Hi, my name is Jordan. I am a special education teacher from the UK. I share my passion for
everything communication, sensory regulation and fun lesson ideas for my classroom of disabled
pupils aged 4 to 11. Each week I am joined by experts in the field answering your questions
and sharing our knowledge and experience working alongside our beautiful young people. Let's get started.
Hello everybody. I am joined by Spectrum Patronum this evening who is another SPED teacher and we're
going to be talking all things communication and owning a small business as a teacher because both
of us do that and about being a neurodivergent teacher because we're both neurodivergent.
Oh my god. I was just explaining like why well we're quite like new to knowing each other aren't
we but I feel like we've like bonded straight away because we're like oh my god special education,
neurodivergent, AAC, owning this whole business like there's so much like in common. Absolutely
and like when I remember seeing you on your videos of how you make a sensory story and I was like
that's a literally I'm like what have I got in the cupboard right we're doing the farm
oh there's a feather one button that'll do absolutely education thing or an ADHD
thing I don't know but yeah I'm just like yeah that'll do that's good yeah I think it's like
being resourceful that's what I'm putting it down to I'm like oh we can just make it work you know
pick you know pick something out the cupboard that's the problem though isn't it because
it means that I see value and an opportunity in everything so it's really really really really
really hard to get rid of anything like random boxes I've got random Pringles cubes that I'm
keeping I've got all sorts of stuff like oh but that could be perfect for like this activity that
activity is it's a problem yeah absolutely like bottles oh yeah sensory bottle yeah exactly like
the other thing exactly and I made those like I made like pictures of animals and they were then
and I was like that's great because they're thick they're sturdy explain that because I don't know
people have seen that because I think it's genius I'm absolutely going to magnify that idea I don't
think I've got one on me actually but um just backing things onto like thicker pieces of
cardboard I mean it was about that thick um I kept it from you know like you get a delivery oh yeah
I'll keep those um you know for those pupils who struggle with their fine motor skills I've seen
people put symbols on like like put back a symbol onto a brick because you know that's quite can be
quite tricky to pick up so many of mine struggle to actually like pick up the symbol and yeah
on the velcro so that's genius I love seeing people like back them onto bricks or a thick
piece of something so that it's easier to grab that's one of mine also I don't know if you've
got any ideas for this struggles to like match velcro to velcro and one of my peers thought well
we only put a tiny square velcro on the back why don't we just cover the whole thing in velcro so
it's like more like they're going to catch it another one colored in the velcro so that it's
black not white on white like I don't know if you've got any more ideas like that of like just trying
to like get them to match it's so tricky isn't it like we also have different sizes at my school so
like I've got like got some resources of course like a big like bigger symbols as well and then
then if you cut the whole thing in velcro then it would like you're more likely I guess the ratio
of missing it is less isn't it yeah yeah I think so and then it just falls to the floor and my heart
like I know it's really hard especially when it's for a transition and they're matching it somewhere
they're transitioned you did it the whole way exactly to the floor oh yeah exactly every time
and my heart just breaks so yeah anything I can do this helps them just get a little bit easier
yeah I love that right we've got some questions going in okay how do you draw all your symbols I
can't find a good solution I've gone through so many different ways I used to just chuck them in
trays and just say like animals clothes you know choice boards whatever and just chuck them in that
that didn't work because I could never find the one I wanted then I had them like upwards in I
don't know what it was like it's like little trays like separate trays but again they all get
muddled and like that didn't work and now I'm trying photo cases they're like this size and
they all fit into like a carrier yeah like a carrier it's clear so I can kind of see what's
inside and I've just written them in topic order and I can find things really quickly but they're
not big like I hear food like I'd need it to be like way more specific than that then I'd need
loads of them I also find you know that famous blue pouch that everyone's got but they just
fall out the front yeah so what do you do what's that I have gone through many different systems
like you do because I also think as you change what you do yeah you like need a new system I've
used like you know the craft boxes yes with sections I've used the show from Amazon you can
get like jewelry holders which is a bit like the blue one so just a jewelry holder and they fit
like this size in as well okay like all of those organized but also I have now it's quite it's a
lot but I've got quite a few like lever arch files with laminated just plain laminated sheets with
velcro on yes organized this is my food one this is my map space one for like colors numbers I love
that and then like outdoors so like when we go to the woods and when you find it you're able to find
what you need quicker because that's the point isn't it because what I kept doing was I kept
having to just remake from new because it was quicker to remake from new than to find the random
symbol that I wanted and we go through symbols like they just get eaten they go missing they get
pulled apart so often I'm like oh just make I'll just make some new ones which isn't really the
point is it like we need to have a system but yeah definitely I definitely say having a system
is needed for sure okay I get this one a lot I don't know if you do as well what education level
do you need to complete to become a special education teacher so what was your journey into
sped teaching so I finished college didn't really know what I wanted to do but I had done child care
and education and I was very much I don't want to work at school I remember I was like I don't I
just know that I don't want to work at school I want to do like nursery or something like that
what do you think that came from like what do you could you look back at that you don't know why you
didn't know I don't know where that came from but I was just like oh I didn't yeah there were some
things I don't know but then I went and got a job at a school that I had done like a placement at
like a temporary eight week it was meant to be for eight weeks to cover someone as a teacher
and I was like oh yeah that's fine and it was actually supporting an autistic boy one-to-one
I remember like thinking I don't know what autism is like literally I was like like 18 just finished
college and I was like I don't know what autism is and then you look online and then I'm like I have
no clue when absolutely fell in love with it and he was he was in year R at the time he'd now be
about 19 20 I think so it's good for me isn't it um and then I ended up staying at that school
supporting children with different needs for four years and then I went to a special school yeah um
and did my degree part-time oh I did my in whilst you were still working in the school yeah so I
got my degree through um the open university okay um in early years education took me six years
but like I did it alongside working and actually I would I I got so much from that you know like
that real one financially because it's a more affordable way of doing it isn't it so people
are worried about going into a degree for financial reasons at open university and
part-time and working is a really good way of it being accessible but yeah my god so I I did it
completely different I did I did an acting degree knowing that I wanted to be a teacher
but I just wanted to do a fun degree so I did that but I thought I wanted to be a drama teacher
in secondary so that's what I was thinking I'd do an acting degree then I'll be a drama teacher
but I wanted a spare part-time job whilst I was doing my degree and one of my friends supply
TA'd at a special ed school near me and it was really well paid and you could kind of do it ad
hoc like they just call you in the morning you'd say yes or no and I was like yeah that sounds fun
like it would get me teaching experience and if I can work with special ed children and it will
help me in my you know that was kind of my thinking it would work for me it was well paid
etc and my god the first week I was like I'm in like this is awesome I don't like it the whole
it the whole world I didn't even know yeah I was like there and possible and then right from that
so that was my first year of degree I did three year um full-time degree and yeah the whole time
I was like no I'm going to be a special education teacher from that moment yeah which was great
because I would like you I had the teaching assistant experience yeah because without that
I would have done one year PGCE and it taught it teaches you phonics I knew how to teach early
maths barely and I stepped into my first class at 21 I was an under-qualified teacher I was 21
I had six TAs to manage that were middle-aged women which is just at 21 a class of 10 autistic
children aged like 10 to 13 I didn't have a clue luckily my TAs were incredible and they dragged
me through the first couple of years because they like my PGCE didn't teach me anything everything
I knew was as a teaching assistant and yeah and my TAs and then working then gradually working with
speech language therapists and OTs and I've kind of like and done courses and stuff along the way
but that first year I was absolutely clueless yeah it's my PGCE year was um through a special
needs school so I did mine and I did two placements so two terms in special needs and one time in
mainstream because I had to get that mainstream but the actual course so it wasn't any direct
with at all really there was like five days in total over the whole year for special needs and
actually what they touched on was so minimal and I remember thinking I remember thinking
everybody in this room whether you're a mainstream or special you are going to come across children
with additional needs whether that be ADHD, dyslexia, autism within their settings and then
there was I was doing things like history and geography stuff and I'm thinking I know I knew
because of like what I'd experienced I knew that I wanted to work with children with more complex
needs more high support needs and I remember sat there thinking okay I'll take it on board but I
just knew that that's not where I was gonna go yeah yeah I really struggled with my mentors and
stuff because it was really hard to motivate myself through my PGCE year because I knew that
it was irrelevant I would have got so much more out of just spending a year in the school just
like trying my year my I did year six year one and year six yeah do you know what looking back
it did kind of set me up for it because the first sped class I went into was the age of year six
but the ability of year one so it kind of did set me up a little bit in order to understand kind of
where they were at socially and where they were at academically yeah but not really like quite it is
different isn't it it's very different yeah yeah yeah um so but I think it's different now so that
was like 15 years ago I think um it is different now I hear through through Instagram and DMs
people are doing special education degrees in the UK which sounds amazing and I think that was a
thing so I really hope that these teachers feel a little bit more prepared when they actually do
have their class because I really really didn't yeah it's definitely I think if I hadn't had
the experience that I had from being a special needs assistant and all the training I got from
the schools that I worked at previously I wouldn't have known it yeah I wouldn't have known what to do
so it's definitely you know yeah that experience that experience is like invaluable it's so valuable
it's just yeah yeah so much yeah so much this is more of a behavior related one but I always see
behavior as communication so I feel like it is communication have my top on this morning my
behavior is communication oh yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah
I have a child who's become more violent and is hitting out they they were having some time out
for a consequence but I finally just escalate not sure what to do and any tips would be amazing
so first of all I get this in my dms all the time like what do I do and my always my first thing I
say is behavior is communication what do you think the behavior is telling you so if they're
acting more violent hitting out and if time out so I'm assuming I'm hoping it's quiet time and not
them sitting on a chair I hope let's assume it's quiet time in a room and calm down time we don't
do sitting on chairs and naughty steps anymore that's not what we do we don't do no so let's
hope it's calm down area or calm down corner or something like that I'm not going to even going
to call it almost because it's consequence though anyway that's them sitting still isn't it that's
them being quiet and sitting still now if sitting still is making them more dysregulated so their
behavior is escalating then that means why don't you try the opposite I would suggest so before
definitely when they're already being violent and hitting out I would be encouraging them to get
moving and get outside and move their bodies but ideally it would be even before that starts
so think about what the triggers are what makes them violent hitting out is it losing a game
is it a busy environment is it when there are lots of people in a closed environment is it when
there's bright lights like there'll be something there'll be some kind of trigger because no child
is naturally like that when they are calm and regulated and feeling safe and secure and
understood and all of those things yeah so there'll be some kind of reason ideally you would reduce
that reason and those demands so that they there was less likely to happen if you couldn't avoid it
I would be offering regular movement breaks and sensibility because obviously what this child is
needing praise for doing that as well and yeah get away from this kind of time out and consequences
quite old school thinking actually I feel like that's it's a lot of I think because it's a lot
of background in the 90s like all lots of us grew up in the 90s that was kind of what was
encouraged that was how it was that was how child and managed like behavior management was sorted
lots of the teachers now go back to that yeah and it's not actually done like that now is it's much
more about seeing what the traders are and trying to reduce those giving regular sensory breaks and
and calm down breaks rather than it being a consequence actually bring something the child
might request you know I need a break that's encouraging that's actually praised that they
might need a break from that yeah I don't know if you have anything anything to add no I was just
going to say about unpicking that behavior what why you know why does that behave happen but like
we don't in my setting especially my classroom we really try to not react which is really tricky
and actually it takes a long time to because it's almost like an instant react if that's what
costs like it isn't it yeah I'm not reacting but trying to not reacting in a negative way but
trying to think what what are they like generally what are they communicating yeah they're trying to
gain my attention okay and then not in if it's quite big behaviors it's not about teaching them
the skills in that moment because they're not regulated they're not ready to learn yeah so you
know and I think in that moment isn't it yeah and I think I think it's with what you say we've come
a long way with different things and I think one of the big things is definitely seeing like giving
them a reward not seeing it as oh I'm giving them a reward for that behavior you're supporting their
regulation you are stopping the them from becoming even more dysregulated or even more heightened
um actually you're trying to meet their need yeah because we're attached to a mainstream school
and I hear that a lot but oh they're just being rewarded for their negative behavior just reinforcing
their bad behavior like and it's a real concern like I totally get what it looks like you know
that this child has thrown this chair and you've removed them and spent some lovely quality time
together and given them a massage like I get what that looks like I can see why somebody that
doesn't understand that so yeah then just do it again he'll just throw a chair again and then
he'll get a massage like yes but you have to remember we're an education setting we're not
a behavioral change unit we are here to educate them and in this moment they need to be regulated
they need to understand that maybe I don't need to throw chairs maybe I need to just ask for a
squeeze and a break and and that's the learning in that moment yeah I agree and actually I'll hold
my hand up and say a few years ago see it as but right they've just done to have that negative
behavior towards that other child quite physically aggressive and now they're getting a reward yeah
they need a consequence like it but I think being able to reflect as a practitioner and say and
change and you know you change your practice you have to and I'm just saying it again I'm sure
yeah absolutely and then actually implementing those communication strategies at the right time
teaching how to gain attention properly teaching how to actually if they're for example good ones
always pushing I always think why are they pushing are they pushing for attention is it that sensory
is it to their hands a bit of full body movement we're really really lucky at my school we've got
some amazing spaces um and we've got a room called the balance room and it's got some like suitable
for like appropriate climbing you know so it's being able to climb and let out energy in the
room even if you're in a school but doesn't have those amazing things there are things you can do
so like we've got we've got car tires in our playground car tires the most amazing sensory
resource they are free because garages need to pay to get rid of them so if you're in doubt and
you don't have no budget get a load of sensory car tires they are really great heavy work so
um they you're tiring your arms out so they're getting rid of all that like excess fidget
energy so you can lift them and build a tower you can push them over and it's really satisfying
to push over yeah splattered we're because there's water in them and they they're really heavy and
hard to push you can roll them you can sit in them and it's free so don't just think just because I
haven't got any budget that you can't do this stuff because you absolutely can and you can push
against a wall you can do deep pressure squeezes with each other they all on themselves you know
there are lots of free ways of doing this so I don't want that to be a reason it's just about
educating three ways of doing this isn't it yeah and also sort of like wrapping themselves up like
rolling like you said like a sausage roll so you know you hold that blanket roll yourself up like
a sausage roll and it's like that tight you know sometimes it doesn't have to be an expensive
weighted blanket even even though they're not as expensive now and they're much more affordable
but it can literally just be a blanket and be bottled like you would a newborn um for the same
reason they feel comforted by that and grounded even carrying water bottle two liter water bottles
in a rucksack and at the front that can and again it's a really free resource you will already have
had those things in your cupboard and it just grounds their shoulders and grounds them I used
to when they used to have massive argos catalogs they don't do them anymore but I used to send my
child on a job to the teachers upstairs or whatever with these argos books it sounds really mean now
but it really helped you know they could have two or one argos book depending on the size of them
just for them kind of heavy lifting work again another free um activity that you do that just
grounds his children before I move on from this one I just wanted to make it really clear that
when we're saying ignore minimal behaviors what we actually mean so by ignoring we're not reacting
verbally we're not even reacting with our face but we can still be there to ensure they're safe
so what I do sometimes is if my child is standing on really high furniture which happens sometimes
as high as my shoulder a little five-year-old will be as high as my shoulder on this on this walk now
if I was to say get down from there that's like so exciting he'd start flapping he'd start jumping
and I'm like no I really don't want him to be doing that so what I do is I stand next to him
side by side so I'm not face on I'm not being confrontational I'm side by side I'm there if he
falls I feel safe and I'm there if he wants to come down with an open hand like this so that he
knows I'm there if he wants to get down and I just wait sometimes I might say like I'm here or down
please yeah maybe often I am just there and I just wait and I make it a little bit boring because
yeah it's not that exciting sitting up there and then as soon as he is down and safe then I take him to
somewhere that he can climb safely whatever that might be I was like why when we say ignore minimal
behaviors it's not like literally walking away and ignoring and I don't want people I don't want that
and think because I knew what you meant but I don't want people to think yeah it's hard isn't it
when you kind of naturally will say things and it probably comes across like no yeah definitely not
ignoring their climbing if I'm just gonna just let them crack up with it no no no you're there
you're just not reacting isn't it okay somebody's thrown something really heavy obviously you don't
ignore that in the sense of obviously you remove that way the object was thrown obviously you check
that the child that they threw it out or whatever it is okay absolutely but what you don't do is
become confrontational with the actual child that's what it is isn't it yeah and I think it's also
about like giving appropriate attention because for some children all are to any attention whether
it be negative positive that's just they just want it but it's again it goes back to teaching
in the appropriate time teaching them how they can gain attention for an interaction or whatever
I wasn't a great student in school I have ADHD I really really wasn't in year I really struggled
particularly in year three I found it really difficult I moved from infant school to junior
school and I found it it was a different school and I found that transition really really difficult
and all of a sudden I came from like to from a really like high achieving like well-attentive
student to being somebody that ran away from school kicked teachers back didn't have any friends so I
remember the feeling of like almost wanting the negative because I wasn't getting the positive
so I totally can see how how that would feed a child's like interest I was just as happy
with being told off and the attention with that as I was being praised and because I wasn't being
praised the easiest way to get that attention was those negative behaviors I didn't know that at
the time but that's what was going on in my brain yeah so when I'm seeing it in my classroom I can
totally relate and I luckily I had an amazing TA that swooped in really really quickly and kind
of befriended me and we had like one-to-one time lunch time and stuff that's what that is exactly
what I needed because I just needed to know that I was loved and seen and looked looked you know I
was yeah I was noticed I suppose for just being quiet little me and and then I kind of got on and
I had difficult times on through teenagehood as well like god ADHD is a whirlwind for teenagers
and with hormone difficulties as well like I was a right I was a right case it's hilarious that I'm
a teacher honestly I was always on report I ran away missed school awful but they always could see
that I was a high achiever and luckily I just coasted I could just coast through which was I'm very
grateful for but they honestly if when I ever meet a teacher and they say oh what are you up to now
and when I say I'm a teacher they just think really but that's I think where that new my
divergent teacher comes in it is a real gift to be able to understand exactly like I've been you
like I get it I understand exactly where you're at you sympathize and empathize on it on like a
different level a whole different level feel like I'm gonna sound really weird now but I feel like
they know sometimes yeah I don't know some of my most complex students that I've worked with
I feel like in those moments when you I feel like you know you can I don't know about you but I can
definitely sense people's yeah we call it I like not I can sense how people are like even if they're
not presenting that's maybe HD isn't it yeah that is a thing like you can sense people's like feeling
towards you even if it's like hidden yeah yeah and it's I think like when I feel that they're
upset and you know and I then feel like I'm here for you I'm gonna try and do whatever I can to
help you even just sit there like just holding or hugging or and I think that they they they
children do anyway they pick up on your yeah your like your emotions and things and I think if you
are really you know you've been really empathetic and you're and you're like just being in that
moment with them and you think in your head I get it it's like it's okay and I do think that that
they feel it yeah I feel that for sure from my end I feel like we often have a moment of like
and you kind of like connect in a way yeah I've definitely felt that especially through like
intensive interactions I've had some really quite deep and rich intensive interactions but anyone
that doesn't know it's by Dave Hewitt there's loads of examples of it on YouTube and on his website
just google Dave Hewitt intensive interaction and it's basically where it's completely child-led and
they conduct you you're following their flow of movement you're following their flow of vocalizations
or sounds as long as it's appropriate and safe you're you're kind of mimicking it in a way and
not in a way of like it's like a flow it's like echoing them it's not exact it's just kind of
like feeling like they're super super into a toy you're super super into it too if they're super
super into some kind of flap or stim you're kind of finding the joy like actual authentic joy in
that too it's not copying it's just finding like oh yeah that leaf is cool yeah it does feel good
when I flap or it does feel good I don't just genuine joy just like sharing that moment with
them I've had some such deep and rich moments in that and I do think it's because I genuinely get
something from what they're doing so like when they're laying on the floor and like and he's
like flapping and stuff and I'm copying I'm like actually this does really good like this makes me
feel really good and I think it does make you feel good and you can kind of like it's kind of like a
vibration between us and I don't know I can't speak for non I can't speak for neurotypical people
maybe it is the same maybe it's just the intensive interaction maybe that's just how it works but
that's certainly what it feels like for me it's like reverberation like we're vibrating with each
other yeah it's actually quite intimate in a weird way like it's like the whole world and maybe this
is an ADHD thing as well because I can hyper focus the whole world just like goes back I forget I'm
a teacher I'm a figure I'm in class and I'm literally like with them and like totally in it
with them absolutely and I love it it's my favorite I love it we I absolutely love it um it's something
that we really like spread across the school like and encouraged um teachers and SSAs to do it with
all children and like you said it's not like mimicking and like the way you think of it it's
it's completely like you're in like a bubble and me and some of the children in my class we've been
in that bubble for like 25 minutes and then I'm like oh my gosh we're meant to be in it we're
meant to be at dinner or whatever you know and we've just you're in that moment and you're you
connect you it supports so much it supports relationships like it's that it's almost like a
nurturing trust loyalty communicate two-way communication with no words ever spoken um
um it's it's just I speak your language I get you your language is this and I'm willing to learn it
absolutely that's what you're telling them so that when they are in crisis I find if we've already
done that earlier in the week or earlier in the day it is so more likely to go right when I step
in to help them because we've already established that I'm here for you I speak your language I'm
willing to learn I'm willing to listen to you I know I don't get it right all the time I know I
can't make the sounds and flaps as well as you can but I'm willing to try and because they've
kind of read that in me they're like okay I'll give her a chance yeah you might I might trust you
with my vulnerability right now and it does help for sure it's a really wonderful it's amazing and
I think it's like the foundation of communication yeah like it's babies don't they yeah like now
when you're looking at a newborn baby so my sister's got a six-week-old baby I've just been
spending time with them this weekend naturally you like smile when they smile and look when they
look and you're in their face and you're moving oh that's a good shot so in the moment with them
yeah always saying with with your learners is just being in the moment and enjoying everything
they're enjoying authentically just being like fully like and I think that's really quite hard
for some people actually and you know because to be to like because you make yourself quite vulnerable
because true you know you're opening yourself up to their world and you don't know how they're
going to react if it's the person who's doing it yeah and you can't be a bashful or ashamed of
how it looks other people I kind of forget anyone else's there but if I feel like you wouldn't get
fully lost in it if you were if you were worried about what it looked like I suppose yeah I've
never talked about that before true I agree and I think maybe that's why like maybe not everyone
embraces it as much but like I I don't when I'm at school honestly I couldn't care less what I look
like what I sound like no I'm there for the children and I'm there to promote their communication
in any way I can and if that means that I'm like lying upside down making these noises and having
the best time with one of my students and we're connecting you know happy day yeah and I feel
like that's what makes a good special ed teacher is just being unashamedly themselves and
unashamedly silly honest and raw and when they're having a bad day staying and and with your adults
as well you know with the other key members of your staff you have to kind of just be like open
to being wrong to being in the way to being questioned to being told you need a break you
know my TAs are constantly telling me I need a break or to step back or to take my lunch Jordan
have you taken your like you know like and there's no ego in that it is just it just is and I feel
like that's probably one of the main things I look for when interviewing actually is just that like
no ego can you just get on with the job and ironically most of the people I employ are
neurodivergent because I feel like I just see that in them yeah you you don't have that shame
with you like you are unobtainably you and I think that makes a really good teaching assistant in a
special classroom absolutely and it's not really something you can teach like I can teach them to
do the actual interventions and the actual teaching and the actual symbol stuff like I can teach that
can't teach them to be unashamed I can't teach them to be authentically like themselves and open
like I don't know how I would teach that no and actually that's that's like completely personal
isn't it totally that's completely personal and actually if someone wasn't comfortable doing
something I would never be like well you need to do it because you're not comfortable it would never
go well would it and we all have our like strengths and areas for improvement and we've all got that
but actually if you're not comfortable I'd be like that's fine yeah I'll use you know use people to
do something maybe they're really good at something else it's definitely one of those things that
you know you can't you can't teach you can definitely grow and develop it in yourself but
that's that's such a personal thing isn't it yeah exactly exactly um I've got a communication
question here so how would you know which speech therapy technique is best for a non-verbal child
my son recently started singing nursery song Johnny Johnny yes papa so the cocoa melon
we see sitting in the whole song would that um would that mean gestalt be good for him so I think
that's really interesting question I would never just choose a speech therapy technique for a child
I would just have them all accessible to them and just see what they go to it was that kind of how
you do it I just yeah and again hold my hands up my practice has definitely changed more so in the
like the last before I would have always gone in with pets straight away I know we've chatted a
lot about this yeah that was that was what was done wasn't it yeah because that's kind of where
you were like led to but like I feel like now it's a total communication approach I've got the
buttons out I've got my go talk we've got core boards we've got aided language board not over
not in an overwhelming way it's around it's there and it's I think this is something that I am like
really hot on at the moment I'm like it's modeled it's modeled modeled modeled they're not you know
AAC users aren't gonna learn how to use their AAC devices if they're not being taught or it's not
being modeled to them and I think actually normal like normalizing it yeah that's the right word
like we have I actually bought my we've bought mine home from school this is mine this isn't any
of the kids this is Sammy's communication book because we all need to show you know we've like
I've had a chewy before for modeling yeah it's okay I like that I like it and also normalizing
it right when you have a child that might I mean if you have some children that might need it but
be aware like you know yeah yeah yeah that they don't they might or ear defenders another one ear
defenders I've got my own pair of ear defenders I love that yeah got you know just for modeling
language and this is like a carrot brown with me everywhere and I think it's that modeling
because the only reason you wouldn't want to do those things like have a chewy is because you
wouldn't want to be seen either mocking yeah or you wouldn't be seen as like in fantasizing in the
way but if you're not seeing it as a given thing yeah and if you're not mocking them because you're
genuinely doing it to model and to show that it's okay then those two are kind of yeah I know
really yeah I haven't done those two but I love that that is so a bit of me and I will think
about if there's anything like that that I could start implementing it's like learning a language
so it's AAC is like trying to learn Chinese and just put it in front of them and expecting them
to just know what those squiggles mean because that genuinely is what it is it looks like squiggles if
you don't know but if I have someone in front of me pressing this squiggle says this this squiggle
says this and it's like okay that actually makes sense now right I might be able to start doing
that now and we can't because adults often can look at a symbol or look at an AAC device and
because we can read we know what it means or because we have good pictorial understanding
we can see a kind of cartoon and can kind of guess if it looks a little bit like a cat it
probably means cat or if it looks a bit like a trampoline it probably means trampoline
for these children it just looks like colors and squiggles on a page for some for some not for all
some just go straight into it but others don't and lots of mine don't then maybe they need to
be modeled that when we touch this it means you get this and it's like yeah well this squiggle is
cool I like this squiggle or I like this button or I like this object of reference when objects
of reference is basically an object that kind of represents a thing so if they want the trampoline
it might be a bit of netting or a spring or a bit of rope or whatever you know it can mean anything
object reference for photo even sometimes children start with photos don't they yeah I mean another
thing for objects of reference as well I think is really important for transitioning you know
having a fork when you're going to the dinner hall having goggles if you're going swimming and
all those sorts of things it's so important I would definitely recommend just responding to
that pinned question I wouldn't hone in on one thing I would definitely trial a couple of things
obviously don't make it overwhelming but I would definitely trial maybe just symbols on their own
from a choose board also symbols for pointing there's lots of different things out there but
I yeah I would say don't stick to one see what your child chooses definitely take listen to
their lead which is what we've been doing in my class the last couple of years and I mean
before we you know the prime the prime communication in my class like well with most
of my children has always been requesting because they realize that communication means I can ask
you something I get it yeah but I'm so so proud of my learners that they then they're communicating
now for different functions the joy of but an interact for interaction and I feel like that's
the difference of moving away from X because we've only just we've not two years in in my room we are
six months in maybe one learner got an AAC device and now we've got five out of ten because we saw
this one learner and how much it impacted their life behavior relationship with their parents
relationship with adult like we just saw it and we were like we need more of this this is a rest
so all of a sudden we bought it and then we've encouraged other children to let's have a go with
it and it's just kind of spiraled and I love that about new interventions but yeah what we've noticed
is before it was very much like I do this I get this you do this I get this there was there was
no like relationship or enjoyment of language and communication and just that kind of like two-way
what intensive interaction brings what we've just been talking about you can't give us that
whereas AAC it's really funny because he can say like he can say isn't this funny isn't this good
I like this like this is like whatever like it's I'm just noticing those like things like I don't
even know that you have that in you and I hate that I did this this is it and you know what really
made me change my mind if you if anyone's not seen it you need to need to set aside some time to
watch it was the Chris Packham documentary did you watch it I didn't I was told to and I haven't I
need to watch it oh you have to watch it I like I was like crying throughout like the whole thing
it's gonna make me cry that it made me realize and I was like oh my gosh some of these adults
are like my learners they're non-speaking they're high support needs and you do and you do have a
bit of an assumption and then I was like right no more I'm not assuming I don't I have no idea what
they know yeah so it doesn't so assume they do yeah exactly I have I have no idea what they know
they could know they you know for all I know they know more than me yeah so I led with that and the
things that we've got from using like call boards and like they're like they're like instructing
and they're creating sentences not just like I see sentences like with I think we're doing the same
on the farm so we had like sheep says bar and think like on a on a board yeah and then and then
we've had a few like verbalizations as well and that's the other thing isn't it that don't think
that because you're using symbols and signs and ipad that it's stopped speech not that speech I
think is the be on end or it really really isn't but if that's stopping you if that idea of and
you're holding on to oh but I really want them to speak great do me more symbols do even more
signs do more you see because it's actually been proven that it actually helps develop speech so
if you're if your end goal for whatever reason right or wrong I'm not going to judge you is
spoken language then symbols a c object of reference it doesn't it doesn't take away that
if that's the enhanced it and they're using a communication method along the way so all the
better in my view absolutely um someone's asked about the documentary so it's chris packham
documentary called inside our autistic minds on bbc i player I highly recommend the best course
I've been to have been from autistic adults because obviously they just they just know
because they can explain it far better than any neurotypical ever could and they have real life
experience of what it's like to be in school you know and and sometimes they were non-speaking for
the first part of their life so they can really explain what it is like and what helped them and
they are the far best courses I've been to and also there's a new book out by fern Brady the
comedian and you're interested in learning what it's like to be an autistic female that's an
incredible really warren honest book about what it was like in her for her because the autistic
and females can can look quite different and feel quite different and display quite different
it's that classic oh when you've met one autistic person you've met one autistic person
everybody's so individual and everybody's lived experiences are so different so different I've
never met one autistic person saying I probably worked with over 400 um in the 15 years because
I've been a foster carer and carer and watching a specialist school and all sorts not I couldn't
never I couldn't tell you I'm not just making stuff like one autistic child does not display
the same behaviors communication style relationship style emotional intelligence like nothing is the
same I always say the only thing they have in common is anxiety often it's some kind of level
of anxiety but that probably is because the world isn't set up for them not because like that's
naturally supposed to they're naturally anxious people it's probably just because the environment
isn't right I'm still learning 15 years in I've worked with so many kids and I've still got
children every year that come into my class and I think oh god how what am I gonna do with this
I'm gonna what have I got this is the that whole class like half term like sometimes they say
about a topic and I'm always like yeah topic definitely gonna do a topic this half term
never do a topic whatever their special interests is like building a relationship is literally
building a relationship whatever their special interest is absolutely and whether that's like
I've had my same class for two years now but we had like two changes of children so two children
came into my class but even if I had the exact same class next September I would still we've
had six weeks away then maybe new stuff and you know oh and actually there's never nothing changed
yeah absolutely and I think it's so important to spend like spend all your I spend all my time
it's all like showing them where they can access all their basic needs you know constantly got
access you were saying earlier about like sensory spaces I have a constant access in my classroom to
specific sensory items that is like it's like a non-negotiable it's a need it's like breathing
it's like blinking it's like drinking you wouldn't well actually some teachers do deny the children
water but we won't go into that you wouldn't deny a child water or breathing or blinking you
don't deny a child a fidget toy you don't deny a child a bounce or a squeeze when they need it and
if they're saying they need it even if you don't think they need it they probably need it absolutely
and they just do their learning afterwards like just delay it they're not gonna learn they're
they're not gonna learn if they're just regulating anyway and you know what if your learning's fun
enough like they're like oh yeah but they'll just do it because it's more fun i'm like well then make
your lesson more fun make your lesson more fun i love that they're like oh but like you have to
force them in their chair i'm like no because i'm really fun yes they want to and if they don't want
to join then i need to be more fun like it's nothing on them it's all on me i'm not making it fun
enough i just haven't met their needs so they haven't wanted to join that is not their problem
that is totally my problem absolutely i totally agree i'm like my fault yeah sorry guys this did
not work i've definitely like this year i've got more into like some of like we always use our
special interests but schemas as well and i'm like focusing on their schemas to support their learning
can you explain that because i don't for example there might be like a trajectory schema so children
that like it could be like lining things up which i know is very can be quite a typical thing that
people throw around but actually there can be more it can be deeper more to it or it could be running
in the line running in the line jump bouncing up and down throwing things up and down watching it
and it's whether they're watching it crash and splatter or is it they're throwing up and down
and actually we've got we've come so far with embracing the schemas and actually you know i'm
gonna i'm gonna copy your schema and it's like you can extend it there's a really good book actually
online and it's so nice and it goes through each it's really like neurodivergent friendly it's
really well laid out it's and they've got all the different schemas like trajectory connection
there's so many and then you go and then it gives you like a list of ideas for children with those
schemas so like trajectory schemas oh yeah throwing up and down oh reusing pipes with balls and things
like that there's really great ways of replacing maybe unsafe behaviors yes absolutely yeah okay
it's yeah and it and it is interesting actually because there's like one about it's not called
mixing but i in my brain i call it the mixing schema it's not called mixing schema but it's
about like combining things and then like and i can put things up and i think that does that
like children like like making playdough and it's like that's like that's the most interesting
water bubbles color okay absolutely and just like just going with it you know and actually we're not
i think this is like i feel like this whole live is we've embraced this it's it's not about
changing the children's behavior it's not about changing their who they are it's about embracing
who they are and accepting this is what they love i'm not going to try and get them to like
anything else i'm going to come into your world and we're going to just extend this in our own
way actually it works it works and i think the quicker like why wouldn't it why wouldn't that
work like i wish i had that at school i wish that someone came into my world and my brain and and
individualized learning so much that it was like literally my dream room my dream person to work
with my dream work and style of work my dream timetable and sensory breaks like why wouldn't
that work and the beauty of special ed is that we for the most part can make it super individualized
so when i'm like raving on about like i have to get parents like i'm thinking i'm sending them to
mainstream i'm like you could like a mainstream classes are amazing like don't get me wrong i'm
not knocking me i'm attached my class is special provision but i'm attached to an incredible
mainstream school like so so wonderfully loving and god they just they love the bones of their
kids all of them and they've never excluded anyone even though my god they've got some needs like
so there was some incredibly loving mainstream classes but what they can't do is individualized
learning you just physically can't when you've got 30 children and one teaching assistant it's that
it's it's practically impossible to individualize for every learner and this isn't even just special
education like needs this isn't even with children with ehtp this is all learners will learn in a
different way and need to have different needs you absolutely just cannot do that with 30 faces in
front of you um it's impossible but what special education gives if you've got the opportunity to
access that it can and i think all children would benefit from that style of learning absolutely
i totally agree and a few people have asked for the schema book it was literally called schema
i worked in mainstream for four years but actually so hard to meet so many different needs and then
you've also got your undiagnosed yeah children i didn't know until i was 30 something it's crazy
mine was my teaching assistant i've always wondered i have always wondered my teaching
assistant went through private diagnosis and we are so similar and i was like well there you go
like yeah that's that's that was confirmation that i needed for me was yeah that it's worth it's
worth pursuing isn't it like i think i always knew but it's hard isn't it when you're older
because and then you're like do i need to know they are huge benefits to it but they're absolutely
like it is absolutely a disability as well like i don't know how personal to get on here but like
i like my husband like i just said he was away he's going away for a week like i will not eat
proper food i will like not like hygiene is like i need to really really make an effort i i will
get hyper focused in work like i'll i'll make like 20 resources my google drive but i won't like
change my sock like like it's like i'm not gonna like make it this fluffy rainbow thing because
it does have its benefits it's the only reason why i can do this so successfully it's the only
reason i can run my business so successfully it's the only reason i could be such a good teacher
but my god do i rely on the my loved ones around me to like pick up the pieces and pick up the slack
yeah absolutely and i have to you know shout out to my other half because i don't cook yeah ever
and like you say it's really hard isn't it like how much do you share yeah i don't care what you
want but i think i think they get what we're saying is like like we get it because we're like
we are amazing we can do all these amazing things isn't our brain so cool but also like we are the
expectations on us is to be neurotypical we need to work a neurotypical day and times and we have
neurotypical deadlines and we have neurotypical expectations from our senior leadership team
and we have neurotypical expectations from the parents yes and that is hard that is when i burn
out that is when i challenge like lots of people see everything i'm doing they're like well how
don't you burn out i'm like no because this feeds me this is my special interest yes like my yeah
that's my special interest like that's that's that absolutely but when it doesn't feed me
and give me a dopamine hit i really struggle like really struggle to get up and go absolutely
it is it's it's definitely something like that i feel like maybe not spoken about as much maybe
because you know there are these positives but the struggles are really hard and like i definitely
i've been through phases in my teaching where i've completely lost not i wouldn't say motivation
because i'm always there for the kids and i'm always but like maybe like my inspiration maybe
for example and like there'll be times yeah and there'll be times where i'll come home and i'm
like when i'm like on it and obviously you know that i've been really poorly over the last few
months and when i came home from work i was supposed to you know supposed to be resting
and then i'm sat there until 11 o'clock at night doing my planning taking individual like
like all the stuff and i'm so focused i'm either half times out like because i told him i was going
to rest it i was going to beg it like and then he'll come up and he's like um you're going to
bed now i was like what's the time he's like it's half 11 and i was just been sat there
time blind completely like oh i'll just do a couple of jobs but it's when when it's good it's good
but when it's not so good it's it's not same as our kids right that's the same as absolutely
i do think we need to be speaking about it more which i'm so i'm so pleased that you're
you're on here because i think it's really really important that we are putting ourselves out there
and being really honest about it i feel like it would be really inauthentic for me to pretend that
everything's perfect and i get it right all the time like often in the dms i say i'm sorry i don't
know and i put them towards like i did it today it was quite ironic actually i've got a it's been
quite controversial actually the post this week that i posted about aba um and i got into really
like interesting conversation with somebody that was on the other side like she was really pro aba
and that's like whatever like we've had a conversation about it and somebody commented
asking for advice in it and i just said i'm not the person to give that to advice but talk to this
person and i think it's really i just think it's really important to be as honest about what you
don't know is what you do and if i'm going to put myself out here then like i don't want the crown
of like being the people that like person that's like got all the answers because i absolutely don't
i'm just super passionate about getting it right and accepting when i've got it wrong yeah and
learning like i've learned more since like i started this in december i've started i've learned more
since starting it chatting to people and seeing comments of sometimes criticism and sometimes
praise um learning so much more than i did before and i'm i like that yeah so if you see something
that you don't agree with like don't think you can't tell me like i am absolutely no ego here like
i'm here to learn i'm here to accept that it's not right because like you said two years ago i did
things very differently therefore it was wrong then i didn't know so if there is something that
you're questioning now then i want to know about it because i want to ultimately be the best advocate
that i can be and it's like it's that thing is you don't know you know when you know better you do
better like so like for example like just even like just talking about a ba like with like pecs and
we do something at my school well not really so much anymore but it's called waldon have you heard
about waldon therapy yeah very old school and with i mean i haven't done it properly for many years
i don't know if it is a form of a ba but it's not when you look at the foundations of the expectation
from the child it's not very nice and like you know it's like no if it doesn't sit right so i
don't do it very slowly yeah don't follow if it doesn't feel like it feels like lots of people
question that and there's lots of controversy about that as well but how i do it feels right in
my gut yeah children want to come to my class they really look forward to the staff we look forward
to it's an absolute joy it's the best part of the day all the kids are smiling and and loving it so
how i do it works in my class and that's all i can say it's just a gut feeling that it is right for
my class how i do it i don't know if i am doing it the official way but how i do it works my class
and it feels good to me i sometimes feel like the official way of doing things it's like maybe not
always the right way yeah but actually is it actually what you put i mean that's the same as
i mean that's the same as planning like i often look back i'm playing because i've been rewriting all my
short-term plans for my curriculum and i look back i'm like oh yeah that's what i was meant to do
like sometimes in the moment like what you've written is like yeah it's a beautiful plan but
in the moment sometimes it doesn't work like that sometimes the child wants a toy that you didn't
expect them to or sometimes a child comes over and you won't expect them to and and you kind of have
to just kind of go with it and it's hard to write that down sometimes that child-led free flow is
just so much more valuable and they get so much more out of it but like going back to like attention
autism i used like used to be my favorite thing i haven't done it in the last two years i haven't
no mainly because the the needs of my children it's not suitable for them right so we do a lot of
like most of our work is one-to-one based but we'll just be like for example we'll use like
intensive interaction as the basis and we'll be but with toys and other things and you know
encourage their attention and engagement in other ways because so you're kind of doing the
fundamental thread of it but you're just doing an individualized one yeah and also they're not
they're not read like they're not ready i'm quite openly say this then like sometimes children
aren't ready to and actually sometimes i do think this bucket toy is so exciting why wouldn't you
want to come up and play with it yeah i'm gutted that i can't film my actual sessions because my
god i feel like every teacher that ever does it will be like okay yeah i do it right oh my god
it's like it's like a well wind of water and bubbles and children on my neck and people in
the bucket and crying because they i brought up something in the bucket they were expecting
they didn't want it and or i'm not doing it like the other teacher does it and then i then i then
they say finish and i move on to the next thing and then i haven't put it away enough so then
child runs up and gets it like it is chaos it is chaos but they love it so that's good that's
really good yeah we i i abandoned it last year because we it was we weren't ready we weren't
ready and so we are doing lots of other things to support engagement and attention and that's the point isn't it i feel like let's not just jump onto the bandwagon of what's
appropriate just like aac like aac is amazing some children aren't ready yeah uh four of my learners out of 10 aren't ready
so we're doing photos like big a4 photos we're doing objects of reference and we're doing buttons with them
it doesn't mean they don't have any i mean that's all still a c isn't it but it's not like but it's
not like the ipad or the symbols it's not like the aac coreboard yeah um because they're not ready and
that doesn't mean that i don't value it it just means that i know my children and they're just not
ready yet and i think that's okay and it's okay to feel confident to say that to senior leadership
team or if you're a teacher assistant to say that to your teacher i don't think they're ready yet
yeah but here's the step if that's your goal here's the steps that we could get them there
thank you so much for me i feel like this has been really empowering actually a really empowering
conversation i feel i was really tired earlier and but this is like completely like uplifted me
and brought me lots of joys really helpful because i feel like we work in a really similar way and i
think it's really nice to like yeah just feel how other people do things and like i felt like
you're maybe a year and a half ahead of me actually in your journey into into neuro affirming teaching
so that's really exciting for me to like learn from you so that's really fun yeah thank you
and please please go and follow it spectrum for trainers thank you and check out her business
check out her small shop she sells amazing colorful semantics symbols lots of like in
in to do with special interests and topics that you might use loads of visuals um digital and real
i see stickers books t-shirts coming oh child new bag love it love it advocate for your students go
and check her out she is amazing thank you so much and i'm so pleased that there's no competition here
like no so much learning just love and if any other people want to like hop onto this then like
reach out we'll chat and or speech and language therapist ot is like i'd love to i'd love to
chat to you if you feel like you want to if you feel like you vibe then let's have a chat thank
you sammy i hope you have a good evening i will let you have an evening now