Hi, my name is Jordan. I am a special education teacher from the UK. I share my passion for
everything communication, sensory regulation and fun lesson ideas for my classroom of disabled
pupils aged 4 to 11. Each week I am joined by experts in the field answering your questions
and sharing our knowledge and experience working alongside our beautiful young people. Let's get started.
Hello everybody, I'm going to be joined with the amazing Mrs. Mrs. Price's classroom on Instagram.
I've followed her for a while now and I absolutely adore everything she shares and we're going to be
talking all about our classrooms and our visual use and AC. How are you doing? It is so good to
chat with you. I've just been saying that I've been loving your account ever since I started
this which was Christmas. Likewise. Absolutely loving your account. I feel like we're pretty
similar in how we lead our classrooms. Whenever you have an idea I'm like oh I wish I thought of
that first. You're so good. I've had so many ideas from you. I've absolutely loved your page and you
know I said to my work friends today I guess who I'm doing a live with I'm doing a live with someone
you're worldwide famous and you're getting yourself out of your comfort zone aren't you?
It's your first live so that's so exciting. My first ever live. Welcome. Can you fire away?
Excellent. Well the first one new to the role of SEN in an afternoon provision how should I plan?
Okay so I'm assuming that it's mainstream it's come kind of nurture hub in the afternoon.
Very possibly. And they've been asked to lead it and they've got no idea what to do.
And I think the word that strikes out for me is afternoon so it's like okay they've had a full day
it's the afternoon that's going to be important for them to plan wisely for the afternoon because
as we know for a lot of our students once they've had lunch that's it we're done. Yeah totally.
Yeah exactly especially by the end of the week. So I'm assuming in the morning they'll be doing
English and maths won't they? That's quite difficult. I assume so yeah that's all I've got. New to the
role of SEN in an afternoon provision how should I plan? Yeah so I'd assume I would want well it's
an SEN provision as well so they would have EHCP so maybe I would look at their I would focus it
around their IEPs. Maybe look at some targets that are difficult to get in the classroom that are
difficult to get alongside other children that might be to do with taking turns it might be to
be with independence it might be to do with communication whatever it is maybe focus the
learning on those kind of things to kind of get those because that's the legal requirement really
isn't it when you're an SEN provision we we don't we can do whatever we want really but we have to
be meeting those particular EHCP statements and points don't we? So I suppose that's quite a good
start because otherwise it's so open that you really could do anything it's easy to have that
isn't it? Absolutely and in terms of the environment I mean I just I've asked my
thought I love setting up an environment I love the visual but obviously that's going to be really
important as well making sure the environment's set up for them clearly defined areas a space for
a bit of a chill out area you know do they need their own space for the space for group work
I mean there's so much that you can do in there but yeah definitely as you say keep go for those
some targets IEP targets and make sure the afternoon is just a calm yeah less demand on
them and maybe more child led maybe so you've got the structure I call it a flexible structure
so yes you've got the structure of certain areas you've got the schedules up they know what they're
they know what they're doing it's predictable but it's flexible in the way of if they need a sensory
break they just have it if they need a snack they just have it if they need the toilet they just go
you know all of those kind of things build that trust and relationship with them first completely
definitely so no good luck to whoever that is that would refuel them as well wouldn't it it would refuel
them for the next day till they go into the classroom and start again and it might help them
last a little bit longer in in the class as well maybe yeah a bit of I mean I like the word nurture
hub because I feel like it feels like a hug in a word doesn't it um nurture hub and if if all of us
are seeing our classrooms as nurture hubs yeah I just think that's really lovely we're just kind
of holding our children up and and um and giving them everything they need in order to feel safe
enough to learn and and make progress absolutely should we go for another one yes right what do
you find works best as a strategy slash support for engaging students with their own agenda
okay I think that is well my first thought was with their own you go with their own agenda if
that's what they're keen on and yeah what's their interest what's their drive and you start with
that don't you and you build that relationship with them first and then start incorporating the
learning within their own agenda yeah exactly exactly it's the same with us right if we're
trying to make friends or trying to build connections with people you don't start talking
about yourself and your interests you find out about theirs and it's no different than that you
become their partner don't you um I've got a happiness audit I don't know if you've um seen
it but um it basically uh works out what helps the child feel happy um and there's things like
what sensory environment makes them happy what tastes make them happy what smells make them happy
what people make them happy and it goes it really goes through all of the things and we're basically
auditing what is happiness for this child what does it look like and I guess I would start there
and and think okay what does heaven look like for this child and one of my tears is laughing today
I said oh he's had such a good day and he went well of course he has this is heaven to him
well what am I doing if it's not right yeah Andy dinosaurs on he had his curry he was rocking on
his chair he was full of three snacks and had all the crisps whatever he'd had he'd just done his
sensory regulation he was so holding his dinosaur he was so happy and I think well yeah this is a
happy child he's gonna learn he's gonna communicate I'm doing my job if this is heaven for them
absolutely so I know that's a big ask but if we could try and create their ideal scenario
their ideal resources learning in their ideal way like for some children it looks quite quiet and
quite um isolated and and quite um no demands whereas other children it looks very involved
very active outside messy different for every child isn't it so there's no one answer for that
it's just yeah getting to know them I was gonna say getting to know their drive and going with it
and then starting cooperating those little bits of learning in there at their own pace at their own
level isn't it and that works for any child at any level at any stage doesn't it absolutely and
it's been genuinely interested in what they're interested as well it's not just listening it's
not just um responding you know call and response when they're chatting to you it's genuinely like
finding your joy in what they like absolutely and they're not really random like like flicking bits
of lanyard for example I've got a child that flicks flicks lanyard and then it's yeah it feels
really good and it's good to feel joy in that rather than just sitting by them and accepting
them of course that's that's step one how great if we could just join them in the joy and and
and yeah and you could do that with any child really definitely no perfect have we got quite
a few things we have so many coming in I'm struggling to encourage a child to leave the
classroom to participate in sensory activities because he only wants to play with his toy this
is mainstream okay okay um I would rather than prompting them to go outside I would just
be really fun doing the sensory activity kind of within eye and ear shot and if I'm fun enough and
if I'm if I've chosen the sensory activity well enough to meet their needs and interests
they will just join it yeah not making much don't put too much of a pressure on on their joining
yeah because they'll sense it they can up straight away and often um not just in mainstream in all
schools often they the older the children are they've learned that adults bring demand adults
are bring stress adults bring anxiety and they almost lose the trust of even though it looks
really fun they're not going to trust that you're not going to show them to do something tell them
to do something that they can't do or or whatever whatever it's almost learn which is not to say but
I see that all the time in my classroom as well if I'm just having fun doing stuff around them
often they do want to join and if they don't that's okay I just have I just need to then adapt
what I'm doing um but yeah if the sensory activities you're doing meets their interests
and their needs I don't know why they wouldn't and especially if they feel safe in the environment
because maybe uh leaving the classroom is it's actually too much actually maybe that's their
safety zone and maybe you need to start doing this activity there before you start transitioning
and doing a new activity that sounds like quite unstable and it's working out what is the actual
what worry and anxiety this this this student has to be able to leave the room what is it then work
on that isn't it and then there's so many ways to help support and I guess if it has to be outside
of the classroom we're getting onto transitions that if it has to be outside of the classroom
I've been known before to bring one of our iPads outside I was just about to say record the way
do a little vlog basically of what to expect when they get there of the journey what to expect when
they get there and then they can watch it back now if all they do that first time is watch that video
fine often they watch it and they go no and make sure they have if it's spinning that that's the
key have a few spinning things there at the transfer when they watch the video they go oh my
they got this they got spinning things they got spinning things exactly and they can even bring
his twiddle toy with him as a bit of a transitional object there's no reason why he couldn't bring his
twiddle toy with him yeah completely to do this activity it might feel better and it might go be
put down once he sees it but maybe that's a bit of a comfort thing I can imagine I mean obviously
isn't it exactly and if it if he only wants to play this twiddle toy I've known children like
that before it's less of a fidget and it's more of a um de-sensitize like it's like none of this
exists I'm in my own world this is a bit scary I just need me time yeah so taking that away
and transitioning and a new activity just might be a little bit too much yeah I'm imagining yeah
it sounds like a lot um oh and she's also said he becomes very distressed and this is very distracting
for the other children I can imagine he does find it um distressing it's quite even though
it seems quite simple for us to just put down something go somewhere and do something really
fun there's a lot of steps there there's a lot of things I was gonna say yeah you need to take that
anxiety away first isn't it focus on the game because with I'm assuming you're doing this to
regulate him but actually in turn we're putting so many demands and asks of him in order to become
regulated he's gonna have the opposite affair so really yes I say do sensory breaks yes I say go
outside but actually it's cool we just want regulated children and if and if in if he needs
to do it inside to be regulated or if he needs to bring his little with him to be regulated
I'd say that he's like he's always participated in the past which makes me think obviously
something's happened on the transition then that made sound great a lot of anxiety so
and he needs to try and sort of work out what it is that's traumatized him to be able to want to
stay in the classroom and use that even more as a security thing and it might be that it's
September it's a new class he used to transition out of his old class now this is a new class and
he's got to build up to it again we might think oh you did that last year why can't you do it this
year and it's and it's you know and it's changed and then I say and it's mainstream isn't it we
know mainstream is a very busy noisy overload environment so it's extremely difficult to want
to transition in that must be extremely hard yeah yeah definitely there's a lot of asks okay yeah
he's in the same class of the same teacher I was gonna say something's happened in transition then
I think something's happened within that transition you know I think they need to work on what has
happened and most likely possibly something's happened in a corridor that's completely spooked
the student and it's better to stay in my safe place with my safe twiddle spinning and I think
my safe twiddle spinning and it's just working on that I think yeah maybe yeah either bring
comforts with you or start the activities where he's at and build up to transition I'd say
either or if that's his safe space have you got a question well I had one person to ask I have
children working at around nine months to two years and they find role play doesn't work yeah
now my first thought was if they're working at that sort of ability then role play is too is too
much too fast and too you know cognitively wouldn't be able to understand role play so it's
breaking that down completely isn't it yeah exactly I mean that's even that's without a
diagnosis of autism as well isn't it um it's it's rather than putting an adult idea of what play
looks like on the child it's actually flipping it and thinking about what play looks like for them
and then joining them in that and us becoming the learner and then becoming the expert um in play
sometimes it looks like tidying up sometimes it looks like tipping out sometimes it looks like
connecting things sometimes it looks like spinning things sometimes it looks like jumping and climbing
that might be their play and that and that's perfectly great and and where they're at and
then and then we can join them in that typically role play happens around well three and a half four
and that's if you've got a um analytical non-neurodivergent brain right um I know some
autistic adults that have done their gcses that have never been interested in role play not because
they can't they're just not interested in it it's just not fun for them and I think we need to
respect that too it's it's not um it's not the be all and end all I would say I've never had a
class I've taught age three to 19 I've never had a class that were interested in role play I've
added classes that are interested in dressing up wearing hats dressing up in things but never that
um never that taking on a role kind of thing I'm just happy something else yeah yeah something else
but that doesn't mean they don't I just haven't had that I've learned other classes and with my
colleagues that have so it's just about learning what's a really hard skill you know you're acting
isn't it you're acting you know some people find it really difficult but they definitely learn go
go with what they're playing with learning through play I'm all for that at the moment I love it
yeah and I guess the best thing about role play is the communication aspect trying out something
that you haven't done before well we could you can do that in loads of other ways that's that
isn't role play can't you um you can do lots of two-way conversation kind of games term taking
games um cause and effect kind of toys it's all that kind of two-way conversation um musical
instruments is a lovely one you can have a conversation of no words or even spoken so you
can really pattern it on those skills but at that kind of early level you said nine months to two
years so that's how it would look I would say in in those kind of in that kind of stage yeah and
all of my students are at that stage actually there but kind of between yeah three months and
two I suppose I hate putting ages to it but but on it helps people understand doesn't it yeah um
I've got a question here how to get my son to try different things or decide how to make choices
so there's two things there how to get my son to try different things uh depending on the things
I mean I don't know if we're talking food here or or other things but I mean let's just assume
toys I think how to make choices yeah I mean having different items available again not putting
pressure on the child but role modeling without expectation you know even away from him you could
be at the other side of the room suddenly you start playing with an item and doing different
things with it and just you know being really over exaggerated with your play in the hope that
maybe and don't rely on just on the first time thinking oh well you know wasn't interested
that's it over time these things take so much time but obviously it's so worth it isn't it when you
get that maybe one day he might just stand up and look at you perfect let's work on that um in the
hope that one day he'll he'll come and sit next to you and and play with you and then we'll gradually
move closer to him perhaps um and have different items as well with different cause and effects
like you say working on their interests um you go go for it's the same attention autism in your
class we do yeah yeah so I often use that to introduce new toys new resources new anything
just because um it it tells the whole group and the adults all the things that we might be able
to do or give us and um and I can model it and then it's their turn and we can support them with
it and and um I just think it's it's a really great way in a structured safe predictable setting that
they are comfortable with to be able to see oh actually that's really fun oh actually I like that
resource otherwise if I just got a new resource and put it out there they might not even notice
it or even know it's fun until they've seen that so it's not to say that there's only one way of
playing with it but it's just to open up that the conversation of this could be fun what do you think
we could use this for um like I bought a spinning fish seat uh last week I've now bought two it's
it's an incredibly expensive hobby uh teaching uh but I've got a spinning I've got two spinning
fish seats now and um and I introduced it through attention autism we did it as a stage three
activity so it was my turn it was the supporting adults turn and then it was their turn and they
got oh great yeah you sit on this you spin it really fast right I love this this is great
whereas if they just saw it in the room they wouldn't necessarily know what what is fun about
it it just is like a metal seat you know it's not fun um so yeah attention autism is a great way of
trying different things um how to decide to or decide how to make choices um I mean there is a
route that you can do of of not choosing not giving them the option of two things that you know they
do want you know you can start just by offering them one thing that you know they really really
love and something that's really really boring and and it's just a practice that are of choosing
because that's that's the first skill isn't it is either looking or reaching or batting away the one
they don't want whatever it is that's the early stages um we do it uh we started it with one of
my uh learners we had a food pouch and then a colored paper the same color but just paper
and he had to choose which one he wanted well clearly he always wants the food pouch he knows
he wants the food pouch it was really good practicing for the art of choosing and after
reading what he does with his choice because actually he doesn't reach for the one he wants
at all he bats away the one he doesn't so now we know when we give him a choice if he reaches
for one it's not because he wants it it's because he's batting away so it helps us with that um the
understanding and his communication as well and this is similar to what we go down preferred and
non-preferred and then start gradually putting another choice in the same screen how they cope
with that but again no pressure no demand um but it is hard to make choices you know we all find
difficult to make choices especially if it's something that we really really want um but
it's uh i'd say maybe if they're choosing both of them and if in the situation if the situation
allows could they have both like sometimes sometimes sometimes we want both it depends
where they're at doesn't it and and are they is it objects you're showing them is it symbols
you're showing them is it photos you're showing them um that could have a difference as well of
of the understanding um yeah i've got some children that i will show objects to and they're
just not fussed either way as well and be careful of the amount of praise as well because i've got
again i've got mixture who love the praise you've made a choice and then i've made that mistake of
going oh i don't want it now yeah you get so really quickly don't you who you can pray that
sometimes i have to really push it down because i'm so proud of them yeah it's so true and then
they're like oh no never again oh no we're back to square one again yeah oh dear uh i've got one here
so a six-year-old stayed in the same eyfs class struggling to regulate and bond with their one-to-one
um they regulate well with other adults uh we are tag teaming to support him trying to get the ta to
understand um he isn't being difficult sometimes it can be a whole number of things that the ta
isn't even aware of it could be a certain smell yeah there were a whole range of sensory things
and one of i worked with a child before that used to say oh you stink and it to one particular ta and
she just couldn't get on with her and we just we worked out it was a certain perfume that she had
and she just could not stand it so of course you could concentrate or be regulated yeah it could
be as simple as that it could be that she wears necklaces or rings and they make a little tink
i was gonna say i had a student back in the day years ago i can't remember how we we just worked
it out but basically would not talk talk to me if i wore stripes on a monday wednesday friday
and that's with ages but it's obviously just just things and it took ages to work that out but yeah
don't work don't talk to us it's amazing to work that out they yeah i mean um we all make little
rules and routines for ourselves but even more so with autism because they're trying to make their
world feel predictable and because it's so unpredictable um that they often make really
seemingly bizarre but not obviously it's it's perfectly normal for them um choices and rules
for themselves to make the world feel safer and if that is don't wear stripes on monday wednesday
friday then that's what that is then you could you can do you can't do much to fix that until you know
um so i suppose the real answer is um uh make sure you're logging what any triggers are yeah it could
be a certain lesson it could be a certain person at least you know it's the same person um it could
be just their voice their tone of voice um i was gonna say it might be the case that maybe you know
they didn't like the tone of voice you know one day you know maybe it wasn't you know meant that
way but they could have taken something completely the wrong way and that's it shut down mode and you
start needing to build on that relationship again um if he was able to regulate with others but not
this particular member of staff so we all get on with some people and not others absolutely and the
difference is is that we care too much about what people think so show it because actually i think
it's rather beautiful that you know exactly where you stand with often and it's okay maybe this
person isn't meant to work with this child and i sometimes that's okay um i try to pair up my
adults and children thinking about personality traits like the adults that are really up for it
and running around and and happy to be outside all the time in all weathers they'd be wasted on
children that aren't like that so i try and i with my pairings i try to think really carefully about
personality likes interest just because then you're gonna get the best results i'm not gonna be
aren't you i feel like that's part of creating the timetable that sometimes is just thinking about
yeah personalities and and what's gonna work but yeah sometimes it is something that you
aren't even aware of like a smell or a way somebody speaks even could be really triggering
or something you've eaten in front of the child maybe and that's it or something that you ate
earlier in the day and they can smell it and it's great yeah yeah exactly the thing is with sensory
regulation they can they're feeling all their senses at the same volume all at the same time
so yeah it could be all sorts of things couldn't it um but the thing is we need to kind of respect
that because you know we can change we can change ourselves to a point but ultimately we can't and
if they're not learning and not regulated then we need to make we need to make change not them
that's good so definitely yeah um any strategies to support the people who is acting violent towards
staff and pupils um we try to make sure obvious needs are met but some days it feels like we are
continually telling him to have kind hands this one comes up quite often i think yeah it's a tricky
one you just want to know more about that yeah i'm pinpoint what the point is i think that's the
point isn't it i think i would start some kind of abc chart or something start logging try and work
how where is this happening when is it happening and then ultimately why is this happening the
trigger yeah is it transition times you know is it directed work um the way that you're introducing
the work to the student is it all paperwork yeah is it are they regulating themselves beforehand
are they ready to learn you know that's the same you're making sure they're basic needs and met
doing toilet food drink um but yeah it's definitely trying to to work out what that trigger could be
um and again it's going back from all the things we said previously it could be any anything of
those isn't it that we've spoken and acting violent towards staff and pupils i mean ultimately
that's communicating go away isn't it ultimately i mean if you want people to go away quickly and
get off your back quickly that's a really um effective way of doing it isn't it and how and
and the reaction that he he expects you know in the part how have you reacted in the past
you know say he knows that works yeah i absolutely i know you go away and i can i get to to get out
of that situation isn't it yeah it's fights fright or flight right it's the fight um so we need to
offer be offering other ways that they can get that space and start and not work first then have
space i see that all the time it's space i need space now it's it's as important as breathing for
these children they need space then and and yes okay they might learn it's an opt-out la la la
yes yes yes yes yes i get that but more often than not it is just because they generally space
and when they're calm they can come back and finish their job when they're regulated but
when a child is asking for space to be to honor it because otherwise they're going to be violent
and then they're going to get space anyway and then their work's never going to be done anyway so
let's kind of i was going to say you've lost you've lost the trust isn't it you know you're going to
push me you're going to push me but actually now the learning is the learning isn't there you need
to backtrack now and again start building on that relationship doing something fun with this board
otherwise the learning is going to happen anyway and then the trust is broken as well so you're
you want to lose lose really so it might feel like you're giving in or it might look like you're
giving in to other people and you might get judgment for that i hear that all the time at
ta's are saying it i keep getting told off for like giving him what he wants i mean no you're
doing it's so hard isn't it when you're in a room with judging adults it's really no matter what
your role is it's it's really challenging and i get it because there must be there must be so much
pressure to think that i have to get this board to this to learn this and to do this at the end
of this but actually no it takes a lot of time to build that trust and relationship as the learning's
not there there's absolutely no point in pushing that go back to square one start again like say
work out those triggers and ultimately what's the point they could be um author ready they could be
phd ready they could know quantum physics if they're violent to people when they want space
rather than asking for it they're not going to be able to achieve anything in life no matter how
well academic they are you know so without the fundamental social skills and and um self
regulation skills we've lost them at the first hurdle they could be as yeah they could be as
clever as anything and and learning all these things and and actually it's kind of good for
nothing really i used to say that a lot about my um my first class um they were year kind of age
11 to 16 i had them over five years and some of them are incredible at maths incredible but they
would never be able to get on a bus and buy a bus ticket they'd never be able to go to a shop
independently and and and gift coins and get change what they want they could do it over the table
they could do it over the table to the house going out coming they get times and
dust decimals and all these things they're incredible but what was i doing all that for
if i wasn't also working on their independence and social skills and and um confidence and
self-esteem and all those things that we put second actually enable the children to use the
skills they're learning yeah i mean there's some there's some stuff isn't there that we can't
assess curriculum wise that just means so much more and meaningful to the to the child for their
own independence and and life skills isn't it and i i remember a student in particular i ended up
having it for three years but it took a year it took the first year just to get her head out of
my chest because she that's her that was her safe space the majority of the time she would just come
to me bury herself in me and it would just take so long to get her just to sit down two minutes away
from me and that's okay because you away from other people doesn't it that's a huge amount
it took but you know it's making sure it's okay to know that it takes time and a lot of patience
you know but all those skills that i couldn't assess on paper you know you know you know
curriculum wise but after the last it took a year but at the end of year we're like look how far
she's come yeah and then it was like kept up with yeah yeah at some time yeah yeah to to their own
um where they can yeah um uh since september we haven't had a teacher we are finally getting
our class teacher on wednesday wow this is for a specialist school any tips on what i could do to
help smooth the change of face this is really interesting isn't it because when i'm i've often
speak to teachers coming into classes and my answer is always um don't think you have to know
it all be lose your ego listen to the teaching assistants they know the children they know the
class they know what they've tried before don't come in bolshy and feel like you have to prove
yourself be humble and just take follow their lead is what i say to teachers but this is really
interesting we're not talking to the teachers it's the other way around so i mean i really hope that
you would have a really humble teacher come in and say help me yes but that's not always the way
because sometimes when we're feeling unsure and and we've got our own self-esteem stuff going on
and we don't know the children we feel a little bit you know like we should be knowing it you
might come in actually the opposite of humble we could have big egos and and want to stamp things
and and put our name to things and and make change and prove ourselves and that could be really
difficult as a supporting adult in a class when you know the children and you know and you know
how they work yeah like we're you know what three weeks in now so routines will start to be embedded
with the student so i think it's important for support staff to be able to tell this teacher who
comes in next week to go we are open to your ideas and your suggestions um at the moment since you
know since week one this is how we've been doing it we've noticed that there's a bit of you know
we need a bit of tweaking so your so your input is great yeah we're noticing this is really working
at the moment just making sure that the teachers you're sort of putting that right that we are aware
that you know you're going to bring things and brilliant we're open-minded um but if there's
some really important things that you think actually know this is working we really want then i
think you need to be open and honest with this team this is what we're noticing is working don't
be afraid to be open and honest yeah like i say support staff you're there every single day you
know i'm there four days a week my one-day paperwork so you're you know these these students a lot more
these little routines you know a lot more because i'm at my desk or doing other things yeah you know
so i always would say be open and honest yeah to this teacher and also and also just willing to try
it might be that her way sounds like a way you've tried before but it might be have a really subtle
difference that actually does support your students so it is about coming with humility coming um
um with no egos on your side but also advocating for the children at the end of the day isn't it
definitely yeah and and maybe asking for opportunities to meet together without the
children there okay it's always awkward you don't like talking about children in front of children
and all of that so if there's a carved out time also within those first crucial few days where you
can get together get your head right this is working this isn't what we're going to do about
this trying to keep consistency so that you're not all doing different things and have different
agendas trying to really keep that solid but it's it's hard for very established teams um
but the fact you've asked this question i think it's wonderful yeah that says all i need to know
about this wonderful class yes yeah definitely good luck yeah exactly um and actually i often say just
the fact that my the algorithm has put you on in me in front of you says all i need to know
you're searching the right things all the right time okay my my child is seven very smart but
won't sit down in class um but uh excels in occupational therapy and speech therapy but
they won't sit down in class wow i mean excels in ot brilliant then you know it's a self-regulating
thing isn't it that you're just gonna have to really slowly start introducing the chair
but allowing that student to have that that space um where they're put in the room is going to be a
big factor you know obviously if they're at the front of the room and if you're trying to get
them to sit down then of course that's going to disrupt others um so maybe watch out where
you're placing the student maybe at the back of the room and so there is space for him to
sort of run up and down um uh and have regular regular breaks regular breaks having one of the
I love the spiky cushions they're still moving on that chair um yeah can you do can you do work
standing up i mean yeah that's what i was gonna say maybe work standing up or maybe how long is
he being asked to sit down for yes what you know pinpoint exactly when actually you do want him to
be able to sit down i mean say work standing up in my classroom i think the only thing we make
them sit down i mean god you know me i don't make them do anything but they're not going to be able
to do anything but they encourage them to sit down is when they're eating yes because there's
a safety element there um it's for no other reason than safety um but yeah they do their work station
standing up they can do their work standing up they can join attention autism standing up or
pacing or whatever but when they're my first the first time i would ask them to sit down or
model sitting down with them would be to eat i think i think that's that feels different to me
that walking eating thing there is other things going on there isn't there and it's not back in
the day if you were to ask me even to you know year two years ago this question i possibly would
have said oh how about giving a timer but you know i've just learned now through everyone on
instagram with their amazing ideas and inspiration that actually doing that is counterproductive in a
way because you can't like i say you got a timer you put it on for 30 seconds you can't you know
you can't make it like you said you can't make a child sit down you can't force a child to sit down
and then if you lose that first minute you know they get up after 10 seconds of your
footment time you've lost it already you've lost what they're trying to do and then what you're
going to do restrain them like it's pointless but it was it was interesting i was thinking
yeah back in the day i would have said oh time running work on building it up but actually
no you know i get rid of i get rid of and i suppose maybe maybe they're sitting down for
a fun activity like my kids they never sit for 40 minutes but yesterday friday lunchtime i got slime
out and four of my learners out of 10 were sat for 40 minutes over their lunch break they could
choose to get up whenever they wanted using slides that might be a really great way of
practicing the art of sitting is by providing something that makes them want to and if it's
feet you know if it's in terms of moving your feet you know sitting on a bouncy ball at the table
or you know sitting on something else as well or like you say having something that they can
tap their feet on a stepper sometimes that one they're still moving and obviously in the
ferro bands yes on the leg yeah you exercise on the legs yeah and you put them on the tear legs
and then you can bounce your feet or or legs um against them or you can stretch your feet up
against it um yeah there's oh and wobble cushions i don't always sit on them but sometimes um i put
them under their feet i'm just gonna say on the ground that works really well doesn't it
uh vibration cushions as well gives lovely movement if they can either sit on them or lean back on them
there's lots of ways of getting movement when you're sat and maybe that's a good thing as well
to look into um there's another one here i just seen it uh which i thought was worth mentioning
it's not a question but it's worth mentioning i attended a talk from a young autistic lady
she explained a massive meltdown when she was um non-speaking as someone had changed the
color of their front door on her daily route and the frustration she felt yeah i think we can learn
a lot from autistic um uh speakers and i've seen a few and i always leave feeling um really like i
i i always leave feeling like i understand just a little bit more but also there's remind a lovely
reminder that i've still got so much more to learn um and um it's a really amazing insight into what
our non-speaking learners might be feeling obviously it's not guaranteed no one knows but
um one of the speakers it's always sat with me said that her skin on her on her head or his sorry
his skin on his head is as sensitive as his eyeball and that is why he doesn't like to um have it
shaved can you imagine like shaving your eye eyeball no wonder he doesn't want it to be
safe that sits with you you can't hear that and work with autistic people and not think but what
if they all are and of course like maybe they're not but what if they are like what gives you that
bit more awareness and compassion for those children that strip their clothes all the time
what if their skin is as sensitive as an eyeball i wouldn't want clothes touching my eyeball either
you know and it's almost best to assume that it is because it just gives so much more understanding
they're not being awkward it's not bad behavior it's not a choice these senses are so heightened
or you know seeking or whatever there is real reason and these speaking autistic um adults that
are doing these incredible talks putting themselves out there can't put stone and sharing this
knowledge at the forefront of us understanding and doing better really absolutely and and just
what you've just said there were the lady that pinned about the you know the color door you
underestimate how many things in their day before they come into school that could really upset them
you know it breaks it breaks my heart for example where i know we've got a lot of students where
you know we've got a massive shortage of school escorts on many buses and how many times there's
been no escort on the bus or um you know change of face and everything or in a taxi you know and it
just breaks your heart thinking well you know would you want your 11 year old had to go on us on a taxi
without that familiar comfort face you know to being a new driver a stranger going to school
but it's all those other things you know in a traffic jam and everything you just realize
yeah i always like to think if if something's changed in their school routine for example they
don't go up to the field because it's wet play for example i like to assume that my learners then
think but does that mean i then don't go home does that mean i don't have lunch does that mean
i don't have dinner does that mean i don't see my mom and dad ever again like we know of course those
things aren't happening of course they're still it's just a wet field it will be fine tomorrow
let's assume that they don't know those things let's talk them through it let's have a visual
schedule i mean that's what's so important about visual schedule is that it makes it concrete they
can say oh it is wet play but then i'm still going home oh okay okay um some of my learners only have
the next few um uh jobs on their visual schedule some children have to lunch time but one of mine
it's really important that he sees home on the schedule so we have it as long as the wall it's
about two meters long this thing everything he does that day and it's really important that we
think really carefully i've been ages doing it thinking right how are they listening i'm gonna
go through this we can't have home time at 12 o'clock you know um it's about two meters long
but because he's so important that he has to see home on there because without that he genuinely
thinks he's not getting home i mean it's really important to him and after that he's and he's
happy with with with assuming that mom knows um what happens after home but he needs to see that
on there it's really important to him and i guess that just comes with mileage and time and experimenting
with these new children i suppose and having compassion that you know when they get upset
you know because you know swimming's been cancelled you know i'd be upset too and it's very quick for
for for staff to think you know come on it's okay you know calm down calm down no let them be unhappy
because i'm unhappy too with my favorite activity name that um yeah name that emotion as well yeah
and feel it let them feel it let them think like on your symbols on your tablet are we sad
yeah exactly tones out and we had it um i've just moved um classrooms so we had two year sixes that
didn't get a year seven place so we've kept them and made a new classroom for them um so i'm now
full time okay okay it's the best hobby ever um and um but we were in the playground and he saw
he hadn't seen one of our ta's from the other class yet you know not purposely you just haven't
seen them in ages and he got really upset and rather than being like oh separate them oh that's
really sad i said no come in and she said and she said i miss you too um this classroom's really
lovely you know they were talking though he's not speaking which was talking and saying you know
i'll see you i'll see you on the playground and then after um she left we found her picture on his
tablet from last year and we were talking about her and that we're sad because we miss her and
and it was a really really important moment it wasn't easy he was incredibly distressed it was
heartbreaking to see of course we wanted to just fix it for him pack it up and distract him but
actually in that moment what was best was just to be sad together and and it's a it's a lesson in
grief almost isn't it he was grieving that he he adores her and he wasn't going to see her and i
think seeing her reminded him that he was sad about that we got a passion and empathy and i think
you know school is their safe it has to be a safe place it's not just about learning you know school
has to be a place where they feel secure and safe and you've got to do as much as you can to put
that in place and i think it leads on well to something that i think you've pinned now
is have do you have any advice for anxious for an anxious child not wanting to attend school so many
so many and i know i mean my advice first thing is um whether it's their own child is or or you
notice that no child in your class is just trying to work out what it is that is causing that anxiety
is it something that's happening on the transition is it something that's happening at school um take
the learning out of the equation at the moment we need to make sure this this person is feeling safe
at school and obviously at the moment they're not and it's trying to identify definitely and
i'm assuming um if they're a parent it's advocating for them and almost fight in their corner room
look can we just not wear uniform can we just um come an hour late and just come for half an hour
can they just see work with this teacher in the corridor under the table can they just wear
you know trainers and bring their teddies can they uh i've got a student with that comes in with a
blanket over their head yeah i've got somebody comes in with a dressing gown dark glasses with a
rag yeah whatever what what does it bother me if i try what why doesn't bother me it doesn't you
know but you know some people aren't very that's not what we should be doing no yeah you know
maybe we're trying table um desirable for them um maybe they just join pe if that's their thing
and then we work up from there backwards chain it you know just do the do start with the things
that you know they can achieve um and then hopefully they build confidence and we build
confidence because often they're feeling the parents anxiety because there's so much pressure
because they've got to go to work and then the the teacher's anxiety because they've got to keep
them here because mom said we can't call her because she's at work today whatever you know
there's so much anxiety around it that's not even anything to do with the child let's let's see what
works let's see how we can work with that because otherwise the alternative is they will be hiring
all the time if we can get them into school even for half an hour at first and work and then build
on that that would be good but but have it be because of the child's best interest to have
half an hour be at half an hour at school it's not because it's in the school's best interest
no let me be really clear about that this is the child leading the time and the child leading the
timetable not the the staff can't cope for more than half an hour that's not what i'm talking
about that is that's another that's a whole different thing if the child can only cope with
short stints certain lessons certain teachers certain areas start there take the demand off
definitely yeah and it might just be the transition alone is enough so it might just be
the first few days of just driving to the gate giving a high five to the teacher and going home
again and that is seen as a success absolutely um yeah i've i've had a couple of um refusers that
have dropped siblings off and then and expected to go home again or um and and it ended up as it was
too loud in class or it's too busy or they weren't being seen heard played with understood they wanted
a break from their sibling you know there's so many reasons why they'd want to and it's just
about unpicking that isn't it and again like we started right at the beginning creating that
heaven for them creating that that amazing environment that of course they want to be in
and feel safe in and yeah if you're a parent you could know all of this stuff and you're like yeah
i know but the school aren't listening hammer hammer the school with with information you know
keep keep at it you know i mean that you know you always hear you know staff saying we've got a
difficult parent here and it's like no no no they're advocating and you know yeah i always
say to parents don't worry about being that parent no no that's the only way to get things done and
actually um and actually part of the role of the sen parent you find you don't choose this role but
you kind of find yourself in this never-ending fight basically and unfortunately that yeah that
does come with the role and and lots of you do it incredibly well it's unfortunately it should be
it shouldn't be the case but it is yeah it's always a fight isn't it for parents and it's yeah it
breaks your heart i don't you know we know that the system's broken at the moment but yeah i always
think you know if i've got a parent who i know of who's you know managed to win this support and
get this access to this and that's it and my response was good for them yeah yeah absolutely
good for them yeah and can i email them to find out how yeah i've done it before actually um
if i hear a parent that's you know written this letter whatever and got funding or got this um
open the doors for something that they couldn't or whatever i say can i see your your email thread
can you forward it to me because and do you mind if i share it with other parents that are in a
similar situation to you and very rarely would they say no because they know exactly where they're at
um i did it with my year sevens and that didn't have the school place um the child before in our
class and our school didn't have a year seven place and they his parents sent me everything
there was legal statements there was the people cc didn't do it all need to do you know it just
makes it so much easier doesn't it if we're all kind of helping each other out in that way um
um yeah but you're right it's a shame that we have to do it in the first place yeah um okay i
think this might be our last one um go for it maybe you pick one and i pick one yeah i've got one to
finish up yeah you go okay okay um what advice do you have for when a child starts to recognize
their differences to their peers are a self-conscious of it um they don't want differentiated work or
they don't want to wear ear defenders or they don't want a fidget um i i personally use my
supporting adults so not not to mock or mimic but genuinely my supporting adults in my class
um are neurodivergent so i've got some adults that um like fidgets i've got some adults that
need weighted blankets i've got some adults that find noise overwhelming so we model the strategies
that we would want our children to use ear defenders weighted blankets fidget tools um
taking a break and saying but saying it verbally um refusing consent when i ask them if they want
to have a turn in attention autism if they don't want a turn they say no thank you and stay in
their seat it's i think utilizing those supporting adults as models to genuinely meet their needs not
i mean fake it too i suppose but actually it's even more powerful if they genuinely have those
needs um and but avoiding the whys and what they're doing then the children might it might
embed a culture of this is actually perfectly okay and building the self-esteem of that child as well
isn't it i'll say yeah role modeling completely and knowing that it's okay and it's and you know
and it's so hard to it's easy to easy for me to say you know to boost their self-esteem and to
know that it's okay to be different because you know peer pressure you know growing up as a as a
young young person it's hard enough it's hard enough in this world anyway let alone when you're
aware i often say to people that um um i know non-speaking level three autism is a challenge
it comes with lots of its challenges but my heart always breaks for those that are different enough
but aware and aware of it to be aware that they're different and what they're missing out on
is heartbreaking and also they're so vulnerable because like the children in my class will always
have carers they'll always have advocates they'll always have people fighting their corner and
they'll always be so loved and always in a safe little bubble of love actually alongside all of
the other things they've got you know and got to deal with actually they're always in this safe
bubble of love often um however i'm attached to a mainstream school and i see learners with the same
diagnosis masking having to cope being treated as behavior struggling to make friends um struggling
to meet their needs struggling to communicate and my heart breaks it does it yeah and i think it was
also important it's not you know what advice do you have for the child it's for you know they are
who they are and that is okay right for everyone else it's time for you to learn empathy and
understanding about people around you and how everyone is different and that is okay so it's
not just about the child fitting in it's no no you fit around everyone else but you know and i've
always said i mean i did work my previous job was um an asd manager for a mainstream autism
and alongside a mainstream and i'll be honest with you i was there for two and a half years i set it
up and it was a massive challenge i was literally late late 20s and it was a big role to go to to be
it's a major role but what i found the most challenging was exactly what you just said i
found it heartbreaking that you know teenagers 13 year olds coming to me going i don't i know i'm
different and i don't and it yeah i used to come home and just be in tears because i just don't know
how to help them and i found that the most mental health mental health is the biggest risk for an
autism diagnosis but it was always but my my viewpoint was always right assemblies tutor time
every single day for these others for the other students in class use that you learn kindness
empathy yeah and it's shown they will follow the adults lead yes and it does work it did work every
day that's an activity learning that empathy and compassion for other people and the and so the
understanding when you saw because if they're seeing if if the students are seeing a child
getting told off or whatever for using their fidget or for making noises not giving eye contact
all of those things that we probably hear all the time they're going to learn that that's not
normal that's bad behavior these children are put on red and all of those things yeah it breathes a
culture of you must mask your needs doesn't it whereas actually if the teacher at the front
was supporting and assistants are supportive of it encouraging of it understanding of it it just
breeds a culture that that it's okay for everybody to meet their needs because let's face it even if
you're not haven't got sensory regulation needs if you've had some really bad news in the morning
or if you've had a really bad weekend or there's a safeguarding concern or whatever you might need a
fidget that day you might need more breaks that day and it's almost like reading the culture of
like we all go have these ties or we go through something we need something extra and we need to
yeah be empathetic of all those times but in the workplace too with with with staff to staff no
talking involved it needs to be it needs to be just part of the culture of the school i think yeah
okay your last question last one and it's not necessarily about students it's about being
teachers how to work how do you manage a work home balance yeah no i'm no i'm gonna be honest about
this i um send teaching i think we have a far better more realistic balance than mainstream i
have to say yeah um lots of the things i do out of work are choices they're the extras i feel like i
genuinely can do my day job in my hours and i don't think any not all teachers can say that
and that that's because of things like um i don't have 60 books to mark um all of my evidence is
taken with photos and ipads it is instant my planning is done once every six weeks
and then we repeat lots of things uh lots of my work tasks are actual resources so they are in
bags and i need to collect them all once and then it's done rather than paper photocopies you know
creating those kind of things um yeah so i would say in that sense it is better with time and i
think um yeah i think that's fair to say however it is more costly um i don't know menessian
teacher out there that doesn't you know spend their own money on their classroom because
because of that we can't just photocopy worksheets and print from twinkle it doesn't work like that
we have to have shaving foam fly swatters uh rice let's say food how many times you're on your
head the food i'll just add it in i know popcorn flour more weekly cooking lessons it all comes out
of you know um our very limited budget and then our pockets it does and it's one of the reasons
well the main reason why i started this account i'm going to be honest because i thought well i'm
doing all this stuff you know like let's find a way of funding the fun stuff i want to do all this
fun stuff with them but it's becoming unmanageable not so the job isn't unmanageable in time it's
unmanageable it's not all energy actually i've got enough energy to do it it's almost financially
unviable to to to do everything that i feel like the children deserve within the budget
um and that was why i started it at christmas um the budgets were getting tighter and tighter
and tighter we were losing more and more adults um we were talking about water bills and electricity
bills i thought i've been teaching for 15 years i've never been told about the electricity bill
like this is crazy i'm gonna do something about this i kind of took it on my own hands inside this
account and um yeah i'm fun in my own classroom pretty much but i'm really proud of it i'll say
the work you put into it certainly does show you have to but i want to it's a choice um but as far
as work-life balance goes i definitely it's my choice to work this hard um it's finally worked
for you isn't it i mean i'm at the moment i'm working full time i'm covering my job shows on
maternity and i'm i didn't want to get up from her because we worked so well together so i said well
i'll cover you until you're back and there's been times i'm just going why have i done that why have
i done that because i have found it with my two young children i have found it difficult yeah
i have you know i've owned up to that um but it's obviously making it to making time for you you know
i know sunday morning i just went i'm off for a couple of hours you're making a lot of resources
you're constantly making i did it again that's a choice because i do find that relaxing hobby
yeah and i you know i do i love you know i do love sort of making resources knowing that it'll make
you know what what you can do so that again that's a choice yeah and again i go through phases there
are times where i'm just like that laptop can go away in the evening yeah i'm not doing it and that
is important to do i feel like lots of um send teachers that um are good at the job it is their
it's their special interest it certainly is for me my classroom is my special interest
organizing my classroom creating visuals for my classroom um organizing attention autism stuff
my classroom planning is my special interest i genuinely love it i choose you know when my
husband's surfing and um playing games on his laptop i don't get my laptop out and start working
because i have to it's it's because i genuinely really enjoy it and that's probably not helping
me i mean yeah my husband worked away the other night and i thought let's get the laptop out then
i'll just you know make some make some stuff up i guess it's quite a creative job isn't it it's um
i could i could um spend time creating new interactive games i could spend time making
new like little resources i could put together a sensory massage story like yesterday morning i
was up really early couldn't sleep so i made a sensory massage story for black history month
and i love it it's really proud i chose music for it i'm really proud of it but it's like i didn't
have to do that that wasn't something that was on my to-do list but i really enjoy it and i guess
there's enough um variety within what we what we could do to kind of keep it interesting i guess
but yeah i'm not gonna lie either i've gone from q days to full time and i cried four times on
wednesday yeah you can tell in one of my videos actually i'm not going to tell you which one it
is but there is a video that came out this week and you can tell i've been crying yeah i was
gonna go yeah second day second day back in term i just had a bit of a meltdown i'm gonna have a
full of cold anyway back to school cold everyone's ill you're running down and that you know and it's
okay isn't it and it's important to let people know that not every day at school is going to be
perfect they're only coming to ingrid write that off write that off no if sensory class and mrs
priceless can admit to crying then everyone could cry because we care so much right exactly exactly
so now i think it's this case of be kind to yourself and just doing what works for you i mean
personally i tend to plan i i before kids i used to lock myself away for about a week in the summer
holidays and let my planning so i could have the rest of the holidays to myself uh with two young
kids i can't really do that now but i would work solidly every evening um from seven to eleven
every night for about three weeks to try and get that done because the holidays because the holidays
i want that's my time yeah and yeah i don't like working over christmas so i'm already starting
now thinking of my planning up until easter because i want christmas that is a really good
point isn't it it's don't judge somebody on the chapter you walked in on isn't it so people might
see my account and think how did she do it all and feel worse for themselves i don't have children
at home for firstly like that gives a lot of extra hours let me tell you a lot so don't judge your
time on mine or maybe i just work two days teach two days a week and you're judging yourself when
you teach five days and you have three children under 10 you know like so just be kind to yourself
and actually maybe that's just not your priority maybe that's not your special interest that's
perfectly okay it's actually perfectly okay to just do your contract hours just do your
contract job be kind do your best and go home yeah like it's actually okay in no other profession
would that not be okay exactly it's not to be like yeah i'm a postman but i do overtime all the time
i'm up at 3am and if i'm up in it for an hour then i start doing my post route no no ridiculous
no it just shows how much you care though for people who worry about stuff like that because
it just you know in this job it's it's always at the back of your mind isn't it a job like this
work is always there but it is so important to switch you know to learn how to switch off and
it's okay to do that i've i had a lecture from my social worker the other day because we're foster
carers and she said you need to learn how to switch off you need to do something for yourself
so maybe i should take the advice yeah and find something practical that's a good one yeah
it's easier said than done isn't it on that note of crying four times on wednesday i'm gonna
end this life i have some time with my husband um i've loved so much for joining me kate oh
it's been so lovely and thank you for inviting me i've absolutely loved it i love your page i
love everything that you do so i know keep on going because i think you've got a great community
on your page that just love what you do and it's really positive i love this um audience of it just
feels like a bubble of love like whenever i like hear the news or any horrible stories of things
that are happening i just kind of come here to my safety my pocket it feels like a really safe
staff room or like in my pocket on my phone which is it's lovely isn't it and also all the teachers
are so supportive of each other there's no competition it's just so wonderful all in the same
boat forever learning forever sharing absolutely amen um