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.
Everybody, I thought we'd have a little Q&A today because I get so many amazing questions in my DMs
and I love answering them. But not all of you can see the answers if they're in the DMs.
What do you do when my son is sensory seeking? So there are lots of different ways you can
sensory seek. What kind of senses is he seeking? Because that is a good place to start. So what do
you do when my son is sensory seeking? Sensory seeking can look in like lots of different things
so it can look like biting, it can look like jumping, it can look like licking, it can look
like eating, it can look like hoarding, it can look like lots of different things. And usually,
well always, it's because it's meeting a need, a sensory need that they're not getting otherwise.
So it's really good to try and find if it's not a safe, it's really good to try and find the safe
alternative that they can meet that need. Wiggly and noise with mouth. Okay, okay, so they're really
wiggly and they love making noises. Okay, so they obviously have lots of excess energy to get out
and so a really good way of doing this is by having regular movement breaks. And some people
don't do this how I think they should be done and they just do the movement break. So they have a big
dance around or a jump around or they have a trampoline and then they expect that that's let
them all out and then they just come back inside and they're still not okay. But what all you've
done there is you've raised their heartbeat and you've got them so excited that they're even more
wiggly and then you're like why aren't they sitting still they should be exhausted by now. But really
you've just, you know, made them even more excited. So there's two other steps that we're missing here.
You do the alert stage which is the jumping and the dancing and the running around and get that
heartbeat raised. And then there's two others. The first is organizing. So you want to do some kind of
cross-body activity or fine motor activity where they have to really organize their bodies.
So it could be balancing is a really good one. It could be stacking is another good one. It could be
what are the ones? Yeah there's lots. I've got a whole sheet about it basically. And then the third
step you want to do because you're still not quite ready yet. The third step is grounding and that
can look like squeezes or it can look like weighted blankets or it can look like slow
press-ups or breathing exercises. So for those really wiggly children I would be suggesting those
three steps and doing it regularly not just when they need it but even if they don't look like they
need it I would still be doing it regularly. And regularly means at least every hour I would say
at school and at home. And if they're not getting it at all at school then you're probably finding
at home that they're getting even more wiggly because they've got so much excess energy to let
out. And then with the noise with the mouth it's obviously it's sometimes really pleasurable for
our children to yeah make noises with their mouth. It could be because it feels good making that
shape with their mouth and their tongue. So our tongue is the only muscle in our bodies that is
accessible which is why crunchy foods are really good and vibrating toothbrushes are really good
because you get a lot of sensation through the tongue. So it could be that the noise that they're
making is really pleasurable for the feeling of their mouth but also could be auditory as well.
They could really genuinely love the sounds and the pitch of the sounds that they're making or
the echo that occurs. They could also like your reaction as well because when they're you know
quiet and getting on you know you get on with your day and that's fine you know everybody does. But
if they're making these noises and wiggles and pushing and all those kind of things and then it
makes it a bit like a game with you then that could be a learned way of them having a fun
interaction with you if their social skills aren't neurotypical. That could be a learned way that they
have yeah learned to interact with you and have a fun game with you. It also could be that they're
sound sensitive to other noises around the house if it's a bit of a busy environment or even if
it's like quite busy as in not even sound but even just looking if it's quite a cluttered environment
then they could be making noises to kind of distract from that kind of thing as well. So sometimes
ear defenders work really well and sometimes echoing their sounds works really well because
then they get a bit of a conversation a two-way conversation with you is a really really fun way.
It kind of lets you know that you're trying to learn their language which is really really lovely
and often gets a really lovely and fun response and also maybe some sound toys as well because then
there's an off button. I hope that helps I hope that answers your question. Let's go to the next one.
Hey would you recommend your curriculum to a mainstream non-verbal room? That is an interesting
question. I wonder why you have a whole room of non-verbal in the mainstream classroom but I
suppose lots of people do now. Yes so my curriculum is built for my class specifically who are working
at who are all have a speech something one of them is echolalic or has gestalt language processing
but all the others are non-speaking so it is built for them and they are all working from zero about
six years old maximum but maybe like five years old maximum so regardless of what age your children
are if they're working at a zero to age six level if they are needing to learn in a sensory way
if they have language you know needs or social care needs extra needs then I would say it would
be pretty perfect and even if your school has a curriculum already lots of the topics I cover
are very typical topics so you can kind of reorder it and there is a button as part of my curriculum
that says edit so you could put your own edits and ideas in there make it specific for your class
because I'm really aware that I've never had one class the same and one child comes in and it
changes the whole class so I thought it was really important when building a curriculum
that it's just as editable as we do every single year for our classes so yeah that's an option as
well if you wanted to make it even more specific with as far as like learning objectives go and
just day-to-day planning if you wanted to make it more specific more personal then yes it's always
full another question I'm loving these questions so far I watched your lives the first week of the
holidays and mentioned you were moving away from pecs just wondered why and what you use instead
oh that's a great question y'all you guys are coming up with the questions yes I am moving away
from pecs and most people are as well because it is seen as non-autism affirming and what I mean by
that is it doesn't it's very limited so for pecs it's very much requesting isn't it it's I want this
I want this so I want food or I want toy well what if they wanted to say there's so much more to
conversation than that isn't there what if they wanted to say huh that was a really funny joke
or isn't the sky really lovely I don't know you can do that in to a certain extent in pecs like
later on but actually it's a really crucial part of of language and the enjoyment of language just
commenting on things not just requesting all of the time so that's the first reason why I'm moving
away the second way reason is because the official way of teaching pecs kind of always found a little
bit odd you need two adults for a start so one it's it feels pretty impossible in a class
to have that much going on you know I don't have that many adults to do that in the first place
but even if I did the it's not child led it's very adult led if they pick the wrong thing you're not
supposed to give it to them it can be it's like hand over hand and it's very like this is how you
do it don't get me wrong it works I've used it for 15 years in my class and it does support learners
to find a voice and I'm all for that which is why I still have it around in my class I still have
symbols I still have symbol books and I'll never take it away from a child if they're already using
it however with my new learners so the four to six year olds what I've started doing is having
choosing boards around so they can still say that I want in da da da da but also having other things
that they can comment on something silly something's funny different emotions you know just different
things rather than just requesting all of the time and I like doing that with the AAC other reason
is that it takes so long to make the symbols and the symbols are so limiting so if I don't make a
symbol for the child they can't ask for it even if it's their favorite thing if I haven't made it
they can't ask for it and usually it's their favorite things that the symbols always get ripped
and wrecked and then it takes what a day minimum to make a new symbol so they've lost their voice
for a whole day whilst they're waiting for me to make another symbol whereas with AAC which is what
we're going to the iPads it's always there and if they need it it can be there within seconds
because I can just find it or they can find it or we can create it and it's there it doesn't
tarnish it doesn't rip it doesn't break it's just there and it's always in the same place it doesn't
get lost so just from a practical level as well they've got their whole voice at all times in
home and in school it doesn't get lost so yeah there's lots of reasons why we're going away from
pecs speech and language therapists will more and more more will be going away from pecs and
going to more autism-affirming practices like AAC. I also use sound buttons in my class so for
children that aren't yet understanding symbols or photos they are using sound buttons and this will
usually start with a finished sound button so before we rather than just moving the child on
from here and then here and then here and then here is what it must feel like you know they're
like whoa where am I what am I doing we're saying finished and then it's the same sound every time
it's like an instrument maybe and then they get used to oh okay this is coming to an end and I'm
about to go somewhere else and then we start to do the sound button alongside an object that
represents where they're going next so it'll be finished and then now it's a pad because we're
going to the toilet or now it's a plate because it's snack time or a bit of astroturf because
we're going outside and it's the start of us using a schedule it's the start of using symbols to
match it's the start of using an AAC device and so we also use that a lot in my room as well
yeah there are all sorts of communication going on in my room and we will always use symbols
because for some children they just need it and some places you can't take iPads like I've just
been swimming with my foster child and you can't take an iPad swimming so we'll have to find other
ways that we can communicate with each other in the pool for example and maybe laminated symbols
is a good way of doing that maybe so yeah it's we're always trying to find new ways but for the
most part in my room we are going much more the AAC route I have a little boy six diagnosed with
autism who is constantly throwing everything he also has a stim which is hitting something
into his chin over and over which is cutting and bruising it yeah I've seen this before actually
again your chin is really tough isn't it really tough you feel it it's got a big bone there
and it does actually feel quite nice to press I quite like it anyway and often this is an area
that you will see children hitting and here as well again it's quite a tough place and you'll
often see this kind of movement I don't know if you've seen that before again that's quite tough
and that's quite tough isn't it so basically they're sensory seeking right they're seeking
that pressure that deep pressure and there are two things that I found that really help this one is
finding ways that you can give them that deep pressure a little bit more safely that's not
hurting them there are lots of different things you can ways you can do that or because this is
the problem is that they need that deep pressure but actually they find being so close to a person
completely intolerable when they're in that state of dysregulation or anyway but when especially
when they're in that state of dysregulation so these pee poachers give you a massive hug all
the way down and give you a big squeeze another one is a weighted blanket it's fantastic for
giving you that squeeze kind of feeling without having that really close contact that's fantastic
another thing is it's called a hug it's like a waistcoat it's basically straps around your
chest and it has two velcro straps either side I think it's called like a hug belt or something
and that again it gives you that deep pressure without having somebody so close to you so that
could be really good rather than them doing this kind of thing but usually this comes from yes
sensory seeking but also frustration so I'd really look into what is making them feel frustrated
because behavior is communication so think about what they're communicating what is making them so
frustrated is it a demand that you could just reduce and just get rid of you know do they need
to do that thing like do they need to wear their shoes to get into the car or could you just walk
barefoot and then and then you know put your shoes on when you get there you know or do we need to
leave right now is it because we're rushing them and actually do we need to just give them a bit
of more time to reduce that demand so they don't get as frustrated so that's another option is it
anxiety so do they know what's happening next and maybe some kind of schedule would help
do they have a good communication method so rather than showing frustration by doing this maybe they
could show I'm getting frustrated and you know what what strategies would you have around that
maybe they have a a box that you bring out that has some kind of vibration tools in it or hard
chewies you know chewing something with your teeth is much better than chewing something here
or you have something vibrate in your mouth might give the same effect and then you could offer that
box to them when they if they're showing those frustrations or if they're asking for it they
could have the box it's about it's about thinking about why are they doing those things what is the
trigger and offering a safer alternative for them and if it is genuinely meeting that need
they don't want to be hurting themselves either so they will take the easiest route to get their
needs met so as long as it is meeting their need then they will go for it if they don't go for it
then it's obviously not quite meeting that the right need and you can keep experimenting I've
seen a lot of self-harm type behaviors with our children and it's really really it's probably one
of the hardest as a caregiver to see that it's really really hard really emotionally hard
hard but try not you know it's not personal and just know that it is okay and there are
ways of going around it another thing that really helped one of my pupils that was going through an
episode of this is intensive interaction so it's almost like doesn't feel like it should be linked
at all but intensive interaction is a beautiful way of just relationship building so when they're
in a state of regulation when they're in a state of calm so not when he's doing any of these things
but when he's in a state of calm like kind of follow his flow of movements and sounds
so we say if he's rocking and babbling and stimming like this then you find something that you can
rock and stim and babble with too and really find that flow and when he flicks it you flick it
and then when he says a certain phrase or sounds you say a certain phrase and sounds and eventually
he'll notice that you're doing that and kind of conduct you in a way and he'll really enjoy that
you're learning his language and he'll often find it quite often they find it quite fun but it just
tells them I get it I'm here for you I understand you I'm trying to understand you at least you can
speak to me I'm somebody that can relate to you and I'm really trying hard and then when it does
get to the frustrating times you'll be even more of a person that that he trusts and because you've
built that loyalty in that relationship it's a really really wonderful tool and it really helped
to build relationships with the people that sounds very similar to this one that you described
I have a young man who pushes his tea into the desk yeah exactly similar so similar kind of
feeling it's a really hard bone there but it actually doesn't hurt too much to actually hit it
I find the same with foreheads as I know if you hold forehead butters and it's quite a hard bone
isn't it you get quite a lot of stimulation from from that because it's quite tough not as much
from your cheeks you know a bit softer but from the chin I can see why why that would um yeah
meet some needs this is a lovely comment as well I think a movement rate needs to be a change of
scenery that's a really good point and something that I haven't I haven't actually acknowledged
but yeah we always when we do a movement break we always change scenery we always either go outside
or we go to a different area in the classroom and yeah part of you're right part of the sensory
break and the act of doing a sensory break is just getting space as well and getting a breath of fresh
air and and coming back fresh so yes you've done all your movement breaks which keeps you fresh as
well but actually just stepping outside sometimes and coming back in a few moments later can also
have the same effect so I yeah I love that observation we do the same this is a good
comment okay so my son is four and non-verbal how can I get him to communicate he does pecs at
school but won't do them for me he's hand led I think that's okay I think it's okay that however
he chooses to communicate at home with you is perfectly fine don't see symbols as a step on
from hand leading it might be what they see in the reports like that's what we're doing next
but any communication is good communication also parents understand far more what their child is
asking of them than the school will so he'll have to be working harder at school to be able
to communicate and make his needs known because they they're staff and they have other children
to meet and he might be working a little bit harder so giving him a bit of respite from that
home is absolutely okay because that's his safe space and the fact that he's hand leading you is
fantastic I would say because he is requesting and he is communicating I would maybe to encourage
even more of that I would be modeling so model what you would like to see different maybe different
words different foods he wants or toys that he wants and just model you know with no expectation
that he will copy or no expectation that he will even join you but just model model model and if
you want him to be able to use an AAC device like on the iPad you do it if you want him to use
symbols then you you use symbols to communicate if you want him to do sign you use sign and with no
pressure with no demand on him and then maybe one of them will fit him better than than the other
but the fact that he's hand leading I would say is fantastic so I don't don't feel like that's less
than what he's doing at school I think it is perfectly great that he is communicating
in all areas okay this one's an interesting question any ideas to get a four-year-old boy
to sit with neurotypical group at preschool for activities so there's a difference there's an
order of development talking we're talking about here like obviously I don't know this boy there's
an order of things before sitting and concentrating and learning can happen it's do they feel safe are
they fed are they under shelter are they clothed kind of kind of level and then it's sensory so he
needs to be regulated in order to sit with his peers so I would be doing the three part sensory
circuits first of all so he's regulated and then there's fine motor control and gross motor control
again that kind of comes into the sensory circuits and then there is some social skills and emotional
regulation so I'd be doing lots of work with him around turn taking and waiting for your turn
and for short stints and building up that and then it's also just about interest so I'd put
something super motivating that you know he loves on the table and just see if he comes to the table
maybe not even sitting maybe that's not the actual goal here maybe the goal is just for him to join
his his peers so I wouldn't worry too much about getting him sat because sometimes that can feel
quite entrapping so I would yeah just put something super motivating they all enjoy onto the table
and just see if he wants to he might find that the whole group or small group activity is just far too
overwhelming and just wants to observe and I would just take note of that as well and maybe just
honor that because that's him that's great that's him regulating himself and we want to praise that
as well but if you feel like he can yeah definitely try and put something that motivates all of them
onto the table and see if he wants to join on his terms when he's regulated and when he feels ready
without pressure what other questions we got what's your advice on a non-viable child running out of
the room every day well first of all my classroom has locked doors it would be far too unsafe for us
to have unlocked doors so maybe that's an easy solution is to just have a pin code on your door
if you feel like that's the safest way if you feel like it's really unsafe maybe that's
you know a safe solution also have a think about why they're running so is it because they want
to run and they need the space so maybe think about um I feel like a broken record but having
a sensory diet consistently you know every hour every half an hour through your day so they could
get their their running in and getting a bit more regulated or it might be because the classroom is
a little bit too overwhelming maybe a bit too busy a bit too noisy and they need to get out and get
away and they need a break from that so kind of listen to this communication see it see this
behavior as a communication and think about okay what is it telling us is it telling us that he
needs a run is it telling us that they are finding this room too overwhelming and we need to build a
little space for them in somewhere in the room somewhere in the classroom that's a bit less
colorful a bit less hectic a bit less a little bit less busy and you can do this with blankets
you can do this with screens you can do this with you know little quiet corners and maybe that is
the solution but ultimately if you feel like your children aren't safe because they are running out
then it's absolutely okay to put a pin pad like a pin code lock on your door if that's going to
keep them safe whilst also honoring and listening to that communication that maybe something else
needs to change in the classroom too i hope that helps watch out who spits okay this is a really
tricky one isn't it because spitting is seen as so not okay and seen as really rude in our culture
often like adults find this spitting really difficult spitting and smearing is often the
ones i get you know problems with most because it's so not the done thing and whereas in other
cultures you know spitting isn't seen as quite so bad but it's seen as really unhygienic so again
let's think about why they're doing this what happens when they are spitting is it because
they want people to get out of their space and by spitting it immediately moves people out of their
space and away from them maybe it's learnt behavior in that way you know that when i want somebody
to step back out of my face and out of my and stop talking to me i spit and it works so first of all
think about you know what is this what are they getting out of this behavior and then finding
another way of going around that maybe give them an opportunity to ask for space in a different way
maybe they have a certain symbol that's always honored and respected maybe you speak to your
adults about you know when they're starting to look like they're starting to wobble maybe step
back and get out of their space so they don't have to spit but also spitting can just be a really
enjoyed sensory activity i've had children that spit and smear on tables and on windows and kind
of like enjoy drawing with it and enjoy wiping with it and enjoy playing with spit it's really
common so what i've done for the spit drawers is i made a solution of washing up liquid really
really quite heavy on this washing up liquid and a little bit of water they kind of have a similar
consistency but obviously it's much more hygienic and then they could have that on their table at
all times and they they drew with that on the windows and the tables and that was i didn't
mind that that was absolutely fine by me and they could have that whenever they wanted and then a
little tissue beside them there's also children that i've had in the past that like to watch their
spit falling and then in that case i would just give them a cup of water or a spray or some
pipettes and again like try and mimic what they the enjoyment they're getting out of the spitting
whether it's the spit falling or the spit landing or the mark it makes or whatever it is just try
and replicate it in a more appropriate or safe way and that might be a good way of round it as well
i have two boys in my class who tear up drawings or work they're proud or something that makes them
really happy of when i come over to see just wondering why they do it and how i can help
some children really struggle with praise i have a child in my school that if you praise him it's
a real trigger for him so you just have to learn like even though it feels good for us that he just
can't cope with praise and it could be it could be and learnt behavior so it could be that i don't
know he's been through some kind of trauma and for whatever reason can't cope with the praise or it
could be that he has very low self-esteem and can't cope with the praise or it could be that he
doesn't like the attention from like of all eyes on him when he is praised so just be mindful of
that and just respect that really no adults that don't like having a spotlight on them and being
praised either and so just kind of yeah try and respect that communication as far as ripping work
it can it can be a it could be a self-esteem thing as well if they're not if it's then it's not good
enough and they they might see through your false praises like that you've they've tried really hard
or whatever and but they know it's not perfect so it's not good enough and again you have to respect
that it's their work and maybe a social story around that and around building confidence and
about around things not having to be perfect and actually it's really difficult to have something
perfect and you can always get better maybe the social story around that would help alleviate
some of those feelings of everything having to be perfect but again it's really common
and especially with children with an ASD diagnosis that everything would have to be
perfect or right and to be good enough should I use symbols or real life images like photos
for now and next and timetables it really doesn't matter you can even use objects it depends where
the children are at so the usual level or the order of things would be an object first so the
actual object so if they are going home it would be their actual bag to go home you know and then
it's objects of reference so it's kind of similar it's still objects but the object would represent
something so it doesn't have to be their actual coat or the actual plate for lunch it's just a
little plate or a coat that a toy coat for example that is a reference to what that means so that's
an object of reference and then the usual next step is photos so it would be a photo of the car
or a photo of the park or a photo of school because they're a little bit easier to recognise
and then it would be a symbol the symbol then represents a school or home or car or breakfast
but it might not be that exact one you know they're kind of getting used to that things out of context
can mean the symbol can mean lots of different things that's the problem with photos they kind
of only mean that one thing but symbol can mean lots of different things and then and I suppose
it would be signing and speech but I say that as an order like children can just choose one and skip
one and is you know it's not really linear like that it really is about preference and what works
for the child but that's that's kind of typical that I see most often so as for should I use
symbols or real life images for now and next and timetables just see what your child gravitates
towards maybe make photos and symbols and objects and just see what they get on best with and prefer
that's how I like to do it in my room that's why I have so many options on offer all of the time
my stories are crazy because they have sensory items they have signing I have objects I have
AAC going on I've got all sorts but it's because I want it to be accessible for all and to give them
all the opportunity to just pick whatever they want and sometimes it's surprising which child
will choose which one you know as a preference yes I would just have all of them and just see what
they gravitate towards you I've got such good questions somebody's asked about swimming any
ideas for a child when at the swimming pool swallowing water they just do it it's quite a
developmental thing as well if you have babies in the water they often will swallow a lot of water
maybe use using flotation devices to get their head up but ultimately it's really hard to stop
lots of the I go swimming every week and I swear the pool must be at half as deep when we get out
there's so much um pool water drank I um yeah maybe distraction I suppose rather than just keeping
from reminding them because it would get really boring really quickly I would just do distraction
maybe stay in the shallow so that they're kind of stuck and do some kind of pouring activities or
splashing activities and just kind of distract them from wanting to drink it but apart from that
just kind of gotta yeah go with it really this is a good one what is the most the best resource or
intervention that you have found to be the most valuable and why I think intensive interaction
because it is completely free there are no resources all you need is yourself and the child
and it is the most autism affirming intervention ever because you are literally getting your child
to conduct you they are leading it without even realizing and it's a really it's been going on for
ages now and all the other ones that I can think of around that time have kind of been phased out
phased out apart from this because it is so autism affirming I explained a bit a little bit about it
before it's by written by Dave Hewitt so if you go on to youtube or google Dave Hewitt intensive
interaction you'll find tons of examples of what I mean by the child conducting the adult and or
the ad or well I shouldn't say a child and adult the the the carer kind of following the flow
to the person that they're looking after and it is so affirming because you are learning their
language you're not putting any demands on them you're not having any expectations on them of
something that they can't do in fact you're realizing how difficult it is to make their
sounds and their movements and they're an expert in their sounds and movements and you're now the
learner which is so affirming it is so great for confidence building relationship building boosting
self-esteem learning two-way conversation so many children I work with when I first work with them
seem so stuck in their own world because they can meet their own sensory needs they are terrified of
the outside worlds because it just is scary and it puts demands on them and they don't get it and
it's just terrifying so they've locked themselves away in their own world and they and it's really
hard to get in it's really hard to build a relationship with them and intensive interaction
is a beautiful way of tapping into their world and in turn building their confidence that they have
been more interested in our world and maybe it's not so scary maybe there are people out there that
are willing to learn their language and and try just beautiful and we use it all the time in my
room so if I could just choose one resource or intervention it would be you as the caregiver
is the resource and the intervention would be intensive interaction I don't know if any other
practitioners agree with me with that but I think I'd drop anything else if for that okay so what
can stimming look like I have a new idea of urgent family and I don't know what it looks like so I
get super confused when they do something and I don't know if it's a stim or not stim is basically
just stimulating behavior that's all it means so it can be twiddling hair it can be waving something
in front of your eyes it can be flapping it can be rocking it can be enjoying light or shadows
anything that is stimulating to them it can be coloring in even can be rolling something like
play dough it can be squeezing play dough any kind of repetitive enjoyable stimulating behaviors that
they're doing that could be classed as stimming they have ADHD and I um I pick my skin is a stim
that's quite a common one with women that have ADHD so I pick or I pick my nails and pick my hands or
pick my face pick my hair you'll see I touch my face a lot as well when I'm talking that
it's like a repetitive stimulating behavior yeah and I like to I like go up on my toes and I spin
as well and if I'm on a shiny surface I have got concrete floors all through my house so that's
something that I do that I notice and again it's just repetitive stimulating behaviors that either
you are aware of or aren't aware of but it helps you regulate so it could be yeah you'll see it in
lots of things if you've got a neurodivergent family you'll be seeing all sorts of different
if all the sorts of different types of stimming behavior what would you recommend for pupils who
bite staff or pupils this is also another really common one I get a lot because biting is seen as
really extreme and it can be really extreme sometimes I would be seeing that as communication
and see what demands you're putting on them unnecessarily that could be causing that
frustration and what you could reduce so maybe reducing their timetable or demands on them
reducing anything that might be causing them that that extreme frustration if you can some things
you can't get rid of some things they have to be dressed or they have to do certain things at school
for example it's just part of you know you can't get rid of that they have to have a drink or
whatever you know whatever it is sometimes it's meeting their basic needs and then and then I
I guess that there might be other things that you could do offer really hard chewies I've known lots
of very very big hard biters and it seems to be doing the job they're kind of like knobbly and
and they're really good and there's four different shapes for their preference as well which I like
and so yeah if they're biting then maybe try chewies and also step out of their space they
can't bite you if you're not within mouth reach of them so as long as they are safe and not causing
harm to themselves then sometimes stepping into their space is only making things harder so I
would always opt for if you can safely just stay out of their stay out of their space and then they
won't bite okay how to help in a situation where a student deliberately pushes others buttons so
again you need to see this behavior as a communication maybe they don't know how to
make friends or play and interact in a appropriate way or what we see as an appropriate way
so it's all about teaching them other ways they can get those interactions maybe the only way
that they get that interaction is by you know pushing their buttons maybe that's the only way
they get that response or any response from them so I like to use the intervention Lego therapy
with some more able learners or attention autism with classes like mine because it teaches other
ways of getting those fun interactions with each other that are positive and that are enjoyed by
all parties and really praising and having those on offer and modeling those that play as an adult
as well you know getting on the floor and modeling positive relationships and play again
intensive interaction is another great way of doing that is modeling those that reciprocal play
so that a child doesn't have to to deliberately push others buttons in order to get that response
or that kind of interaction and without us modeling that they might not work that out on their own
other questions okay um somebody said advice for wanting to get into sen teaching but being
autistic and adhd myself i'm scared they will judge me as inferior if i tell them that is
absolutely not the case i haven't found that for sure in fact most of the staff in my room are
neurodivergent and i think that's what makes us so good at our jobs because we totally relate
to lots of what the children are going through so i would wear it like a badge if you feel proud
enough to and i would absolutely say that and speak about it as one of your strengths for the job
as an sen teaching assistant or teacher especially when it comes to relating to your students there
obviously are downsides to it which i find as well sometimes organization sometimes mine is that's
another reason to mention it in an interview is because maybe you need a little bit more support
in those areas and unless they know why they might not be able to offer that support so i would say
most schools would be incredibly understanding if you mentioned your neurodiversity in that way what
did you do as your degree was it a pgce yes i did i did my route into sen teaching was to be a
sen teaching was i was ta a special education school so specialist provision school whilst i
was doing my acting degree and then straight from my acting degree i did a pgc in primary education
and then i went straight back to that school as soon as i was qualified as an underqualified
teacher and then teacher and i was there for 10 years and then i ran my own consultancy business
for sensory parents and now i've come back full circle as a teacher and sen foster carer
um i've been doing it for 15 years now which is crazy how do you deal with children that don't
like sharing so how do i support children to share so i model it first of all with my turn
your turn and i also have a my turn and wait visuals as well you might have seen those in
my post a few days ago they're like ovals my turn and wait and they're colored green and red
and i'll model my turn first then your turn and they will only have to wait like three seconds
at first and then it's their turn and then they might have to wait five seconds and then 10 seconds
and 15 seconds and gradually they'll get to build the understanding that this is a promise that i'm
definitely going to get what i want and now lots of my children now can wait up to 20 minutes
for their turn because they have the weight in front of them and they know that's a promise
they're definitely going to get a turn and that's really great for sharing and turn taking so if
there's one resource that all of them want then i use the green card for my turn and then everybody
else will have a weight symbol and then they will wait for their turn and it works really well if
used consistently and modeled by adults and that is in my google drive if you want that one do you
find it hard being a job share one of our children has two fantastic one-to-ones but he is making
limited progress i've tried lots of things but wondered if it's to do with the change in adult
it can be you know we're not robots however much we try and be consistent we're very much two
separate humans and we do work in very different ways actually like naturally we're very naturally
different people however what we are consistent with is the big things we run the class in a
really similar way our expectations of the children and the adults are very similar and we use the same
structures so we use the same language we use the same communication methods we use the same visuals
and structure in that way and we talk constantly so we at least message two or three times a week
in a really long like this is what's happened this is how i think what do you think and like
kind of make decisions together however naturally staff and children might gravitate towards or
prefer the way that one teacher works over the other and it could be just because of the subjects
they teach like it might not even be anything personal to do with them and that's just human
nature as well but it's just about being as consistent as possible and talking with each
other it could be that he it's because of two people but there are lots of benefits from having
two people as well you know we both come with full energy usually when i was working full time by
thursday i was flagging because as you can imagine you've seen my lives i give full energy all times
so by thursday i was so exhausted whereas now my colleague can tap out on a wednesday and i tap in
on a thursday and i'm like ready to go full energy and it kind of boosts the room to like
keep going till the end of the week so i think actually there are more benefits than not just
having that like change of face boosted energy fresh ideas being able to share burdens and
certain things and share ideas and certain things so yeah i think there is huge benefits
but if your child has autism or any kind of anxiety just that change in slight different ways of
working because like i say we're not robots we are human really could affect them and it might take
them a couple of days to kind of like get into the swing of the next person and then it's the
weekend and it's the next person so um yeah it really could be having an impact however it would
also be having an impact if they only worked with one person because they'd only get used to that
one person and that one way of doing things and that's just not realistic in life like being
velcroed and stuck to one person and their one way of working it's just going to be setting them up
for failure so yes it might be limiting progress but that's kind of life isn't it they're not going
to have that one person attach them all the time consistently forever and the rest of their life
so it is good to chop and change and kind of get used to different ways of working as well
within the boundaries of trying to be as consistent as possible okay this is an interesting one
if a child who refuses to listen and doesn't make eye contact and listen to stories the one thing
about listening is how do we know they're not listening just because they're not giving eye
contact we don't know that in fact lots of children find it much easier to listen when they're not
giving eye contact especially those on the autism spectrum because it's so hard to give eye contact
sometimes for some some people that all they'll be thinking about is that and then they're not
actually listening so in order to listen they have to look down or look away so don't assume that
just because they're not giving eye contact they're not listening to the story always just assume that
they are listening and until proven otherwise if they refuse to listen then maybe it's just not
that motivating to them or interesting to them and i always think that if a child doesn't want
to join one of my sessions it's because i'm not being fun enough or it's because i'm not making
exciting enough for them or i'm not meeting their interests enough and that's not their fault that's
totally on me as the teacher to make it more exciting more interesting more related to their
interests so that they want to join me and they want to learn and they see it as necessary and
they see um worth and value in it and they are engaged so maybe have a look at your your learning
and your story choices and how you can make those even more exciting so they can't resist it's
absolutely irresistible and they want to they couldn't wait to join join you okay any advice
for a child who is removing clothing when not appropriate and we have a plan in place for when
it happens but preventing it is really challenging yes it's great that you have a plan but like you
say it's really good to work out why it's happening because it's better to you know manage it before
the behavior happens than after and i understand that this could be really really stressful for
schools because at home they probably don't need to wear clothes like that's absolutely fine
you wouldn't need to because i once heard from an ot that some children's skin is as sensitive as an
eyeball and imagine if your whole skin was as sensitive as an eyeball how awful it would be
to put clothes on like let's just think about that for a moment think how sensitive your eyeball is
you can literally feel like a tiny little like eyelash in it and it is so painful now imagine
getting your hair cut imagine using a razor like a shaver or imagine like wearing scratchy itchy
material or labels so let's assume because we don't know that it's not let's assume that
this pupil's skin is as sensitive as an eyeball now how would that change your attitude to how
you are managing this behavior i think you would be so much more empathetic and so much more
tolerant maybe of this behavior but the reality is you do need to wear clothes when out in public
that's just that's just society isn't it so maybe talk to parents maybe it doesn't have to be school
uniform though maybe it could be a kind of material that is seamless maybe that labels aren't are
removed maybe he wears clothes inside out so the seams are on the outside or socks inside out seen
that before maybe it's silk or some kind of shiny material that isn't as scratchy or itchy on his
skin that would be the first thing so i'd look at it from a sensory regulation point of view first
maybe get parents on board and don't worry about the colors or school uniform you know it's better
that he's clothed and in than unclothed and in or you know not in school at all so let's like we
want him to be in school we want him to be regulated let's try and get the clothes situation
sorted and another thing i've seen if it's the actual undressing that he is enjoying and it's
not actually a dysregulation to the textures then sometimes putting on clothes back to front can
help there's certain so like having the zips at the back or velcro at the back can just help like
manage that behavior so it's a little bit slower for them to get it off so you can kind of manage
that and i've seen that before as well but ultimately that's again dealing with the after
effect i would be looking more at why they are doing that and it's usually i'm sure because of
either frustration or because of a sensory need and how do you engage a child that just wants to
run i wouldn't make their learning all about running so if you're counting i would count the
count the different relays or if you're doing writing i would have the uppercase letters one
side of the caution i'll have the lowercase letters the other and you have to run from one
to the other and match them or if you're doing about colors i would be yeah like doing a relay
race with colors and matching colors doing like a scavenger hunt outside so you can make it you can
make their special interest part of the learning if you're in a special need school obviously
that's the benefit of being a sped teacher is we can literally grab their interest be like great
they like running let's make everything running i once wrote a full curriculum i wish i had it
because oh my god i know as soon as i mentioned this some of you are going to want it and i don't
have it but i once wrote a full curriculum all about duplo because well this boy in my class
he didn't want to know anything apart from duplo that's all he wanted to know he wanted to build
towers with duplo so developed a full curriculum where it all involved duplo his transition object
was duplo maths was duplo english was duplo everything was duplo his symbols to request and
everything was on duplo it had a huge impact on him because all of a sudden we were speaking his
language and he was interested it's great that you have something that he wants to do and just
run with it literally run with it if you have the resources to if you don't have the resources to
if you're a mainstream classroom or your special needs classroom you don't he doesn't he's not one
to one or whatever that is a little bit harder but maybe then provide running regularly in his
sensory diet throughout the day running and then an organizing activity and then a grounding
activity and then back to work and then running and then an organizing activity and then grounding
and then back to work again but yeah ideally he'd just have a running curriculum right right this is
going to be the last question i think advice on a year one child wanting to sit on adults laps
facing the adult has been told not to allow her to sit on the lap as not appropriate yeah this is one
that we find as well and i do agree with it because even though children need comfort right and there
are lots of different ways of giving that comfort without being on your lap and i'm talking as a
foster carer and a teacher here one day that year one child so they're only six now but one day
and it happens really quickly they're going to be 16 and it's just not appropriate and it's so much
harder to undo that you know learned behavior and the way they can get that comfort than like
if it prolongs now this child can get that comfort from her parents or her guardian
or her siblings or other people that are close to her that that's appropriate with but i just
don't feel like it's appropriate with professionals either foster carer or or a teacher because
you can give the same comfort with them not sitting on your lap they could sit you could
do sherborn movements and they could sit in front of your lap and you could give squeezes or you they
could sit behind you and you can give squeezes or you can be next to or you can do swinging you can
do you could be on the ball and you could do rolling there are loads of different ways to have that
similar interaction without having to be on the laps sometimes it's just because they like to like
be dipped into your legs like it kind of feels like a hug in a way doesn't it so you can find
different chairs and different ways of an equipment that kind of gives them that same hug feeling
without it being on you i do do it sometimes with children with mobility because that's part of their
physio but again it's never on my lap it's actually they're sitting on the floor and like my legs are
kind of around them so the physio it's just something that i've always done because i have
worked with adults and like teens so i've kind of seen the transition i've seen how hard it is to
then get out of that kind of because then at that time then it's inappropriate behavior right
that's confusing for the children when all of a sudden they're allowed to do it one minute and
then the next teacher then they're not because it's inappropriate behavior it's really confusing
so if there is a way that you can give them that comfort or that sensory seeking without sitting
on laps then then i would have a look at doing that i just love talking to you guys it makes
it feel real these numbers on instagram are a bit ridiculous it's going it's the following is going
up so fast and it's really nice to actually speak to the real people behind those numbers rather
than getting completely overwhelmed by the numbers and it's really lovely to speak to
you all it makes it just feel a little bit more real so yeah thank you for being here
i hope you have a wonderful week bye