is looked at through the lens of “Double Empathy”. You can read more about this in Pia Hämäläinen’s book here. However, autism is not a disorder…
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