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Hi, my name is Jordan. I am a special education teacher from the UK. I share my passion for

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everything communication, sensory regulation and fun lesson ideas for my classroom of disabled

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pupils aged 4 to 11. Each week I am joined by experts in the field answering your questions

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and sharing our knowledge and experience working alongside our beautiful young people. Let's get started.

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Hello everybody, I'm going to be joined by the wonderful, the autism family godmother,

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which is so exciting. So that's Leslie. She's so wonderful. She reached out into my DMs and we've

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been chatting loads about everything that she's into. It's all, you're going to love her. It's

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everything that I'm about. Hi everyone, I'm Leslie-Anne. I'm an autism specialist and family

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support consultant. And basically I get to support children, young people, families and teams around

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them as well. So that's including organizations and schools and I absolutely love it. And I've

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been within the autistic community for about coming up to 13 years. I just love talking. I love,

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you know, getting together with others and really doing that avenue of education and just learning

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from each other. Yeah. It's so true, isn't it? Because even though I love working in the class,

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because you're the expert in the class, you're not learning yourself. You're sharing your knowledge

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with other people, which is awesome. But yeah, I really miss that collaboration with people that I

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can then learn from, which is why I love this actually. It's why I love Instagram because I am

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learning so much because it feels like a really collaborative space, doesn't it? Yeah, collaborating

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in this way. And also I've had some great people saying, well, that's not really how it's done now,

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or, you know, have you thought about doing this? It's been something that I've never even considered.

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But I think that's so important as well, because I keep like upskilling each other and yeah,

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sharing it from both sides and not having any ego about it. You know, we're all here to learn. Yeah,

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I'm the first one to admit like I'm here to learn just as much as anybody else. I'm happy to share

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what I know currently, but I'm so open minded to just like be for it all to be wrong and for me to

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do better. Sometimes when people, you know, they invite me into their schools for training, I'm

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like, oh, can you know beforehand or after and they're probably just you want to be there. But

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it's just to get that sense of who they are and that ethos with school because, you know,

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the autism affirming, neurodiverse affirming is about it's for supporting all really.

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No, it's very good practice. That's what it is. You know, a lot of times I'm saying that, you know,

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the way you can do it, the autistic, but it's actually just very good practice. So you,

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yeah, good practice for all. It's so true. It's so true. Also, autism is such a wide umbrella term

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that without seeing who you're talking about, you could be offering completely inappropriate

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strategies, couldn't you? Because it's so broad. I've had it before in my DMs. I've started,

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I've just assumed they're non speaking or I've just assumed they're, I don't know, more able than

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they are or whatever. I've had it both ways. And they're like, oh, no, actually, it's like this.

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I'm like, oh, yeah. Like, how would you know? Like, the fact that it just you saying they have

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autism, it means a few things, but my God, like it could be a whole million other things that,

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you know, other choices. And yeah, I was like, what if there was a question I don't know? Thank

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goodness there's Jordan. It doesn't matter. I'm happy to say I don't know that one. That's a great

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video idea. Let me do some research. All that trial and error. And I think that's why

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it's so important to be able to understand and empathize, especially from a parent carers point

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of view, something that they can actually sustain and trial. And at times it can be because the

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individual gets bored of it, or it could be right for them, or it can be that it's not the right

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time, not the right stage, or there's so many different factors. Yeah. frustrating at times,

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really. Yeah. And also, you've got to remember, which is something that it's so easy to forget,

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they're not just their diagnosis. Like sometimes it's just a five year old boy that wants to do

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certain things, like just because they're a five year old boy, you know, or five year old girl,

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or whatever, you know, like, I've got people at the moment that love like farting and fart jokes.

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And I'm having a little bit of a battle at the moment with speech and language therapists,

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because it's inappropriate, or like, we shouldn't be encouraging. He's just an eight year old boy.

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Like, boys love fart jokes, like, for his speech and language or not, it actually doesn't matter,

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I want to encourage that interaction. And if that means that he farts on us, and we have to laugh

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and you know, joking around. That's what I'm gonna do. And it's odd, isn't it? Because that

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isn't necessarily autism. That's, that's just being an eight year old boy and having a boy in

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my class and like, yeah, I feel like that's okay. So I also want my problems to be fixed as well.

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And I think that's something that we can easily get stuck with. Because it's like, oh, I have this

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problem, I have this problem. And it's like, I don't know, I find that really hard drinking.

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I think that's, you know, as a society, culturally, and you know, generationally,

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we want things to happen now. So again, when you're thinking autism or not, we just want things to

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happen. We want to fix, we want to nurture, we want to care. And what we often do is we think

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about that issue or that problem, and then think about how to strategize it. And we forget that why.

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And like you say, the why could be because they just want to make their friends laugh, or they're

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having to be interacting. And they want my attention or, you know, behind anything, there's

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a child there that only wants to really impress, you know, we all do. Exactly. And also, like, why

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do you want to solve it? Is it for your benefit? Or is it for theirs? I think that's a really good

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question to ask ourselves constantly as well. Like, is ripping paper something to solve for you? Or

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is it something to solve for them? Yeah, because actually, it's quite a safe way of meeting their

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needs. Is it really a problem? Or is it just a problem? Because you need to remember to put the

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important bits away. And it's quite annoying to have to do that, you know, it's like it's stuff

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like that. It's like, actually, this isn't their problem. This is a you problem. And I think that's

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really hard. That's really hard for practitioners and parents to hear that. Oh, my goodness. I mean,

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there's such a journey of it. I mean, especially I can think about when I first started, there were

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definitely things that would annoy me in the classroom, because you're thinking about how, you

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know, you've been taught or when you've gone to the lectures and how they made it seem that, you

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know, you need to run your class or manage your class. And then you're looking at these behaviors,

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and you're like, they're undesirable. No, they're not undesirable. They're actually just communicating

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something. And actually, I'm really struggling for that. And that's why we're all human. And you can

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tap out yourself, you know, it could be that you're having a really hard day. And then a type of,

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I don't know, a verbal stimming can really get to you. And you need to have that time away just as

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much as for that individual, let's say their peer doing it can really annoy them, even though they're,

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you know, yeah, and I think it's that's a culture that needs to be embedded within your class,

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doesn't it? And I feel like it needs to be modeled. So if you're the teacher in the class,

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or the HLTA, usually, the others look to you to be modeling that. So if you're not taking breaks,

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or if you're not taking your lunch, I mean, I can be guilty of this. If you're not saying, you know,

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I need a break, or I need to change adults, or let's switch, then the culture in the classes,

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I can cope. This shows capability and structure, right? It has to start and almost magnify, sorry,

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you saying, I need a break. Yeah, even if you're doing it or not, you know, it almost needs to

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become a norm culture of like a few times a day, just saying, let's switch it, let's have a break,

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let's try just visuals, let's try this. And it being because I'm not coping, and then therefore

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then it will build confidence for other people to say, yeah, really important and expressing

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that as well and expressing, you know, when you think about masking and camouflaging and how easily

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that can happen. You know, at times I find myself a challenge and think of how can I, how can I

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model like about to go into a school and do I need to show that it can be a break down. And I'll

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almost a script for just that interaction to be then happening. So, you know, those staff members

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to see, yeah, it's actually okay. Yeah, you can show weakness. I think it's so difficult, especially

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when someone's coming in from outside, like when I pick your best, I'm like that too. Because I'm

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so proud of that unit. I just want to like put our best self forward, whatever that means. Yeah. But

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it's so true, like all you want to see, maybe we could talk about that actually, like all what do

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you want to see? I feel like all I would want to see is, is caregivers that really care for and are

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in tune with the children. I think would be the probably the first thing I want to see actually,

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if they're doing some kind of intensive interaction, if they're understanding the

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children and all their communication as a whole, I think I'd be really impressed no matter what.

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No matter what else was going on. Yeah. I think that like a timetable, it'll say now we're doing

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attention autism. Right. But all of the classes are dysregulated. Yeah. That you really wanting

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to carry on and you see those supportings to adults like, no, come on, come on, just by someone

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external. So for example, me coming into. Because they probably really want to show it off because

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it's probably normally really lovely. But at the same time, like you're saying, I would love to see.

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No. Okay. I think we need to do, let's go into a sensory break and really understanding, and I'm

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sure we'll talk about more, but understanding that movement's not just going to evolve things. It can

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be the start and it can be absolutely wonderful, but it's probably going to be really difficult

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for those individuals to sit down, sustain that attention and focus and, you know, sit there and

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do all the things that you really want them to do when someone's just walked in, if they're not

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regular, you know, and that's really important. So mine definitely would be about going, you know,

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I would love for educators, just to carers to feel more, just more in control and just have that

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bit about them. That's what I look for, that they can just say, no, we're not doing the status quo,

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or no, we're not sticking to the schedule. And I know it's really hard. That makes me feel better

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than I've got a story. I had Ofsted in December. Okay. Yeah. For some reason, I've been teaching

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for 15 years and it was my first Ofsted. I've always seemed to dismiss them. I think I've always

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had the class that aren't, that Ofsted are kind of, that they kind of pass by, I think. Teachers

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are really good at that. Yeah. Avoiding my classes, because I should have had it about three or four

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times. They came into my room. She is a head teacher of a specialist provision school. So I felt good

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in good hands. So that's a bit of context. And we were doing a sensory story. And we've been doing

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it for weeks, because I repeat the story every week for about six weeks. And it was probably the

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third or fourth week we've done it. It was always good. It was vehicles. Sorry, they're super into

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vehicles. Past the first object, I thought it gets thrown. And it was a really heavy thing. And I was

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like, okay, okay. And then we write, okay, we're not going to go and pick it up. We're just going

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to do the next page. That gets thrown by another child. Okay, yeah. Let's do a lighter object. That

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gets thrown as well. And I was like, no, we're not doing this. Like, I am not going to sit here and

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pretend that this is usually what happens. I'm not gonna like this is not okay. It's clearly we are

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not ready for storytime right now. Yeah, off we went and we spread out. And, and yeah, it was there

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for 45 minutes. And it was kind of, it was 45 minutes of, like trying to work out 10 different

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individual needs, basically. But you know what, luckily, she got it. Yeah. And, and, and we did

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really well. But it was exactly that. And I'm so pleased that in the moment, I had the confidence

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to think, you know what, even if you don't get this in this moment, my kids are not ready

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for storytime. Someone's gonna get hurt. Firstly, it's not going to be fun for me. This isn't fun.

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I'm not enjoying this. So you're probably not. Yeah, let's, let's do something else. I think,

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like you said, cultural, like having that shift, because, you know, again, when you think about

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interview, okay, there was once upon a time that you would ask about organization and being

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punctual. And how would you structure a lesson? And how would you, that's just not going to fit,

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or that would tell me is goodness, that's so much pressure. And that's, yeah, yeah. What are my

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students going to be doing at those times? Like, I know that routine and structure is, of course,

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important. And you will have it. But at the same time, it's about thinking about leading and being

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with children that are looking up at you and need you there to support them. Right. It's so important

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actually, go back to what you said, Jordan, at the beginning about thinking, is it for you or is it

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for them? You know, that's all kind of mindset. Yeah. Because at that time, if I carried on with

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the story, it totally would have been for me, it wasn't for them in any way, like they were not

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learning, they weren't ready to take anything on from there. So yeah, that that it just wasn't

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meeting their needs. It's a bit of a redux, isn't it? Because I often say, our classes need to be

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structured and flexible. And I think it's really hard to explain what I mean by that.

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Because it needs to have the concrete pillars of routine that is predictable, you do this,

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then this and this and then this and this and this new kind of this kind of like a rotation,

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every kind of everyone knows where they're at. Maybe their table is always in the same place,

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or their chairs always in the same place, or they always go to the computer and then this or,

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or they know they're going to have snack time a few times throughout the day. And that that's

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predictable, because anxiety doesn't. Yeah, that's what I mean by structure. Yeah. But I don't mean

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that it's rigid. I mean, we have flexibility within that structure, that it can maybe maybe done in

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any order. Yes. The lesson or maybe sensory diets can be sprinkled in wherever or toilets can be

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sprinkled in wherever or snacks can you stability within the structure of it. And it's really hard

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to explain it without seeing it doesn't need to be as you know, that traditional sense of we,

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we do this, and then you get this and then happen. Because I'm sure you'll agree, but that kind of

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idea, if you're coming to an actual well functioning classroom, it doesn't really look like

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Yeah, I feel like our baseline is that like we have a plan, but I feel like the kids do this.

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Yeah. I feel like that is that like, I'm quite a visual person. Yes, I think they touch base.

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Yeah, with the structure throughout the day, each of them. And it looks different for every

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single child. I have 10 children in my class, every single child kind of weave in and out of

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the structure of day. We call it consistent compassion in our class. Consistency is the band

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of of the structure. But the compassion comes in by letting them meet their needs,

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sensory diets, as crunchy snacks, going for a walk. Yeah, maybe we just missed this to this lesson

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today, because you're not ready for it. At times it can be harder than others, because your

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length, you know, resources in place, and that's including, you know, what if someone's ill or

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what if you know, there's so many things that are going to impact that. And sometimes you're

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going to walk away and think, gosh, you know, when you're packing your stuff up, or you're

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tidying your classroom, or you're going home that evening that you're reflecting on that,

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but that's really great. Well, like, did I meet that person's needs for it? Every day,

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though, it took me 10 minutes to realize this is what they wanted. I was thinking about this. And,

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you know, there's so many different things that are going to be there. And it's almost like that

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lovely visual needs to be, you know, it needs to be there for us as well, really. Yeah, true.

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True. Like what's the structure? What's the main baseline of the day? Good enough. And if the

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answer is yes, and we weaved in and out of it, then I guess that we need to give that to ourselves

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too, don't we? Right. Yeah. And we all come with our own expectations of the day. So a speech and

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language therapist would visit, and they would expect to see certain things or a physio would

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come and they would expect to see certain things. It's really hard to meet all of all of these

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different professionals. And my team as well, they come with their own expectations for the day. And

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it's really hard to meet everyone's expectations where they're at. We only have so much capacity

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in my room as adults wise, finance wise, budget time, it's all, you know, it's all that capacity.

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So you kind of have to just pick and choose, don't you? Oh, yeah, you do.

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Right. Is there a limit or suggestion to how many children should access bucket time at a time,

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three to four year olds, I get lots of questions about bucket time. What are your thoughts on?

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So I don't know, I think I I'm going to go back to like your environment and what it can lend you.

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I think that's so important. So, you know, bucket time could be classically known of sitting on it

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on a chair. And that can work for some children. Of course, it can, that can be really great.

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Whereas other children, it's just not going to work for them. You can have children that are still

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engaged, but they're actually stimming in the background. You have children that want to be

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engaged, but it's extremely difficult for them. So I think that's really important to your

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environment and the different layers that you're going to have within that classroom. Yeah.

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Going back to what we earlier said, I would be a bit like if they were, I mean, it's great if

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they are, but if they're all sat in that lovely semicircle, probably not meeting all needs.

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Yeah, I agree. My people, I think assume that my class, everyone's sitting perfectly in a

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in a horseshoe shape. And I'm there like on my life. Like it just doesn't work like that. I've said

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somebody's on a mat, somebody's spinning on a hoist, somebody's pacing in and out, somebody is

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screaming in the next room because something they're upset about something. Two kids aren't

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even joining because they're not ready. I don't like one kid's on my chair behind me, like kind

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of peer what's in the bucket. It's all going on, but I'm looking for engagement. That's my aim.

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Yeah. So this kid behind me, he's engaged. Awesome. Why would I change that? This kid on the

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hoist is giving fleeting looks over whatever sound things I'm using. You know, it's like,

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Yeah, there's different roles to be had as well. If you have, you know, other, you have other

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practitioners that are there, then there's different roles. So if I'm facilitating, I need to be the

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best thing since I spread to get engagement. That's my role. I think that's really important. So

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it's like, it's like something like this, that you're going to get a group of people that want

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to be there. And then you're going to get a group of people that are just like, okay, I've got enough

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from it. See you later. But I've still got people there that really, you know, that need that

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engagement. And it can look really different. Maybe that some, some students might be quite

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impulsive in their needs. It could be other students, as I say, they want to be there, but

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at the same time, no, I'm really enjoying it. It really depends. I agree. So, so is our answer,

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because I think it is, is to just start doing bucket and see who joins. Yes, definitely. I

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think I think that's how I do it. I just start and I have a core group of kids that are all that are

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my every kids that it's really unusual they don't. Yeah. And I thought often I've got a few kind of

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fleeting lookers and it depends what I'm doing depends how good I am that day depends on if

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they want to join or not and how regulated they are. So yeah, I would just start kind of like

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tapping the bucket experimenting with what things you're doing, do some maybe some sound things one

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day, some messy things the other see what, you know, what gravitates who gravitates towards what

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activity and you'll kind of gauge the right like cohort. Yeah, yeah, exactly. Yeah. And

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that as well. I think definitely think about your senses when you're thinking about that bucket.

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So think about all that stuff. Trial and error is so important. So if they're not engaged, swap it

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out. But also, I just have little mini case studies in my head. I don't know about you, but I'm like,

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wow, you know, this person I didn't see last week, but now they're really engaging. So I'm

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really into that. I must note that down. So individual differences. Yeah. Yeah, it's a

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really good point. I will I'll think about that. Okay. Any recommendations for useful things

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for SEM provision running morning only in a mainstream school? And any recommendations for

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a routine for SEM provision morning with cognition and learning being the main focus. So obviously,

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they've just got sent SEM provision in the morning, and then they go into mainstream,

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I can see why that happens sometimes. Because usually in mainstream, I'm attached to a mainstream

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school, they do the English and the maths in the morning. And then they do more topic related

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stuff in the afternoon. So if it's like an intervention base, I can see why you would

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want to pull some students out and do English and maths that is more maybe more at their level or

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more and maybe more sensory for that. But then maybe topic related stuff is more accessible to

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them, because maybe they are more aligned with their peers, or maybe it's a bit more practical,

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a bit more, you know, not so much in your seat. Yes, maybe more creative, I can see why that could

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work on paper for some students. So cognition and learning would be the engagement. Yeah, attention.

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I mean, I've really, really, I really enjoy I'm kind of making my own tech pack at the moment.

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And my kids really like tech pack part of my class anyway. But sometimes they're just a bit,

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they're just a bit overdone. We've only got four of them. And yeah, they kind of know it. I mean,

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if I'm bored of it, they're probably bored of it. They've been in my class seven years. So like,

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yeah, I think I'm bored of it, they're gonna be. So I kind of thought to like modernize it a little

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bit, put some more modern music, make it a bit more topical, but it's still very similar to

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basically music and touch base. Yeah. Three massage kind of story is what it is. And it's been

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working really, really well for that cognition and learning focused lesson. Because there's so

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much you can get from it. They are giving fleeting looks, they could they're tracking, they're

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reaching out for more. This is my PMOD group, they're kind of zero to three months, maybe.

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Yeah. And so they're tracking, reaching out, they are laughing, they're anticipating all of

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those wonderful engagement profile things we're seeing there, that anticipation, the engagement,

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the attainment, the, you know, the looking, the reaching out, all of that we're seeing through

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that. And it's really wonderful, because we only do it with two students, we've got three adults,

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two students, he's really focused. And also, it's all in a bag, all ready to go. Just a grab and go

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activity. I was just about to say, I think one of the things as well, if they're only getting that

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provision in the morning, I would really think about how that's going to be transferable for

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the mainstream, how that's still because we don't want to assume that they're only going to need

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those things. When vice versa, at times that is what can happen, you know, at the, you know,

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at the beginning, you're talking about, you know, what kind of lessons they're accessing,

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or what kind of provisions or, you know, approach, or whatever that may look like,

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it's about actually how that can still transfer. Is that again, what we're talking about is that

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it can be that things just need to stop. And actually, they need to act to that. So that's

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really important, I feel as well. That's true. Almost like the morning is there. Yeah. Okay,

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let's get you regulated, ready for the afternoon. Let's get you feeling safe amongst your peers for

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the afternoon. Let's get you confident enough to speak up for the afternoon. It's all those kind

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of things. Maybe it's it's kind of like, it could be focused around like self esteem and confidence

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building, communication, friendship, making all that kind of stuff that's often lost. And then

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they're maybe so ready for the afternoon in order to cope. Maybe I know it doesn't always work,

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but that sounds like a very ideal world, doesn't it? Definitely. And it does depend on the student,

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like we said, right at the beginning. Yeah. You know, some students, it might just be a little

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maths and English top up and off they go and they don't have any anxiety. Actually, they they make

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great friends. Yeah, they they cope quite well. Whereas other children, it could be completely

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overwhelming the idea of being in the whole class. And actually, they're in absolute fight, flight,

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or fright mode all afternoon. And the mornings just kind of whatever you do is lost. Yeah. And

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I think that's so important that, you know, your staff, each setting are able to observe are able

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to have those discussions and talk about it because it shouldn't just be, you know, when

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they're with you, you're thinking about them and vice versa. Yeah. Thinking about that responsibility

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and that accountability. It's so very important, especially if you have learners that have,

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you know, a lack of verbal communication or all of these things need to be definitely considered.

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But it's about sharing those ideas, talking about it to prepare that individual who want to come

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back time and time again, because we shouldn't assume that they want to all the time, you know?

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Yeah. And there would be benefits from having a staff member that when across both areas with them,

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wouldn't to kind of keep that transition over. Yeah. But also to understand with that staff member

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that to have different expectations in different environments, just because they could do something

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in one. Yeah. It doesn't mean they can do something in another. So it's it's both isn't it is keeping

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their consistency across but also having different expectations with its environment because it would

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be so different. So different. Yeah. No, definitely. Thank you for that question. I mean, like if they

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were sound sensitive, they might find the morning harder. My classroom is really loud. Yeah. And

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I've got some students that are in based in mainstream that could be in my class, but they

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absolutely wouldn't cope with it. Yeah. It's actually is respite in mainstream. So let's not

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just assume that mainstream isn't the respite. Often, I'm speaking to SLT or and I'll say that

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if your students are not regulated, they're not going to learn and they'll just looking at me and

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I'm thinking, but I really mean it. Some of the mainstream students that are five or six years old

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are sitting for 45 minutes on the carpet. Yeah. I know if this happens. Yeah. Yeah. Regardless of

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diagnosis or sensory needs. No five or six year old can do that without a sensory break. Yeah.

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Yeah. So let's kind of like embed this in all, you know, in all with all teachers, I've got some

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amazing mainstream primary school teachers that follow me and I love that they do because it means

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that they have searched for sensory or autism or special education, but they have searched something

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for the algorithm has put me in front of them. And I am so grateful for those teachers because

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they're not taught it and there isn't funding for amazing training. And I just really appreciate

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those teachers who don't see these students as the problem and do see the need across their whole

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class, all 30 kids and are putting in sensory breaks for their whole class and are putting in

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visuals for their whole class. There are teachers out there doing that and I just think that is so

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awesome because it isn't the expectation. It is them going above and beyond and they are they are

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they are seeing a difference and then hopefully the ripple effects will happen. You know, the word

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will be spreading. I'm really encouraged that my page is growing so quickly because that proves

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that people are seeing results and they're sharing it. That's so exciting to me because special

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education teachers aren't the main people that are following me here because they kind of know it and

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do it already. It's the people that don't that know there's something but don't know what it is.

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Yeah. I'm really encouraged that there are so many people that are seeking answers.

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Yeah. It's not just saying that we have to do it through social media but hey we're here.

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It's like that isn't it? It's like a policy, you know, I don't know, discrimination. You want a

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certain cohort. You don't want the same people time and time coming because it's like no I know

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you know it. Like an echo chamber. That's right. So it's about that advocacy really spreading in

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but I think you're totally right. It's about getting a follower or getting that interaction

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in a DM. One that's not from this world. I think that's so much more for me because then you can

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actually start this discussion instead of it being, which is absolutely amazing to share ideas,

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but what I'm trying to say is like you say you're trying to grab a certain audience. The ones that

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at times unfortunately think they do know, you know, or they don't really care but have no idea

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where to start. I love receiving questions where they don't use, well love receiving questions is

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a really weird thing to say but I love receiving questions where they don't quite use appropriate

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language because it just shows these are the people I want to reach. Thank you for caring.

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This is how it's done and this is why I never want to almost like look what this said or like

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make fun of the language they've used because they just need to ask the question. The fact they ask

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the question means that their heart is in the right place. Language is easy to fix. Like it has come

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such a long way and in the place it hasn't but there have been things that I have said or I have

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done when it comes to using resources or certain strategies. Now I'm like oh my goodness but that's

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what it's all about. Learning and picking and being very open about that. Every week I say the wrong

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word or say the wrong thing and I'm like oh yeah I don't want to do that anymore. Yeah like that's

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what I think because we're just human aren't we and that's part of it but I would hate to think

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somebody didn't reach out to me or didn't comment because they were worried about using the wrong

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language because it's not about that here it's just about growth and learning and being open

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to getting it wrong and I feel like I'm trying to embed that in my social media and in my classroom

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by being the first to say oops sorry. You know I posted that last week I don't actually agree

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with that anymore because I've had some amazing messages in my dms that sent me links and I've

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done my research now actually I've heard it and I think that's okay. Being accountable instead of

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just deleting it because that's another way you could use it. It's actually saying you know what

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I thought about this or I've had a conversation and this is what I'm thinking now. I think that's

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really important and again it just shows that we you know I think anything as sensitive or emotive

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as the subject is or you know the community are you do have this kind of you know I have this

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that that whole pressure of thinking oh I I need to be this kind of advocate or I need to be

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here or but for all humans you are going to get it wrong and it's so important just to say I don't

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I don't know or I've never thought about it. But to keep actively learning I think rather than just

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passively saying I don't know so I'm just gonna put it all out there I think it's it's constantly

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seeking is this right is this right is this right and being open to it not being right I think it's

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really with all with all emotive topics right. What are your top three favourite sensory activities?

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Okay do you want to go first? Oh my goodness okay well I suppose the most the ones we use most is

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well the ones that are free I suppose. That's a good one. I got a load of car tyres from a garage

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car garages love giving away tyres because they have to pay to get rid of them but they're such

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a great sensory resource. Yeah. You can stack them they're really heavy because they often fill with

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water if you leave them outside they're really heavy so for a grounding or an organizing activity

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they are amazing to stack and often really motivating because then when you push them

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it's a really hard push but obviously they all fall over everywhere so if you've got any children

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that like stacking building blocks and looking over it's a really great one especially if you're

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with if you're working with bigger young people that are cognitively you know at the brick stage

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but actually are quite strong tyres are an amazing resource you can also roll them for organizing you

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can step on them and balance and make obstacle courses you can grow stuff in them you can put

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plant pot holders in them and you can have some messy play like tyres are amazing and they're

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free so that's my first one. Okay yeah that is a good one no that's a really good one and I

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feel like you've taken that off the tip of my tongue. Oh really? That's so funny. I do think as well so I think

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climbing so whether it's the stairs whether you've got a ladder whether like even like a bunk bed before bed

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all of that kind of stuff I think that's so important and you can see it as well that you

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can see the individual really getting that feedback that benefit from it whether they're trying to

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climb really fast or they're trying to go really slow and you can guide them as well like you know

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let's let's sneak up like a slithering snake or you know there's different kind of ways but I do

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think and again going on that free kind of motivating kind of thing that that's really

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important especially at home think about it you know that whole sensory diet you can do

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without it needing to be this amazing beautiful you know box of toys and items you can do them

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just at home and again it's about you know we don't visually need to think see things it's about how

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we're saying it as well you know first we're going to jump up and down to this music until we get out

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of breath are you ready? Doing that and next we're going to be you know as I say we're going to

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thread all these clusters together and then we're going to give each other a huge hug it's all about

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these little things that actually you're actually doing that sensory diet sensory circuit without

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realising it's not all about having that calming music or all about you know it can be and it can

374
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be amazing for those books but it has its place and I think I think that often about the organising

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part actually because so often it's almost over thought yes like the out of breath thing you kind

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of have to be a bit discreet like that's more discreet you have to think of an activity that

377
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gets them out of breath and the grounding one you have to think of an activity that grounds them

378
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but the organising can literally be the transition from one to the other I like that idea of

379
00:35:36,320 --> 00:35:42,560
traveling you know that really that transition and cross body can't you could do a bit of Simon

380
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says on the walk and have you know your shoulder or copy me copy me do you know that kind of thing

381
00:35:49,680 --> 00:35:53,680
yeah could be that organising and they don't even realise they're doing it because you're

382
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literally just walking from job a to job b or job c and and they haven't even realised that there's

383
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a job b in the middle I speak to mainstream teachers about doing it often because they have

384
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limited time and limited resources and I just think well they've been out to play that's your

385
00:36:08,320 --> 00:36:13,200
alerting yeah you don't even think about that yeah walk back in do a bit of copy me do and they have

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to you know silently copy you and just make sure you're doing some cross body and right left and

387
00:36:17,760 --> 00:36:21,920
all that kind of thing that's your organising and you've only you know and then your grounding could

388
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be maybe deep pressure squeezes themselves or or to a partner and before all you've done is walk in

389
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from playtime and sat down that's no extra time you're going to do that anyway it's free it's not

390
00:36:33,360 --> 00:36:42,480
um babyish um yeah it's actually just part of your day but you know you're alerting organising and

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grounding ready to start learning that are 10 as well when you're thinking about self-regulation

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and realising that to be able to do anything ourselves we need support if you're modelling

393
00:36:52,080 --> 00:36:58,080
those experiences you're probably going to see that they're going to seek it again it's a natural

394
00:36:58,080 --> 00:37:05,360
way of doing it doesn't have to be this extravagant thing it can just okay i really need this right

395
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now what am i going to do how am i going to get my body to cross how am i going to use my brain and

396
00:37:10,240 --> 00:37:15,280
my body together and it's just about doing things like that and then as i say hopefully what you're

397
00:37:15,280 --> 00:37:22,000
going to see the frequency density and all that kind of stuff will get you need to think about

398
00:37:22,000 --> 00:37:27,840
those three sensory diet elements what am i doing wrong if the children don't respond to the

399
00:37:27,840 --> 00:37:32,240
calming part of the circuit and still seem overstimulated so i would say you're kind of

400
00:37:32,240 --> 00:37:37,600
rushing them through it i would say you don't move on to the next stage so you don't move on

401
00:37:37,600 --> 00:37:42,640
from the alerting until the out of breath and naturally are kind of coming to an end yeah and

402
00:37:42,640 --> 00:37:49,520
i wouldn't stop the organising until you can see that they are their heart has really calmed down

403
00:37:49,520 --> 00:37:55,840
and they're almost like started to slump in their seat or in their body already or they're

404
00:37:55,840 --> 00:37:59,760
so you say you've been doing a balancing course or an obstacle course or something for the organising

405
00:37:59,760 --> 00:38:04,560
they're kind of a bit more stompy on their feet or they're a little bit more slow to reach

406
00:38:05,120 --> 00:38:10,560
their knee up to the thing they're not running around it is what i'm saying yeah by the time

407
00:38:10,560 --> 00:38:17,840
you get to grounding they're almost already there anyway it's just that last little push so that

408
00:38:17,840 --> 00:38:23,200
they're ready to focus and some people only need a couple of minutes some people will need 40 minutes

409
00:38:23,200 --> 00:38:28,320
of of that and i think it's really important that it's such a luxury that i've got so many

410
00:38:28,320 --> 00:38:34,320
adults in my class because i can literally give the child exactly the amount of time they need

411
00:38:34,320 --> 00:38:38,240
and we can get on it doesn't stop anything i understand if you've got 12 children in your

412
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class and only three adults which is the case in lots of classes why that might not work yes but

413
00:38:45,040 --> 00:38:49,920
ultimately i would say if they don't feel ready for grounding they still seem overstimulated

414
00:38:49,920 --> 00:38:56,320
because they are yeah and also to add to that i think it's so important if you can during this

415
00:38:56,320 --> 00:39:02,160
time for everyone's benefit within that room to do it with them to really join in because that's

416
00:39:02,160 --> 00:39:08,480
really going to improve the trust it's going to improve things but again oftentimes i'll go into

417
00:39:08,480 --> 00:39:14,080
schools and it's happening but and i get it the pressures of you know the educators they're doing

418
00:39:14,080 --> 00:39:20,320
x y and z in the background and i just think perhaps if you really know them and that model that

419
00:39:20,320 --> 00:39:25,600
that experience with them then they they can actually have that support of what it is to feel

420
00:39:25,600 --> 00:39:30,960
calm or what it is to relax or what it is to be the adults will know how long it actually takes

421
00:39:30,960 --> 00:39:37,520
in order to feel something like that because often it's longer than you think or shorter than you think

422
00:39:37,520 --> 00:39:44,000
so whenever we um if we do running ones i would always run with and i think well i get much more

423
00:39:44,000 --> 00:39:47,680
out of breath than they do quickly anyway but that says more about me than them but i think

424
00:39:47,680 --> 00:39:55,040
it's really important for like both ways right not ask too much of them but also you can then

425
00:39:55,040 --> 00:40:00,720
fill with them when they're ready and also just that question i think because it says you know

426
00:40:00,720 --> 00:40:05,920
they still seem overstimulated it's okay to go back it is okay you don't have to then think to

427
00:40:05,920 --> 00:40:10,640
yourself okay we're done we have to now move on yeah like you know like you're saying jordan it's

428
00:40:10,640 --> 00:40:17,120
so important for you to actually have that realistic expectation how long is it going to take or what

429
00:40:17,120 --> 00:40:23,280
does that look like and so again if you if you're doing that circuit and you think oh gosh 45 minutes

430
00:40:23,280 --> 00:40:28,800
and we need to you know we need to move on and you do have that time because again sometimes you won't

431
00:40:28,800 --> 00:40:33,360
because it's home time or whatever that looks like but if you do have that time go back you know

432
00:40:33,360 --> 00:40:38,480
really try to see where you can fill in the gaps because it's so beneficial because the next time

433
00:40:38,480 --> 00:40:44,880
it's going to come back so much more strong and more meaningful for those individuals and also

434
00:40:44,880 --> 00:40:49,920
ask yourself like if they're not focused and overstimulated are they going to be learning

435
00:40:49,920 --> 00:40:55,360
in this lesson that i'm rushing to get to anyway is there actually more important life lesson

436
00:40:55,360 --> 00:41:01,280
happening here of meeting their own needs and that sounds like a luxury and that's why i feel like

437
00:41:01,280 --> 00:41:08,400
specialist education is a luxury yeah because we have that option to think no this is now our lesson

438
00:41:09,280 --> 00:41:15,600
for the afternoon i feel like unfortunately that is a luxury in education but if you flip it

439
00:41:16,400 --> 00:41:23,280
you know ever so slightly i think meeting our students basic needs is you know that's just so

440
00:41:23,280 --> 00:41:28,480
important and when you think about it that way it doesn't matter what setting you're in mainstream

441
00:41:28,480 --> 00:41:35,680
specialist whatever that looks like to it's the basic needs it's not there you know they're not

442
00:41:35,680 --> 00:41:41,840
trying extra bigly to gain it's equivalent to like not giving them enough water yeah

443
00:41:42,800 --> 00:41:47,760
isn't it yeah and if you're thinking about it that way of course you're going to get the more water

444
00:41:47,760 --> 00:41:53,360
in it definitely yeah that's right and hence why it's just good for everything because again

445
00:41:53,360 --> 00:41:58,400
i go in so many classrooms and everyone could use it you know yeah and there's no reason why if only

446
00:41:58,400 --> 00:42:04,400
a few students need more but all the rest are ready then you could maybe split off and and kind

447
00:42:04,400 --> 00:42:11,600
of do some definitely and maybe it's about just doing them more often little and often is sometimes

448
00:42:11,600 --> 00:42:18,000
just as effective as one really big one i'd say more actually we do it kind of after every sitting

449
00:42:18,000 --> 00:42:23,920
activity sometimes between the activities as well depending on the student sometimes and often just

450
00:42:23,920 --> 00:42:29,520
keeps it keeps them going and not waiting until not it's too late because it's never too late but

451
00:42:29,520 --> 00:42:34,640
not waiting until they're over simulated in order to start the circuit yeah i think if you're having

452
00:42:34,640 --> 00:42:41,200
them thinking about that baseline structure that we're talking about earlier if rather than the

453
00:42:41,200 --> 00:42:47,600
sensory diet just weaving in when they need it if the sensory diet is also killed into that baseline

454
00:42:47,600 --> 00:42:52,000
thing that whether they need it or not they still do it anyway and then there is extras woven in if

455
00:42:52,000 --> 00:42:57,040
they need it i think it's really important yeah because sometimes they don't look like they need

456
00:42:57,040 --> 00:43:02,880
it but it's about keeping them regulated isn't it yeah if they never look like they need it we're

457
00:43:02,880 --> 00:43:08,400
doing our job right yeah it's the moment they start looking like they need it that we should

458
00:43:08,400 --> 00:43:17,440
have done it yeah more where can i find out more about sensory circuits yeah you have jordan you

459
00:43:17,440 --> 00:43:25,280
have so yeah i'm gonna do a promo yeah i'm one of lots of alerting ideas and organizing ideas

460
00:43:25,280 --> 00:43:31,440
and grounding ideas um that are suitable for in school or at home and lots of the things on there

461
00:43:31,440 --> 00:43:36,240
are free and that you can start doing for ideas and you can kind of expand from there and it also

462
00:43:36,240 --> 00:43:42,240
includes all of the symbol visuals for each thing i've mentioned so that you can either get your

463
00:43:42,240 --> 00:43:45,840
child to choose what activity they want to do which i think is really lovely it's always

464
00:43:45,840 --> 00:43:50,080
we always want to do things more more if we've had some kind of ownership over it so they can

465
00:43:50,080 --> 00:43:54,800
choose and also they know what meets their needs better than we ever could so they can choose or

466
00:43:54,800 --> 00:44:00,480
maybe it's a way of showing what you know what's gonna come up um and that's yeah that's a pound

467
00:44:00,480 --> 00:44:05,680
in my website there's also a wonderful book called sensory circuits if you look at that up that on

468
00:44:05,680 --> 00:44:10,240
amazon i think that's on my amazon store but yeah look it up on amazon if you search sensory circuit

469
00:44:10,240 --> 00:44:14,400
that's got some great ideas as well thank you so much for joining this we've got to do this again

470
00:44:14,400 --> 00:44:21,600
i love talking to you so much everybody head over to the autistic family godmother and give her a

471
00:44:21,600 --> 00:44:27,040
follow she's awesome she says all about sensory diets and autism and i'm learning so much from her

472
00:44:27,040 --> 00:44:32,080
and i'm sure you will too as well so definitely follow and i can't wait to see more from you

473
00:44:32,080 --> 00:44:46,640
i know i'm so excited already i will see you soon have a good week