WEBVTT 00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:02.680 Hi, my name is Jordan. I am a special education 00:00:02.680 --> 00:00:06.160 teacher from the UK. I share my passion for everything 00:00:06.160 --> 00:00:09.119 communication, sensory regulation and fun lesson 00:00:09.119 --> 00:00:11.660 ideas for my classroom of disabled pupils aged 00:00:11.660 --> 00:00:15.300 4 to 11. Each week I am joined by experts in 00:00:15.300 --> 00:00:17.640 the field answering your questions and sharing 00:00:17.640 --> 00:00:19.559 our knowledge and experience working alongside 00:00:19.559 --> 00:00:22.559 our beautiful young people. Let's get started. 00:00:27.980 --> 00:00:29.879 Hello everybody and welcome back to the Sensory 00:00:29.879 --> 00:00:33.159 Classroom podcast. Today I am joined by Amy Stephens 00:00:33.159 --> 00:00:36.020 -Magpie and she is a speech and language therapist, 00:00:36.159 --> 00:00:39.600 although has dabbled into the world of sensory 00:00:39.600 --> 00:00:41.820 integration as well. She's kind of two in one 00:00:41.820 --> 00:00:44.659 with Amy and I'm really excited to speak to her 00:00:44.659 --> 00:00:46.659 about sensory integration in the classroom today. 00:00:46.939 --> 00:00:49.259 Hello Amy. Hi, it's lovely to be here. Thank 00:00:49.259 --> 00:00:51.979 you so much for asking me to come along. Of course, 00:00:52.000 --> 00:00:54.100 I saw a good few of your videos. I think Instagram 00:00:54.100 --> 00:00:56.719 knew that we would get along because... I had 00:00:56.719 --> 00:00:59.140 one week where I was bombarded with all your 00:00:59.140 --> 00:01:02.399 videos and I thought, hello, I like this. This 00:01:02.399 --> 00:01:04.819 feels good to me. This feels like how I want 00:01:04.819 --> 00:01:07.719 to work and what I want to do. My audience won't 00:01:07.719 --> 00:01:09.560 need to hear this. So I'm really pleased that 00:01:09.560 --> 00:01:13.359 you, I'm really pleased you're here. Excellent. 00:01:13.480 --> 00:01:15.840 So I've kind of done a very mini introduction, 00:01:16.000 --> 00:01:17.500 but would you like to introduce yourself? Because 00:01:17.500 --> 00:01:19.560 speech and language therapist and sensory integration 00:01:19.560 --> 00:01:21.939 together, that sounds really exciting. Yeah. 00:01:22.060 --> 00:01:27.609 Okay. Well, so I am Amy Stephens. Yay! So kind 00:01:27.609 --> 00:01:30.129 of the way that you kind of introduced that, 00:01:30.170 --> 00:01:33.489 Jordan, I think is really a useful place to start 00:01:33.489 --> 00:01:36.629 because that's one of the biggest misconceptions 00:01:36.629 --> 00:01:40.370 about sensory integration. So one of the biggest 00:01:40.370 --> 00:01:43.810 misconceptions is that somehow it is synonymous 00:01:43.810 --> 00:01:46.930 with occupational therapy or that it's the exclusive 00:01:46.930 --> 00:01:50.269 preserve of occupational therapy. And it is not. 00:01:50.329 --> 00:01:54.000 Sensory integration. as a concept, as a way of 00:01:54.000 --> 00:01:56.700 working, as a way of including people is for 00:01:56.700 --> 00:02:00.019 everyone. Every single person must be, should 00:02:00.019 --> 00:02:02.319 be included in sensory integration. There isn't 00:02:02.319 --> 00:02:06.299 a kind of, I'm not sensory, everybody's in. Within 00:02:06.299 --> 00:02:08.639 the formal training and formal qualifications, 00:02:08.939 --> 00:02:12.479 it is the case and has been for a long time that 00:02:12.479 --> 00:02:14.699 occupational therapists, speech and language 00:02:14.699 --> 00:02:19.439 therapists and physiotherapists can train. So 00:02:19.439 --> 00:02:22.610 my training as an advanced practitioner, in sensory 00:02:22.610 --> 00:02:25.830 integration is exactly the same as an occupational 00:02:25.830 --> 00:02:27.669 therapist or a physiotherapist who's trained 00:02:27.669 --> 00:02:30.110 in it. I'm trained to the same level with the 00:02:30.110 --> 00:02:32.669 same things. And in fact, in these, you know, 00:02:32.689 --> 00:02:33.990 for most of the people who are training in the 00:02:33.990 --> 00:02:36.710 UK, the course they take now to train, I wrote 00:02:36.710 --> 00:02:39.110 that course, but I was the first speech and language 00:02:39.110 --> 00:02:42.849 therapist to formally train as, and that advanced 00:02:42.849 --> 00:02:45.430 level. In America, there'd been other speech 00:02:45.430 --> 00:02:48.490 therapists before, and in the UK and in Ireland, 00:02:48.590 --> 00:02:51.189 other speech therapists who were getting it. 00:02:51.680 --> 00:02:54.719 who wanted to work in a neuroaffirming way, who 00:02:54.719 --> 00:02:58.159 wanted to understand how sensory was part of 00:02:58.159 --> 00:03:00.340 what the children and adults they were supporting 00:03:00.340 --> 00:03:02.659 were doing. So there were already people doing 00:03:02.659 --> 00:03:05.539 it. That was part of my clinical work too. You 00:03:05.539 --> 00:03:07.360 know, I could see there was a missing piece and 00:03:07.360 --> 00:03:09.539 I was lucky enough to work with an OT who was 00:03:09.539 --> 00:03:12.659 doing sensory integration and that led me to 00:03:12.659 --> 00:03:15.949 explore more. And I was the first. as I said, 00:03:16.009 --> 00:03:17.530 the first speech and language therapist in the 00:03:17.530 --> 00:03:20.430 world to formally qualify as an advanced practitioner 00:03:20.430 --> 00:03:24.069 in ASSI. Okay, let's talk about what that looks 00:03:24.069 --> 00:03:27.710 like then. So you're working with a young person. 00:03:28.349 --> 00:03:31.949 How do the two come together in that beautiful, 00:03:32.150 --> 00:03:35.210 affirming way? Yeah, so it's the same thing. 00:03:35.289 --> 00:03:37.669 It is the same thing. So sensory integration 00:03:37.669 --> 00:03:41.389 is the framework that allows me to look at what's 00:03:41.389 --> 00:03:44.270 going on. So when we say sensory integration, 00:03:44.669 --> 00:03:48.310 What we mean is this person, this young person, 00:03:48.430 --> 00:03:52.430 this older person, they have a brain and a nervous 00:03:52.430 --> 00:03:56.849 system which has wired up to respond to the environment 00:03:56.849 --> 00:04:00.930 in specific ways. And when there's a mismatch 00:04:00.930 --> 00:04:04.030 between this young person's environment, the 00:04:04.030 --> 00:04:06.009 young person's nervous system and the environment 00:04:06.009 --> 00:04:09.210 and the demands or the task, that's where the 00:04:09.210 --> 00:04:11.930 issue is. It's not that there's something wrong 00:04:11.930 --> 00:04:14.449 with them or wrong with their nervous system. 00:04:14.729 --> 00:04:17.790 It's they have a differently wired nervous system 00:04:17.790 --> 00:04:21.069 where when there's a mismatch, that's where the 00:04:21.069 --> 00:04:23.670 issue is. So how does that show up for speech, 00:04:23.750 --> 00:04:26.889 language and communication? If you want to be 00:04:26.889 --> 00:04:29.910 part of any kind of engagement with somebody 00:04:29.910 --> 00:04:33.589 else, you first of all need to feel safe. And 00:04:33.589 --> 00:04:35.389 second of all, you need to understand what the 00:04:35.389 --> 00:04:38.920 heck is going on. So that piece is the sensory 00:04:38.920 --> 00:04:41.800 integration piece. Feeling safe, understanding 00:04:41.800 --> 00:04:45.220 what's going on and then being able to make use 00:04:45.220 --> 00:04:48.439 of the opportunities. Right. It's what speech 00:04:48.439 --> 00:04:50.279 language therapy is. It's also what learning 00:04:50.279 --> 00:04:53.579 is. Yeah. Regulation before communication. Sure. 00:04:53.639 --> 00:04:56.680 Nobody can speak their best speak, however vocal 00:04:56.680 --> 00:04:59.060 you are, if you're being chased by a tiger. And 00:04:59.060 --> 00:05:00.920 often that's how our children feel, isn't it? 00:05:00.939 --> 00:05:03.100 In those environments that aren't matched for 00:05:03.100 --> 00:05:07.180 them. Absolutely. One of the things I say a lot, 00:05:07.279 --> 00:05:10.379 Jordan, is that a really good way to think of 00:05:10.379 --> 00:05:13.060 this is that your brain is a sense -making machine. 00:05:13.600 --> 00:05:15.879 What does your brain want to do? It wants to 00:05:15.879 --> 00:05:18.939 make sense of what's happening. It will use whatever 00:05:18.939 --> 00:05:22.759 it can to make sense of what's happening. So 00:05:22.759 --> 00:05:27.100 if you feel physiologically unsafe or psychologically 00:05:27.100 --> 00:05:30.319 unsafe, your brain tells you this is not safe 00:05:30.319 --> 00:05:33.439 to be here. It is not safe to engage. You are 00:05:33.439 --> 00:05:36.379 in peril. Run away and save your life. And what 00:05:36.379 --> 00:05:38.319 do you do when you're in that fight, fright or 00:05:38.319 --> 00:05:42.259 flight mode? You run. You might hit out. You 00:05:42.259 --> 00:05:45.300 might hurt yourself. You might hurt others. You 00:05:45.300 --> 00:05:47.680 might fall to the floor. You might freeze. You 00:05:47.680 --> 00:05:51.519 might hide. All of those things that some people 00:05:51.519 --> 00:05:53.480 might be seeing in their classrooms or in their 00:05:53.480 --> 00:05:56.620 homes with, you know, people that are in their 00:05:56.620 --> 00:05:59.449 lives, their loved ones. That might be what you're 00:05:59.449 --> 00:06:03.290 seeing, but what's happening internally is exactly 00:06:03.290 --> 00:06:05.829 that, is that survival, I don't feel safe mode, 00:06:05.889 --> 00:06:09.290 isn't it? Absolutely. And I think, you know, 00:06:09.290 --> 00:06:12.110 particularly as a parent, it's so hard when your 00:06:12.110 --> 00:06:14.889 child is kind of lashing out in this kind of 00:06:14.889 --> 00:06:17.990 fight behaviours because you know they're safe 00:06:17.990 --> 00:06:21.230 and it's really hard to be in that place where 00:06:21.230 --> 00:06:24.009 you can't explain to them easily that they are 00:06:24.009 --> 00:06:27.170 safe. That actually, you know, it's kind of understanding 00:06:27.170 --> 00:06:30.509 that this is not anything you've done or not 00:06:30.509 --> 00:06:33.649 done. It's that their brain and their nervous 00:06:33.649 --> 00:06:36.689 system can't make sense of this environment, 00:06:36.829 --> 00:06:39.769 of this task, in a way which allows their body 00:06:39.769 --> 00:06:43.009 to go, right, what's on the plate? I suppose 00:06:43.009 --> 00:06:47.069 there's two different things. I'm thinking there's 00:06:47.069 --> 00:06:50.449 the moment when the child is in that crisis. 00:06:51.689 --> 00:06:54.089 how you respond will be maybe very differently 00:06:54.089 --> 00:06:57.730 than when they are regulated and what yeah what 00:06:57.730 --> 00:07:00.709 you can work on and what you can be like and 00:07:00.709 --> 00:07:04.550 how you can your yeah how you what your expectations 00:07:04.550 --> 00:07:06.750 of them as those can be very different can't 00:07:06.750 --> 00:07:08.589 it would you like to talk about that a little 00:07:08.589 --> 00:07:12.370 bit about capacity in those situations yeah for 00:07:12.370 --> 00:07:14.610 sure so that you know that first piece safety 00:07:14.610 --> 00:07:17.790 first safety first safety is the priority that 00:07:18.519 --> 00:07:21.759 When you're outside and you're seeing this, seeing 00:07:21.759 --> 00:07:25.879 this showing up in the classroom, at home, out 00:07:25.879 --> 00:07:28.819 in the street, out in the supermarket, once you 00:07:28.819 --> 00:07:33.100 step away from the label behavior, from the word 00:07:33.100 --> 00:07:36.839 behavior, and you look at it through the lens 00:07:36.839 --> 00:07:41.579 of, is this a child trying to feel safe, trying 00:07:41.579 --> 00:07:44.500 to make sense of what's happening, that puts 00:07:44.500 --> 00:07:47.939 you in a completely different place. in relationship 00:07:47.939 --> 00:07:50.800 to what you're seeing. So the compassion and 00:07:50.800 --> 00:07:54.220 love with which you then respond is in a completely 00:07:54.220 --> 00:07:56.740 different place. So I'm not saying it's never 00:07:56.740 --> 00:07:59.360 behavior. Sometimes it is, but actually that's 00:07:59.360 --> 00:08:02.139 communication. We'll go there in a minute. Talking 00:08:02.139 --> 00:08:05.680 about sensory peace, just that really core understanding 00:08:05.680 --> 00:08:08.779 that what you're seeing is a little brain and 00:08:08.779 --> 00:08:11.639 a little bit nervous system just trying to feel 00:08:11.639 --> 00:08:14.949 safe. just trying to make sense, it puts you 00:08:14.949 --> 00:08:18.350 in a place where you have so much to offer to 00:08:18.350 --> 00:08:21.649 create safety, so much to offer to create sense. 00:08:21.889 --> 00:08:25.189 That sense of, you know, that's all consuming, 00:08:25.310 --> 00:08:29.430 that sense of you cannot move past that, you 00:08:29.430 --> 00:08:32.789 can't short circuit it, you can't hurry it through, 00:08:32.970 --> 00:08:35.149 you can't decide that's enough, they're regulated 00:08:35.149 --> 00:08:39.820 now, until they're ready. Their brain is not 00:08:39.820 --> 00:08:42.440 going to be able to make use of anything else 00:08:42.440 --> 00:08:45.519 you've got to offer. So if you want a child to 00:08:45.519 --> 00:08:48.080 learn, if you want a child to thrive, if you 00:08:48.080 --> 00:08:51.500 want a child to engage, you have to invest in 00:08:51.500 --> 00:08:53.899 the relationship of making them feel safe in 00:08:53.899 --> 00:08:55.740 the moment. What kind of things would you be 00:08:55.740 --> 00:08:58.200 looking at in that moment? And I guess it's different 00:08:58.200 --> 00:09:00.860 for every person, of course. But what kind of 00:09:00.860 --> 00:09:03.370 things would you be curious about? What would 00:09:03.370 --> 00:09:06.490 your internal monologue be saying as you're trying 00:09:06.490 --> 00:09:08.929 to work through all of these things? That's a 00:09:08.929 --> 00:09:11.450 really good question. Of course, you know, for 00:09:11.450 --> 00:09:14.029 me, there's like, oh, here's what we ran down. 00:09:14.169 --> 00:09:17.110 So I guess, you know, for me, that first thing 00:09:17.110 --> 00:09:20.389 is kind of understanding its nervous system environment 00:09:20.389 --> 00:09:24.090 tasks. So the first thing I'm doing is, can we 00:09:24.090 --> 00:09:26.509 just hold off on the task, just hold off on the 00:09:26.509 --> 00:09:28.570 demand? Then I'm looking at the environment. 00:09:29.389 --> 00:09:32.149 What is there that in my knowledge of the child 00:09:32.149 --> 00:09:35.389 is making me think that actually this could be 00:09:35.389 --> 00:09:37.950 quite challenging? And, you know, often it's 00:09:37.950 --> 00:09:40.570 things that you overlook because you feel safe 00:09:40.570 --> 00:09:42.889 in the environment. So it's how bright are the 00:09:42.889 --> 00:09:45.830 lights? How strong are the smells? How close 00:09:45.830 --> 00:09:48.090 are people? What kind of textures do you have 00:09:48.090 --> 00:09:50.570 to deal with? What's the temperature like? All 00:09:50.570 --> 00:09:53.690 of those kind of physical... physical aspects 00:09:53.690 --> 00:09:56.470 of the environment and that's stuff that most 00:09:56.470 --> 00:09:59.529 of the time is relatively straightforward relatively 00:09:59.529 --> 00:10:04.190 easy to address yeah i can and it's putting yourself 00:10:04.190 --> 00:10:07.049 in their shoes isn't it and to do that you need 00:10:07.049 --> 00:10:11.970 to know them so i suppose this also goes along 00:10:11.970 --> 00:10:14.529 with building trust and relationships doesn't 00:10:14.529 --> 00:10:16.549 it and really getting to know them and getting 00:10:16.549 --> 00:10:18.269 to know the people who know them best which is 00:10:18.269 --> 00:10:21.429 often the parents and the caregivers asking them 00:10:21.429 --> 00:10:23.830 you know what do they see what is happy to them 00:10:23.830 --> 00:10:26.950 what is heaven to them and what is nightmare 00:10:26.950 --> 00:10:30.330 what is hell to them i suppose and and kind of 00:10:30.330 --> 00:10:32.990 trying to piece together ah you know it might 00:10:32.990 --> 00:10:35.149 have been the lights because it's a certain flicker 00:10:35.149 --> 00:10:38.149 or it might have been this certain perfume and 00:10:38.149 --> 00:10:41.049 then you can kind of working together can work 00:10:41.049 --> 00:10:43.370 out the why and again it's just a hypothesis 00:10:43.370 --> 00:10:45.889 we were talking about this the other week then 00:10:45.889 --> 00:10:48.269 you've got to test it Haven't you? Because we 00:10:48.269 --> 00:10:50.330 can come up with the best hypotheses, can't we? 00:10:50.590 --> 00:10:53.250 Often in meetings and things. And we think, yep, 00:10:53.309 --> 00:10:56.250 we've got it. But you have to test it because 00:10:56.250 --> 00:11:00.409 it is just a theory until you've seen, isn't 00:11:00.409 --> 00:11:03.129 it? Yeah, for sure. And I think that's where, 00:11:03.149 --> 00:11:06.730 for me, sensory integration is so interesting. 00:11:07.110 --> 00:11:09.809 Really interesting. Because on surface level, 00:11:09.889 --> 00:11:12.570 it's so straightforward. It's so simple. But 00:11:12.570 --> 00:11:14.710 then the minute you get underneath that kind 00:11:14.710 --> 00:11:17.519 of surface level... There's so much potential 00:11:17.519 --> 00:11:21.559 complexity there. And one of the pieces that 00:11:21.559 --> 00:11:25.220 it took me a long time to click with is that 00:11:25.220 --> 00:11:27.299 what's happening with this brain and this nervous 00:11:27.299 --> 00:11:30.320 system in this environment is it's contextual. 00:11:30.379 --> 00:11:33.580 It's what's happening in this context right now. 00:11:33.860 --> 00:11:38.179 It may be that in other situations a similar 00:11:38.179 --> 00:11:41.000 kind of sensory environment seems absolutely 00:11:41.000 --> 00:11:44.240 fine to this person. It isn't all or nothing. 00:11:44.399 --> 00:11:46.960 It's in the moment. And that's why sometimes 00:11:46.960 --> 00:11:49.519 assessment can be tricky because assessments 00:11:49.519 --> 00:11:53.559 lose the context. And I think one of the things 00:11:53.559 --> 00:11:55.539 where that often leads me kind of in the work 00:11:55.539 --> 00:11:58.399 that I do with schools and with families is starting 00:11:58.399 --> 00:12:01.600 from that place of, you know what this child 00:12:01.600 --> 00:12:05.519 looks like when they feel calm, when they feel 00:12:05.519 --> 00:12:09.539 secure, when they feel happy. So even before 00:12:09.539 --> 00:12:12.710 you try and work out how to get them there. Do 00:12:12.710 --> 00:12:15.409 you understand where you're trying to get to? 00:12:15.470 --> 00:12:18.789 Do you have a sense of what this will look like 00:12:18.789 --> 00:12:22.740 when we get there? This is me, Flo Longhorn's 00:12:22.740 --> 00:12:24.779 Happiness Audit. I don't know if you've ever 00:12:24.779 --> 00:12:27.039 used that. I know it, but I haven't used it. 00:12:27.100 --> 00:12:28.960 Flo Longhorn is just fabulous, isn't she? If 00:12:28.960 --> 00:12:31.000 you haven't heard of her, look her up. She's 00:12:31.000 --> 00:12:32.600 fabulous. She's got some amazing books and things. 00:12:32.700 --> 00:12:34.779 I think she's, since retirement, is now offering 00:12:34.779 --> 00:12:36.820 all of her books and resources for free, which 00:12:36.820 --> 00:12:38.879 is just amazing. What a wonderful woman. But 00:12:38.879 --> 00:12:40.440 she's created something called the Happiness 00:12:40.440 --> 00:12:44.419 Audit, and it's auditing happiness, what happiness 00:12:44.419 --> 00:12:47.960 looks like for the person that you are working 00:12:47.960 --> 00:12:50.850 with. and it goes through all of the senses but 00:12:50.850 --> 00:12:53.789 also yeah environmental sounds friends family 00:12:53.789 --> 00:12:56.389 what does happiness look like and i suppose that's 00:12:56.389 --> 00:12:58.529 a really great starting point isn't it of knowing 00:12:58.529 --> 00:13:01.710 that um we give the sheets out to the parents 00:13:01.710 --> 00:13:04.149 actually when with for our new starters so that 00:13:04.149 --> 00:13:06.490 we know what we're working towards you know is 00:13:06.490 --> 00:13:10.360 this happiness for them what actually And it's 00:13:10.360 --> 00:13:13.460 great because you could use that to inform motivators 00:13:13.460 --> 00:13:16.159 and environments and where they want to be in 00:13:16.159 --> 00:13:17.840 the classroom and all of those things. So, yeah, 00:13:17.879 --> 00:13:20.419 happiness is a really wonderful resource for 00:13:20.419 --> 00:13:23.639 measuring that happiness. That's such a great 00:13:23.639 --> 00:13:26.860 idea. And one of the things that I love about 00:13:26.860 --> 00:13:31.840 your work as well, Jordan, is that works when 00:13:31.840 --> 00:13:35.980 it lands in an environment where there's an expectation 00:13:35.980 --> 00:13:39.220 that... We are going to be working to what this 00:13:39.220 --> 00:13:42.919 child needs and wants, you know, not to indulge 00:13:42.919 --> 00:13:44.899 them, but because that's what allows them to 00:13:44.899 --> 00:13:47.879 thrive. That's what allows them to learn. So 00:13:47.879 --> 00:13:50.179 we're not trying to make them look like, be like, 00:13:50.259 --> 00:13:53.059 do like some other version of another child. 00:13:53.500 --> 00:13:56.340 We want them to be fully themselves and secure 00:13:56.340 --> 00:13:59.379 in ways that allow them and others to learn. 00:13:59.580 --> 00:14:02.179 Yeah, I suppose so often in classrooms, we're 00:14:02.179 --> 00:14:04.960 asking the young person to be the flexible one. 00:14:05.559 --> 00:14:08.320 aren't we whereas actually the affirming approach 00:14:08.320 --> 00:14:12.000 i would say is that the environment and we need 00:14:12.000 --> 00:14:14.360 to be the flexible ones and mold ourselves around 00:14:14.360 --> 00:14:17.460 them and their needs and their wants and until 00:14:17.460 --> 00:14:19.860 they feel safe and you have a trusting relationship 00:14:19.860 --> 00:14:21.940 and then you can work a bit more collaboratively 00:14:21.940 --> 00:14:24.179 maybe maybe a bit of push and pull then you can 00:14:24.179 --> 00:14:27.080 mold each other which i love i love having those 00:14:27.080 --> 00:14:29.360 trusty relationships and you can really you can 00:14:29.360 --> 00:14:32.779 really play with that then but initially Of course 00:14:32.779 --> 00:14:35.080 it has to be us and our environments that mould 00:14:35.080 --> 00:14:40.139 around the children. Meet them where they're 00:14:40.139 --> 00:14:45.340 at, almost. Yeah, absolutely. Absolutely. You 00:14:45.340 --> 00:14:47.440 know, that piece you were talking about, that 00:14:47.440 --> 00:14:50.840 push and pull, that's negotiation. That is quite 00:14:50.840 --> 00:14:54.500 a high level. It's conversation. Communication. 00:14:55.120 --> 00:14:57.340 It is. And it's high level. I think that's the 00:14:57.340 --> 00:15:00.940 point. It is high level. And these children that 00:15:00.940 --> 00:15:04.779 are... globally, developmentally, cognitively 00:15:04.779 --> 00:15:12.000 disabled and aren't there yet in any area, especially 00:15:12.000 --> 00:15:14.559 if it's speech and language, why are we having 00:15:14.559 --> 00:15:17.679 that expectation that they can negotiate or understand 00:15:17.679 --> 00:15:21.659 and reason? Even if they're regulated, they might 00:15:21.659 --> 00:15:24.200 not be able to do that, let alone if they are 00:15:24.200 --> 00:15:30.879 in complete dysregulation. not safe ultimately 00:15:30.879 --> 00:15:33.299 none of us can negotiate when we're not feeling 00:15:33.299 --> 00:15:36.740 safe we've all got on that erratic moment where 00:15:36.740 --> 00:15:40.399 we kind of lose ourselves and afterwards we always 00:15:40.399 --> 00:15:42.840 think don't we I should have said this and I 00:15:42.840 --> 00:15:44.879 should have said this and oh my goodness I should 00:15:44.879 --> 00:15:47.539 have said this but we don't in the moment because 00:15:47.539 --> 00:15:50.919 you lose your ability to reason and negotiate 00:15:50.919 --> 00:15:55.259 when you're in that zone don't you Physiologically, 00:15:55.440 --> 00:15:58.799 absolutely yes. So what's happening at that point 00:15:58.799 --> 00:16:01.580 when you're in fight, flight, freeze is the part 00:16:01.580 --> 00:16:05.240 of your brain that is in charge of pumping out 00:16:05.240 --> 00:16:08.100 the hormones and the neurotransmitters are going 00:16:08.100 --> 00:16:10.480 to keep you safe. The part of your brain that's 00:16:10.480 --> 00:16:13.840 going to pump out adrenaline and cortisol to 00:16:13.840 --> 00:16:16.519 be able to run away and, you know, keep yourself 00:16:16.519 --> 00:16:21.570 safe, fight off, whatever. The brain doesn't 00:16:21.570 --> 00:16:25.110 allow you to do that lovely higher level frontal 00:16:25.110 --> 00:16:28.750 cortices. If I do this, what will be the consequences? 00:16:29.669 --> 00:16:31.970 Projecting myself forward through time to weigh 00:16:31.970 --> 00:16:34.330 it up. You have no access to that part of your 00:16:34.330 --> 00:16:36.730 brain. So when you're in fight, flight, freeze, 00:16:37.070 --> 00:16:38.929 fight, flight, freeze, and I'm going to add in 00:16:38.929 --> 00:16:41.070 fawn as well. So when you're in those states 00:16:41.070 --> 00:16:44.350 where you're trying to make yourself safe, that's... 00:16:44.539 --> 00:16:47.240 all that's available to you. None of that high 00:16:47.240 --> 00:16:51.000 -level language, negotiation, compromise, none 00:16:51.000 --> 00:16:53.399 of that's available to you. Yeah, so even if 00:16:53.399 --> 00:16:56.179 you understand those really complex social structures 00:16:56.179 --> 00:16:59.379 and communication, which is a huge ask anyway 00:16:59.379 --> 00:17:03.840 of any learner, let alone one neurodivergent 00:17:03.840 --> 00:17:06.259 and has all that kind of social dynamic stuff 00:17:06.259 --> 00:17:09.059 going on as well, even if they know all of that, 00:17:09.160 --> 00:17:11.140 if they're not feeling safe, they can't access 00:17:11.140 --> 00:17:14.190 it. I suppose that goes along with our adults 00:17:14.190 --> 00:17:16.369 as well in our room. Lots of our special education 00:17:16.369 --> 00:17:19.529 teachers not only support the children, but we've 00:17:19.529 --> 00:17:22.170 got a big team to manage as well. And I suppose 00:17:22.170 --> 00:17:24.329 this goes with them. If they're not feeling safe, 00:17:24.470 --> 00:17:26.750 they're also not going to be responding to the 00:17:26.750 --> 00:17:30.630 children in a reasonable way. They're not going 00:17:30.630 --> 00:17:32.750 to reason. They're not going to negotiate. They're 00:17:32.750 --> 00:17:35.190 not going to take a step back, going to be able 00:17:35.190 --> 00:17:38.180 to take a step back. and be curious, because 00:17:38.180 --> 00:17:40.779 they're also not feeling safe. They're also running 00:17:40.779 --> 00:17:43.660 on adrenaline. And I feel like as a manager of 00:17:43.660 --> 00:17:46.720 that team, that dynamic, that's what makes special 00:17:46.720 --> 00:17:50.619 education teachers work. You know, that's what 00:17:50.619 --> 00:17:52.960 makes the job. We don't have to do marketing. 00:17:53.039 --> 00:17:55.279 We don't have to take work home. But we do have 00:17:55.279 --> 00:17:59.039 to manage this environment of adults and children. 00:18:00.840 --> 00:18:04.180 and encourage that level of safety for everybody 00:18:04.180 --> 00:18:08.460 so that we can manage in a firming way. And I 00:18:08.460 --> 00:18:10.640 feel like that often gets missed and you can 00:18:10.640 --> 00:18:14.140 see why it does. Yeah, for sure, for sure. And 00:18:14.140 --> 00:18:15.420 I think, you know, when we're thinking about 00:18:15.420 --> 00:18:17.920 safety, we're thinking about teachers and we're 00:18:17.920 --> 00:18:20.480 thinking about TAs and all the stuff that's going 00:18:20.480 --> 00:18:23.180 on in the classroom. You know, that whole kind 00:18:23.180 --> 00:18:27.759 of call and pull on your own nervous system. 00:18:28.559 --> 00:18:31.700 That if you think about what that demands of 00:18:31.700 --> 00:18:35.059 you, it means that you are probably running on 00:18:35.059 --> 00:18:38.259 cortisol, running on that stress hormone day 00:18:38.259 --> 00:18:41.420 after day after day. And the knock on for you 00:18:41.420 --> 00:18:46.460 means because cortisol is a hormone that developed 00:18:46.460 --> 00:18:50.099 millennia ago in order to give you that little 00:18:50.099 --> 00:18:54.480 emergency power pack to get the rock out of your 00:18:54.480 --> 00:18:58.069 way to run away from the saber tooth tiger. If 00:18:58.069 --> 00:19:01.910 you're running on this all day, all night, week 00:19:01.910 --> 00:19:05.009 after week, term after term, it means you're 00:19:05.009 --> 00:19:07.049 not drinking enough water. You're not eating 00:19:07.049 --> 00:19:10.109 healthy food. You're not sleeping well. You're 00:19:10.109 --> 00:19:12.750 not replenishing your own relationships to support 00:19:12.750 --> 00:19:17.220 you. So how can you pour out from your cup? when 00:19:17.220 --> 00:19:20.259 the environment and the task that you're with 00:19:20.259 --> 00:19:22.500 is actually depleting your own nervous system. 00:19:22.720 --> 00:19:24.700 I could just feel every special education teacher 00:19:24.700 --> 00:19:27.720 and every SEN parent now just nodding because 00:19:27.720 --> 00:19:31.099 that's exactly what it feels like in a lot of 00:19:31.099 --> 00:19:33.700 ways. I mean, I have so much privilege that as 00:19:33.700 --> 00:19:37.099 a teacher in my position that I can teach two 00:19:37.099 --> 00:19:40.200 days a week. It means I can be my absolute best 00:19:40.200 --> 00:19:42.640 self. I can give it 100%. I can give it everything. 00:19:42.680 --> 00:19:46.069 I come in on a Thursday when they're... exhausted 00:19:46.069 --> 00:19:48.569 from three days I can come in and I am refreshed 00:19:48.569 --> 00:19:52.009 and I can be everything they need me to be for 00:19:52.009 --> 00:19:56.250 two days and then I get respite and I love that 00:19:56.250 --> 00:19:58.829 because I couldn't be the teacher I want to be 00:19:58.829 --> 00:20:01.430 on five days a week I know I couldn't so I really 00:20:01.430 --> 00:20:03.529 am grateful for the privilege of of being able 00:20:03.529 --> 00:20:06.710 to do that for two days um and if you are a full 00:20:06.710 --> 00:20:09.789 -time teacher I suppose what are the way what 00:20:09.789 --> 00:20:12.190 are ways what are ways that we can think of that 00:20:12.839 --> 00:20:14.480 and could support you if you're feeling that 00:20:14.480 --> 00:20:16.980 i suppose it's delegation um it doesn't always 00:20:16.980 --> 00:20:19.920 have to be you you know lean on your adults if 00:20:19.920 --> 00:20:22.779 you've got four or five adults in your room you 00:20:22.779 --> 00:20:25.339 know you can swap out too it doesn't always have 00:20:25.339 --> 00:20:28.819 to be you i'm a big advocate for me being the 00:20:28.819 --> 00:20:31.880 first one to say can we swap please or you know 00:20:31.880 --> 00:20:34.559 and be modeling that i think it's really important 00:20:35.180 --> 00:20:37.359 Yeah. And actually kind of, you know, being secure 00:20:37.359 --> 00:20:40.680 enough to understand that because everything 00:20:40.680 --> 00:20:45.240 comes from connection and safety is feeling grounded 00:20:45.240 --> 00:20:49.759 and secure and alert, it is absolutely okay just 00:20:49.759 --> 00:20:52.819 to prioritize connection. What are we doing here? 00:20:53.000 --> 00:20:55.599 We're not trying to bring in whistles and bells. 00:20:55.859 --> 00:20:59.259 We are just engaging with each other in ways 00:20:59.259 --> 00:21:03.319 that make us both feel safe. That's enough. That's 00:21:03.319 --> 00:21:06.720 learning. That's supporting growth and development 00:21:06.720 --> 00:21:09.359 and nurture. I get in trouble for this, but I 00:21:09.359 --> 00:21:11.220 had a meeting with my senior leadership team 00:21:11.220 --> 00:21:13.259 this week, actually. And she said, there are 00:21:13.259 --> 00:21:17.859 three hours in your day of no lessons. And I 00:21:17.859 --> 00:21:20.380 said, oh, but that's when we do our best learning. 00:21:20.519 --> 00:21:22.960 It might not be called English or maths or science, 00:21:23.180 --> 00:21:25.680 but that's when we learn. That's when we connect. 00:21:25.920 --> 00:21:28.619 That's when we regulate. That's when we have 00:21:28.619 --> 00:21:31.059 our best communication. That's when we have our 00:21:31.059 --> 00:21:33.829 best interaction. Please don't take that away. 00:21:34.109 --> 00:21:37.029 That there, what we need, that was what makes 00:21:37.029 --> 00:21:40.250 us great. That's what makes us be able to focus 00:21:40.250 --> 00:21:43.049 in those other three hours that are learning. 00:21:43.289 --> 00:21:45.369 And yeah, I feel like that's something that we 00:21:45.369 --> 00:21:48.410 all need to kind of really hold on tight to is 00:21:48.410 --> 00:21:52.809 that time to connect. It's precious. If I was 00:21:52.809 --> 00:21:54.549 to put another three hours of lessons in there 00:21:54.549 --> 00:21:57.130 and do six lessons a day, it wouldn't happen 00:21:57.130 --> 00:22:00.390 because we wouldn't be regulated. We wouldn't 00:22:00.390 --> 00:22:03.109 feel safe. We wouldn't be ready. We wouldn't 00:22:03.109 --> 00:22:06.130 build connections. Everything, everything would 00:22:06.130 --> 00:22:09.930 fall apart. We need those three hours throughout 00:22:09.930 --> 00:22:12.809 the day, not in one block. We need those three 00:22:12.809 --> 00:22:15.589 hours throughout the day to have that. Yeah, 00:22:15.630 --> 00:22:21.049 it is such a rebellious but important idea to 00:22:21.049 --> 00:22:24.470 hold on to. That actually, when you start looking 00:22:24.470 --> 00:22:27.230 at how to make everybody in the classroom flourish, 00:22:27.509 --> 00:22:30.799 you're looking at outcomes, not processes. that 00:22:30.799 --> 00:22:33.000 everybody's journey to get where they're going 00:22:33.000 --> 00:22:35.660 is going to look a little bit different. And 00:22:35.660 --> 00:22:37.880 yes, structure can be helpful. Of course, it 00:22:37.880 --> 00:22:40.460 is really helpful. In fact, it's one of the five 00:22:40.460 --> 00:22:43.519 ways it's most helpful. But if it's structure 00:22:43.519 --> 00:22:48.240 at the expense of time to engage, time to regulate, 00:22:48.559 --> 00:22:52.420 time to make sense of what's going on, to make 00:22:52.420 --> 00:22:55.299 sense of yourself, time to explore advocating 00:22:55.299 --> 00:22:59.680 for yourself in an appropriate way time to play 00:22:59.680 --> 00:23:03.039 and to understand that joyful engagement play 00:23:03.039 --> 00:23:05.799 is how your brain makes new connections then 00:23:05.799 --> 00:23:09.599 it's counterproductive it's wasting time effort 00:23:09.599 --> 00:23:12.839 resources and wasting the one opportunity for 00:23:12.839 --> 00:23:15.359 education these children have yeah and the most 00:23:15.359 --> 00:23:17.839 important as well i feel like knowing their bodies 00:23:17.839 --> 00:23:20.700 and how to manage their bodies and their big 00:23:20.700 --> 00:23:24.180 feelings and their voice is the biggest lesson 00:23:24.180 --> 00:23:27.650 we're ever going to teach them yeah If they can't 00:23:27.650 --> 00:23:29.869 do that, then what's the point of them being 00:23:29.869 --> 00:23:32.069 able to know all the prime numbers? Or what's 00:23:32.069 --> 00:23:33.670 the point of them being able to work out change 00:23:33.670 --> 00:23:36.529 really easily or really quickly if they can't 00:23:36.529 --> 00:23:38.730 then get on a bus and ask for their ticket? They 00:23:38.730 --> 00:23:40.490 have to be able to be regulated. They have to 00:23:40.490 --> 00:23:42.670 be able to be as independent as possible, confident 00:23:42.670 --> 00:23:46.990 beings, don't they? And that happens in between 00:23:46.990 --> 00:23:50.890 lessons. Yeah, for sure. Yeah, that sense of 00:23:50.890 --> 00:23:53.549 myself allows me then to have a sense of other. 00:23:54.009 --> 00:23:56.630 And it's in that that I then start to be able 00:23:56.630 --> 00:23:59.710 to engage and learn and negotiate with the world. 00:23:59.869 --> 00:24:04.250 Yeah. Yeah. I like that we can, it's rebellion. 00:24:04.390 --> 00:24:07.269 It does feel, this job feels rebellious in lots 00:24:07.269 --> 00:24:10.109 of ways. I often feel like I'm swimming up river 00:24:10.109 --> 00:24:12.910 or going against the grain. I'm part of a mainstream 00:24:12.910 --> 00:24:16.329 school. So I'm special education. I'm the only 00:24:16.329 --> 00:24:18.150 class, special education class in the mainstream 00:24:18.150 --> 00:24:20.309 school. So there's lots of misunderstanding, 00:24:20.529 --> 00:24:23.589 lots of preconception that I... I feel like every 00:24:23.589 --> 00:24:26.589 time I'm in, I'm swimming up river. So if anyone's 00:24:26.589 --> 00:24:28.269 listening to this and feeling the same, it's 00:24:28.269 --> 00:24:32.009 completely normal. And it's also okay to kind 00:24:32.009 --> 00:24:34.430 of be confident with what you're doing and to 00:24:34.430 --> 00:24:36.210 stand up for what you're doing. Whether it's 00:24:36.210 --> 00:24:38.390 a head teacher, your teaching assistant, a parent 00:24:38.390 --> 00:24:41.609 or Ofsted, be confident. If you know you are 00:24:41.609 --> 00:24:43.450 meeting your children's needs, how they need 00:24:43.450 --> 00:24:45.750 them to be met, then you're probably doing it 00:24:45.750 --> 00:24:48.279 right. Yeah. And I think that taps into some, 00:24:48.279 --> 00:24:50.880 you know, a couple of really valuable things 00:24:50.880 --> 00:24:52.859 there, Jordan. So that first one is, you know, 00:24:52.859 --> 00:24:54.900 yeah, being confident in what you're doing and 00:24:54.900 --> 00:24:57.839 being able to explain. I'm doing this because 00:24:57.839 --> 00:25:00.500 I'm seeing this. And that's why I'm trying this. 00:25:00.720 --> 00:25:02.799 And if I'm right, we'll see this. And if I'm 00:25:02.799 --> 00:25:05.299 not right, we'll try something else. You know, 00:25:05.319 --> 00:25:07.039 it's not the end of the world. The second is 00:25:07.039 --> 00:25:11.709 that whole idea of outcomes, not processes. radical 00:25:11.709 --> 00:25:14.390 piece I offer and sometimes kind of I offer it 00:25:14.390 --> 00:25:16.430 to teachers and you can see them to kind of take 00:25:16.430 --> 00:25:18.470 a big swallow and say, I'm not sure that that's 00:25:18.470 --> 00:25:20.269 true. You know, the thing that I offer them is 00:25:20.269 --> 00:25:23.630 you are allowed to do things differently. You're 00:25:23.630 --> 00:25:25.890 allowed to do things differently. That how other 00:25:25.890 --> 00:25:28.190 people do it, how it's been done before, how 00:25:28.190 --> 00:25:30.490 you do it other times doesn't mean that's how 00:25:30.490 --> 00:25:33.410 it has to be. Yeah. The most dangerous thing 00:25:33.410 --> 00:25:36.150 is, but we've always done it that way. Yeah, 00:25:36.190 --> 00:25:38.589 absolutely. And that's absolutely fine if you 00:25:38.589 --> 00:25:41.480 can tell me why. Why? And, you know, if I put 00:25:41.480 --> 00:25:43.559 this piece in to say that this is why it isn't 00:25:43.559 --> 00:25:46.099 working, what else have you got? What else have 00:25:46.099 --> 00:25:48.039 you got? I think it's really interesting that 00:25:48.039 --> 00:25:50.339 we're going through a transition, certainly in 00:25:50.339 --> 00:25:52.180 my room at the moment. Over the last couple of 00:25:52.180 --> 00:25:54.380 years, the children that we have received have 00:25:54.380 --> 00:25:56.339 changed dramatically. They're just different. 00:25:56.500 --> 00:25:58.359 They've got different needs. Yeah, they're just 00:25:58.359 --> 00:26:00.099 very different than the children were even five 00:26:00.099 --> 00:26:02.359 years ago. So the processes and the structures 00:26:02.359 --> 00:26:05.579 that we know so well and we, you know, we all 00:26:05.579 --> 00:26:09.019 like clockwork aren't working anymore. We aren't 00:26:09.019 --> 00:26:11.539 teaching in the same way anymore. We aren't regulating 00:26:11.539 --> 00:26:14.779 them in the same way anymore. But it worked before. 00:26:14.900 --> 00:26:17.200 They've got the same diagnosis. They've got the 00:26:17.200 --> 00:26:21.180 same labels. Of course you have to. It's outcome, 00:26:21.319 --> 00:26:23.500 right? We want these children focused. We want 00:26:23.500 --> 00:26:26.039 them regulated. What does the process look like 00:26:26.039 --> 00:26:28.839 to get there? I love that. And I feel like I'm 00:26:28.839 --> 00:26:31.579 going to take that little nugget, like a magpie, 00:26:31.720 --> 00:26:34.559 like your name, that bit of treasure, and share 00:26:34.559 --> 00:26:36.869 that because... I feel like that could really 00:26:36.869 --> 00:26:39.930 help my team understand why this change is inevitable 00:26:39.930 --> 00:26:42.789 and why it needs to happen. It's not me being 00:26:42.789 --> 00:26:46.430 annoying and wanting to change everything up 00:26:46.430 --> 00:26:49.329 just for the sake of it. It's because the process 00:26:49.329 --> 00:26:52.210 to get this same outcome is looking incredibly 00:26:52.210 --> 00:26:54.170 different for the children in our room compared 00:26:54.170 --> 00:26:57.710 to five years ago. Yeah, and resources are tight. 00:26:57.829 --> 00:27:01.170 Time is tight. Our energy and compassion is limited. 00:27:01.269 --> 00:27:05.569 We cannot afford to waste time. Doing things 00:27:05.569 --> 00:27:08.349 in ways that don't work just because that's what 00:27:08.349 --> 00:27:11.289 it says on a list or that's how we learned it 00:27:11.289 --> 00:27:14.069 at college when we're doing practice. You know, 00:27:14.089 --> 00:27:17.329 we have to work with the child who's in front 00:27:17.329 --> 00:27:21.349 of us and use everything we've got to just support 00:27:21.349 --> 00:27:24.049 them to grow themselves. You can't grow their 00:27:24.049 --> 00:27:27.130 brain for them. You have to. create the opportunities 00:27:27.130 --> 00:27:29.849 for them to grow themselves and facilitate that 00:27:29.849 --> 00:27:32.130 learning i often say i feel like a facilitator 00:27:32.130 --> 00:27:35.750 and not a teacher because so often i'm just providing 00:27:35.750 --> 00:27:38.450 opportunities and seeing what they already know 00:27:38.450 --> 00:27:40.730 or what they can do i'm very rarely saying today 00:27:40.730 --> 00:27:42.990 kids we're gonna learn it just doesn't happen 00:27:42.990 --> 00:27:46.390 in my room like that i'm just facilitating and 00:27:46.390 --> 00:27:49.509 observing and tweaking and helping them to show 00:27:49.509 --> 00:27:51.049 me what they already know because i know they 00:27:51.049 --> 00:27:52.910 know it and that gives you a great opportunity 00:27:52.910 --> 00:27:55.490 to get to tell you one of my favorite little 00:27:55.799 --> 00:27:58.279 things which is that you know when you think 00:27:58.279 --> 00:28:01.259 about the word education what the meaning the 00:28:01.259 --> 00:28:04.519 etymology of the word education is a duco to 00:28:04.519 --> 00:28:07.779 pull out to bring forth there's nothing about 00:28:07.779 --> 00:28:12.079 putting in it's about bringing out I love that 00:28:12.079 --> 00:28:15.039 so much because it's so true isn't it yeah it's 00:28:15.039 --> 00:28:17.420 so true that's exactly how I feel I'm like what 00:28:17.420 --> 00:28:20.039 about if I do this what about I do this can you 00:28:20.039 --> 00:28:23.400 show me can you show me rather than yeah today 00:28:23.400 --> 00:28:27.220 I'm going to teaching this. Open your head. Here's 00:28:27.220 --> 00:28:29.500 what we're putting inside it today. It just doesn't 00:28:29.500 --> 00:28:31.240 work. It certainly doesn't work in my room. I 00:28:31.240 --> 00:28:33.359 mean, I can only speak from my room. I've only 00:28:33.359 --> 00:28:35.619 ever been a special education teacher, but it 00:28:35.619 --> 00:28:37.500 certainly doesn't work for the kids I teach. 00:28:37.859 --> 00:28:41.660 It doesn't work like that. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. 00:28:41.759 --> 00:28:44.420 And maybe that's how we're taught, you know, 00:28:44.460 --> 00:28:46.480 today, kids, we're going to learn, you know, 00:28:46.480 --> 00:28:48.519 we have a learning objective in our statements 00:28:48.519 --> 00:28:51.559 and is it success criteria? You know, if you've 00:28:51.559 --> 00:28:53.539 ticked off these things, then you've been successful. 00:28:54.329 --> 00:28:56.589 It doesn't work like that in my room. Sometimes 00:28:56.589 --> 00:28:59.210 in my head I'm teaching maths and actually then 00:28:59.210 --> 00:29:01.470 we end up with an amazing communication opportunity. 00:29:02.410 --> 00:29:05.730 It just is. Opportunity is the word. A learning 00:29:05.730 --> 00:29:08.569 opportunity. You know, this is what's available 00:29:08.569 --> 00:29:11.609 for learning when someone is safe and curious. 00:29:12.569 --> 00:29:15.069 And, you know, you're wasting time trying to 00:29:15.069 --> 00:29:16.890 make it an objective if they're not feeling safe 00:29:16.890 --> 00:29:20.009 and curious. So we were talking a little minute 00:29:20.009 --> 00:29:21.869 ago, weren't we, Jordan, about kind of... And, 00:29:21.869 --> 00:29:23.829 you know, particularly thinking about teachers 00:29:23.829 --> 00:29:27.730 send teachers and TAs and just, you know, for 00:29:27.730 --> 00:29:32.089 parents too, that sense of what it costs you, 00:29:32.170 --> 00:29:36.349 you know. And there's a lot of fright stuff out 00:29:36.349 --> 00:29:38.089 there on the internet about kind of putting on 00:29:38.089 --> 00:29:40.589 your own oxygen mask, but nobody ever tells you 00:29:40.589 --> 00:29:43.369 how to do that. And sometimes there's some absolute 00:29:43.369 --> 00:29:45.390 rubbish that drives me bonkers about kind of, 00:29:45.410 --> 00:29:47.170 you know, make sure to take time for yourself 00:29:47.170 --> 00:29:49.250 and have a bath. Yeah, like anybody's got time 00:29:49.250 --> 00:29:52.509 to do that. So I've got five things I'm going 00:29:52.509 --> 00:29:55.009 to tell you, if that's okay. Love you, T. Five 00:29:55.009 --> 00:29:59.349 things that help. And they are evidence -based. 00:29:59.410 --> 00:30:01.890 These are things that work with the nervous system, 00:30:01.930 --> 00:30:03.670 work with your own nervous system, work with 00:30:03.670 --> 00:30:07.410 the child's nervous system. The trick is to see 00:30:07.410 --> 00:30:11.990 what they look like for you in this moment. So 00:30:11.990 --> 00:30:16.049 context is everything. So those five things are 00:30:16.049 --> 00:30:20.039 slow, linear vestibular movement. So rocking 00:30:20.039 --> 00:30:24.180 and swaying. So rocking and swaying is always 00:30:24.180 --> 00:30:28.279 going to be calming and organizing. But what 00:30:28.279 --> 00:30:30.920 rocking and swaying looks like when you have 00:30:30.920 --> 00:30:33.740 a baby is very different than when you're working 00:30:33.740 --> 00:30:37.640 with a 17 -year -old. So that if you have in 00:30:37.640 --> 00:30:41.740 your head as a teacher, as a TA, rocking and 00:30:41.740 --> 00:30:44.279 swaying in this moment, what could it look like? 00:30:44.420 --> 00:30:48.250 How can I use what I'm working on anyway? to 00:30:48.250 --> 00:30:51.609 get rocking and swaying in. So that could be 00:30:51.609 --> 00:30:55.170 stuff like if they've got to have parts to do 00:30:55.170 --> 00:30:57.829 whatever learning activity they have, to have 00:30:57.829 --> 00:31:00.650 the box of parts on the floor. So they're bending 00:31:00.650 --> 00:31:03.829 down and picking up. There we go, rocking and 00:31:03.829 --> 00:31:05.930 swaying. That's part of the learning activity. 00:31:06.289 --> 00:31:08.109 Nobody's going outside of the classroom to sit 00:31:08.109 --> 00:31:10.349 on a gym ball. It's part of what's happening. 00:31:10.970 --> 00:31:13.990 If you're working with a younger child, it's 00:31:13.990 --> 00:31:17.500 row, row, row your boat. If you're working with 00:31:17.500 --> 00:31:19.700 babies or in a context where it's your child 00:31:19.700 --> 00:31:22.839 and you can hold them, that's rocking while they're 00:31:22.839 --> 00:31:25.559 against you. So slow linear vestibular is the 00:31:25.559 --> 00:31:29.220 first one. The second is deep pressure tactile. 00:31:29.579 --> 00:31:31.720 So it's that, you know, the receptors for deep 00:31:31.720 --> 00:31:33.859 pressure, they're really deep in the skin, in 00:31:33.859 --> 00:31:37.059 the dermis. So that sense of squash and squeeze. 00:31:37.160 --> 00:31:39.940 So squash and squeeze when you're teachers, it's 00:31:39.940 --> 00:31:43.140 really difficult to think about kind of, you 00:31:43.140 --> 00:31:45.279 know, reluctant. particularly mainstream teachers, 00:31:45.359 --> 00:31:47.619 you can't touch the children. You'll end up on 00:31:47.619 --> 00:31:49.980 a list if you touch the children. So it's thinking 00:31:49.980 --> 00:31:52.519 about what does squash and squeeze mean in what 00:31:52.519 --> 00:31:55.079 we're doing now? Is there a way in which the 00:31:55.079 --> 00:31:58.980 children can sit between stuff or lean up against 00:31:58.980 --> 00:32:02.000 stuff? Is there stuff that they can have and 00:32:02.000 --> 00:32:04.420 hold against themselves so the stuff is squashing 00:32:04.420 --> 00:32:06.920 and squeezing them? Can they carry a box that 00:32:06.920 --> 00:32:08.539 the box is heavy and squashing and squeezing 00:32:08.539 --> 00:32:12.740 them? So looking in the context. The third is 00:32:12.740 --> 00:32:17.079 low frequency vibration. So low frequency vibration, 00:32:17.380 --> 00:32:20.500 so that's the kind of humming, buzzing sound, 00:32:20.680 --> 00:32:25.259 not a high buzz, that low buzz that you can almost 00:32:25.259 --> 00:32:28.619 feel. Like a drone kind of thing. Droneing, absolutely. 00:32:28.859 --> 00:32:33.519 So humming, yawning, sighing, that low frequency 00:32:33.519 --> 00:32:37.289 vibration. You know, often that's... Things like 00:32:37.289 --> 00:32:39.650 singing, singing together. It's a child leaning 00:32:39.650 --> 00:32:42.430 against you while you talk so they can feel your 00:32:42.430 --> 00:32:47.269 voice. But for an adult, that could be sitting 00:32:47.269 --> 00:32:49.410 in the car, obviously with somebody else driving, 00:32:49.529 --> 00:32:51.170 with your head against the window. So having 00:32:51.170 --> 00:32:53.470 the vibration of the car just calm you down. 00:32:53.670 --> 00:32:55.789 All of those things. So that's low frequency 00:32:55.789 --> 00:32:58.650 vibration. Then there's proprioception, my absolute 00:32:58.650 --> 00:33:00.789 favourite. Proprioception is the information 00:33:00.789 --> 00:33:03.569 you get from your muscles and joints. So any 00:33:03.569 --> 00:33:07.259 kind of pushing, pulling, stretching. reaching, 00:33:07.259 --> 00:33:10.640 lifting, carrying, any of that. And again, context. 00:33:11.019 --> 00:33:14.740 You don't have to get a load of stuff for that. 00:33:14.819 --> 00:33:16.920 You just need to, for example, move the teach 00:33:16.920 --> 00:33:18.920 strip up higher, the visual table up higher. 00:33:19.019 --> 00:33:20.940 So you've got to reach a bit higher to get it. 00:33:21.140 --> 00:33:23.940 If you're working with kids in wheelchairs, putting 00:33:23.940 --> 00:33:25.680 stuff on the other side of the tray, so they 00:33:25.680 --> 00:33:28.200 have to reach a bit further to get it. So looking 00:33:28.200 --> 00:33:30.799 contextually at what you can do. And then the 00:33:30.799 --> 00:33:33.839 fifth one, predictability. Predictability. If 00:33:33.839 --> 00:33:36.400 you don't, if you know what's coming, it's safe. 00:33:36.500 --> 00:33:39.059 If it's the same as it was before, it's safe. 00:33:39.380 --> 00:33:42.500 If it's somebody you know and trust, it's safe. 00:33:43.220 --> 00:33:45.819 Predictability, massively helpful. This is my 00:33:45.819 --> 00:33:50.019 top five. I love that. For everybody in the room, 00:33:50.039 --> 00:33:53.200 right? Yeah, absolutely for everybody. Yeah, 00:33:53.220 --> 00:33:56.970 for you as a... teacher, for you as a SENCO, 00:33:57.170 --> 00:34:00.329 for you as a TA, for you as a parent, and my 00:34:00.329 --> 00:34:02.250 goodness, for you as a speech therapist in the 00:34:02.250 --> 00:34:03.970 school. Yeah, all of those. Yeah, I feel like 00:34:03.970 --> 00:34:06.029 that's so true. If we've got movement and we 00:34:06.029 --> 00:34:09.150 feel safe and it's predictable, then we feel 00:34:09.150 --> 00:34:12.710 a lot more grounded, don't we? Yeah. It's when 00:34:12.710 --> 00:34:16.469 somebody's absent or we've all of a sudden got 00:34:16.469 --> 00:34:20.309 to have this visitor. We're feeling it as adults, 00:34:20.349 --> 00:34:22.829 that unpredictability. Or we've been sat at the 00:34:22.829 --> 00:34:25.250 computer too long. I certainly feel that. oh 00:34:25.250 --> 00:34:27.090 i need to get outside i need to see the sunshine 00:34:27.090 --> 00:34:31.389 get my body moving yeah absolutely and a push 00:34:31.389 --> 00:34:33.750 pull stretch so even just you know kind of all 00:34:33.750 --> 00:34:35.409 of that you know just a little bit of stretching 00:34:35.409 --> 00:34:37.969 you know evidence -based to bring those five 00:34:37.969 --> 00:34:40.789 i could really see why having a pet is really 00:34:40.789 --> 00:34:44.050 helpful you get that low drone of the purr you 00:34:44.050 --> 00:34:46.670 get their weight on you you get that tactile 00:34:46.670 --> 00:34:48.949 stroke you go for a walk and you have a nice 00:34:48.949 --> 00:34:52.210 stretch all of those things yeah They like their 00:34:52.210 --> 00:34:54.710 predictor routine. It meets those five. So no 00:34:54.710 --> 00:34:57.630 wonder they're therapeutic and we feel so good 00:34:57.630 --> 00:35:02.530 about having a pet. Absolutely. Absolutely. You 00:35:02.530 --> 00:35:05.010 mentioned before that we are tight on time and 00:35:05.010 --> 00:35:07.949 resources and that's so true. So often I have 00:35:07.949 --> 00:35:11.489 DMs saying, we don't have any budget for anything. 00:35:11.769 --> 00:35:14.289 Is there a way that we can, that we can make, 00:35:14.429 --> 00:35:17.110 that we can find? What are your kind of go -to? 00:35:18.579 --> 00:35:22.239 things easily accessible things are great i mean 00:35:22.239 --> 00:35:24.400 stretching you're reaching i i just love all 00:35:24.400 --> 00:35:26.880 that are there any more that we can really use 00:35:26.880 --> 00:35:29.840 for our sensory regulation yeah for sure so you 00:35:29.840 --> 00:35:31.780 know you know one of the first things you know 00:35:31.780 --> 00:35:34.840 kind of parents and and uh and uh teachers and 00:35:34.840 --> 00:35:36.460 other people often ask me is what do i need to 00:35:36.460 --> 00:35:41.179 buy and my first is don't buy anything buy nothing 00:35:41.179 --> 00:35:45.139 until you've absolutely creatively explored what's 00:35:45.139 --> 00:35:48.090 there you know if you're looking for pulling 00:35:48.090 --> 00:35:51.889 and pushing, that's opening a door. So what would 00:35:51.889 --> 00:35:54.329 be the most helpful thing you could do is to 00:35:54.329 --> 00:35:57.309 be a bit less helpful. So what would be great 00:35:57.309 --> 00:36:00.550 is you don't open the door, you allow the child 00:36:00.550 --> 00:36:03.849 to try opening the door. If you need the furniture 00:36:03.849 --> 00:36:06.969 moved out of the way for circle time, why are 00:36:06.969 --> 00:36:08.989 you moving it? You know, there's an opportunity 00:36:08.989 --> 00:36:11.789 there to use what's there, to use what you're 00:36:11.789 --> 00:36:15.230 already doing. So I know it's, you know, my thing 00:36:15.230 --> 00:36:17.789 is that You know, the children are best in the 00:36:17.789 --> 00:36:20.710 classroom when they feel safe. So keeping kids 00:36:20.710 --> 00:36:22.610 in the classroom and helping them to regulate 00:36:22.610 --> 00:36:25.190 in the classroom, using what's there because 00:36:25.190 --> 00:36:28.130 teachers have not got time for a whole load of 00:36:28.130 --> 00:36:29.670 this, that and the other, running around the 00:36:29.670 --> 00:36:31.969 field and 20 push -ups and all of that. It's 00:36:31.969 --> 00:36:35.869 got to be embedded in what you're doing. So buy 00:36:35.869 --> 00:36:38.969 nothing until you've thought about how to use 00:36:38.969 --> 00:36:43.550 rock and sway, squash and squeeze, muscles, pull, 00:36:43.610 --> 00:36:46.699 push, stretch. low frequency vibration and predictability 00:36:46.699 --> 00:36:51.219 in what's already there. And then get creative. 00:36:51.840 --> 00:36:55.719 So what would be really useful is something to 00:36:55.719 --> 00:36:58.719 put under a child's feet so they've got something 00:36:58.719 --> 00:37:01.400 to push their feet down against. And you don't 00:37:01.400 --> 00:37:04.280 need to buy a fancy footstool. You can take a 00:37:04.280 --> 00:37:07.679 tray out of the drawer, a drawer out of the case 00:37:07.679 --> 00:37:11.579 and use that. You can use their school bag in 00:37:11.579 --> 00:37:14.550 the... sitting in the bus to do it so don't buy 00:37:14.550 --> 00:37:17.829 anything until you've looked first and foremost 00:37:17.829 --> 00:37:20.650 at what have you already got and then it's more 00:37:20.650 --> 00:37:22.750 likely to be used then isn't it rather than just 00:37:22.750 --> 00:37:24.789 them sitting by the back of the cupboard and 00:37:24.789 --> 00:37:26.929 also i love that it's in the classroom because 00:37:26.929 --> 00:37:29.690 then how affirming is that we're all doing it 00:37:29.690 --> 00:37:33.210 it's not just tommy who gets sent out to go and 00:37:33.210 --> 00:37:35.929 meet his sensory needs we're all sensory beings 00:37:35.929 --> 00:37:38.530 we all can't sit down for a long time you know 00:37:38.530 --> 00:37:40.809 we all are stretching us away i mean all of these 00:37:40.809 --> 00:37:44.489 strategies great for everybody aren't they i 00:37:44.489 --> 00:37:46.510 think good autism practice and good sensory integration 00:37:46.510 --> 00:37:49.769 practice is just good practice so yeah keep it 00:37:49.769 --> 00:37:51.909 in the classroom get everyone doing get everyone 00:37:51.909 --> 00:37:53.989 modeling it we'll all feel better for it we'll 00:37:53.989 --> 00:37:56.670 all focus better for it it's really it's definitely 00:37:56.670 --> 00:37:59.309 not a waste of time you will find that you do 00:37:59.309 --> 00:38:01.949 far less time wasting and far more focused work 00:38:01.949 --> 00:38:03.929 after you've spent the time doing something like 00:38:03.929 --> 00:38:07.150 this Then if you don't and then it all kind of 00:38:07.150 --> 00:38:09.590 goes awry after 15 minutes because you've lost 00:38:09.590 --> 00:38:12.809 them. They can't focus for that long. None of 00:38:12.809 --> 00:38:15.610 us can. Yeah, kind of before, put the stuff in 00:38:15.610 --> 00:38:17.889 before rather than trying to get somebody back 00:38:17.889 --> 00:38:20.190 after they're into fight, flight, freeze, doing 00:38:20.190 --> 00:38:23.369 it before. That whole thing about what is regulation? 00:38:23.449 --> 00:38:26.289 What does it mean to be regulated? When you're 00:38:26.289 --> 00:38:29.789 regulated, it means that you feel calm, you feel 00:38:29.789 --> 00:38:33.849 alert, you are present and you are ready to engage. 00:38:34.559 --> 00:38:37.639 And who doesn't need regulation all day, every 00:38:37.639 --> 00:38:41.219 day? It's an ongoing process of managing your 00:38:41.219 --> 00:38:45.079 regulation across the day, all day, every day, 00:38:45.139 --> 00:38:48.059 every minute of the day. And I would worry that 00:38:48.059 --> 00:38:52.300 if a child, you know, with a sensory regulation 00:38:52.300 --> 00:38:56.639 need on their HCP was calm all day, that would 00:38:56.639 --> 00:38:59.320 worry me because either they're being controlled 00:38:59.320 --> 00:39:03.139 with control and compliance, so it's almost through 00:39:03.139 --> 00:39:07.849 fear. that they are that calm or that still shall 00:39:07.849 --> 00:39:10.110 we say because calm is different than regulated 00:39:10.110 --> 00:39:12.030 i would say and still is they're certainly different 00:39:12.030 --> 00:39:16.829 than regulated so if they are still all day that 00:39:16.829 --> 00:39:19.809 would worry me i would see that as fright say 00:39:19.809 --> 00:39:23.230 they're not feeling safe to freely express themselves 00:39:23.230 --> 00:39:26.230 and i think that's what we call masking and i 00:39:26.230 --> 00:39:28.590 see that a lot in our mainstream classes in my 00:39:28.590 --> 00:39:33.019 school i see a lot of A lot of high maskers that 00:39:33.019 --> 00:39:38.480 have learned to comply and to be safe, i .e. 00:39:38.599 --> 00:39:43.179 to not get in trouble. I need to be still and 00:39:43.179 --> 00:39:46.159 I need to look like I'm listening. And they're 00:39:46.159 --> 00:39:49.179 probably so busy being still and looking like 00:39:49.179 --> 00:39:51.059 they're listening that they're not listening 00:39:51.059 --> 00:39:53.619 at all because that's taking all their energy. 00:39:53.760 --> 00:39:56.699 So I see that an awful lot, an awful amount, 00:39:56.840 --> 00:39:59.900 and it breaks my heart. I see it. So I know it 00:39:59.900 --> 00:40:01.679 happens in every school in the UK that there 00:40:01.679 --> 00:40:04.139 are these high maskers. So don't assume that 00:40:04.139 --> 00:40:08.940 stillness is regulation. I love it when I see 00:40:08.940 --> 00:40:11.679 children twiddling and flicking and rocking and 00:40:11.679 --> 00:40:14.699 tiptoe walking whilst learning, because that 00:40:14.699 --> 00:40:18.139 to me tells me that they feel safe. They feel 00:40:18.139 --> 00:40:22.000 ready. They feel, you know, like they're able 00:40:22.000 --> 00:40:25.079 to learn and be themselves. And that is when 00:40:25.079 --> 00:40:28.409 I feel like they are. Totally agree. Completely 00:40:28.409 --> 00:40:32.349 agree. That kind of that vision about kind of 00:40:32.349 --> 00:40:35.369 what learning looks like, what the learning state 00:40:35.369 --> 00:40:39.570 looks like is so old fashioned and wrong. That's 00:40:39.570 --> 00:40:41.789 not what learning looks like. Learning looks 00:40:41.789 --> 00:40:46.210 like enthusiastic engagement with a task. That's 00:40:46.210 --> 00:40:49.269 what it looks like. So being still is not engaged. 00:40:49.329 --> 00:40:52.250 Being still. that that is yeah you're right it 00:40:52.250 --> 00:40:54.309 could be a fawn response it could be a freeze 00:40:54.309 --> 00:40:57.010 response absolutely it comes from a place where 00:40:57.010 --> 00:41:00.190 it's not safe to learn so if you're if you're 00:41:00.190 --> 00:41:02.190 if you hope nobody still is but if still people 00:41:02.190 --> 00:41:04.429 are still doing that kind of a good sitting good 00:41:04.429 --> 00:41:07.650 looking good listening they do i'm saying they 00:41:07.650 --> 00:41:11.250 do all over the uk all over the world i'm sure 00:41:11.250 --> 00:41:15.369 they do yeah and that's why we're here i think 00:41:15.369 --> 00:41:19.320 so many of us in this beautifully fighting for 00:41:19.320 --> 00:41:23.099 a firming bubble especially how the algorithms 00:41:23.099 --> 00:41:29.940 work we are consuming an echo chamber yes yes 00:41:29.940 --> 00:41:32.420 yes all these people yes this we're doing it 00:41:32.420 --> 00:41:34.139 we're doing it we're really changing the world 00:41:34.139 --> 00:41:36.900 and then you walk into just the average mainstream 00:41:36.900 --> 00:41:41.699 score average SEN score might I say and it's 00:41:41.699 --> 00:41:46.059 not happening day to day It isn't the norm. I 00:41:46.059 --> 00:41:47.699 don't want to burst your bubble, but I'm going 00:41:47.699 --> 00:41:52.239 to. Yeah. It isn't. And we've got such a long 00:41:52.239 --> 00:41:54.460 way to go. And I feel like that's why your account 00:41:54.460 --> 00:41:58.360 is so important because it's giving people access 00:41:58.360 --> 00:42:00.760 that are good, well -meaning teachers. Like, 00:42:00.820 --> 00:42:03.079 let's not blame him. There's no blame or shame 00:42:03.079 --> 00:42:06.719 here. Really well -meaning teachers that love 00:42:06.719 --> 00:42:08.960 their students and want to do the best for them 00:42:08.960 --> 00:42:11.420 and really want to be inclusive. You know, really 00:42:11.420 --> 00:42:15.179 passionate teachers, loving teachers. will come 00:42:15.179 --> 00:42:18.199 across your account and think, that's what it 00:42:18.199 --> 00:42:21.219 is. That's what I'm missing. That's why it's 00:42:21.219 --> 00:42:23.320 so important. That's why this podcast is important. 00:42:23.559 --> 00:42:25.920 That's why, that's what drives me to keep sharing 00:42:25.920 --> 00:42:28.960 because if everyone was doing it, I'll retire. 00:42:29.300 --> 00:42:32.800 Unfortunately, I've got a little few more years 00:42:32.800 --> 00:42:36.019 left, I think, before it's in every school. I 00:42:36.019 --> 00:42:38.239 think it's worth thinking about as well, where 00:42:38.239 --> 00:42:41.300 our brains and our nervous systems and our bodies 00:42:41.300 --> 00:42:44.699 have come from, in terms of where we sit along 00:42:44.699 --> 00:42:50.440 other forms of life. We are the same kind of 00:42:50.440 --> 00:42:53.539 form of life as gorillas and monkeys and apes, 00:42:53.539 --> 00:42:57.780 and they don't learn best by sitting still. Why 00:42:57.780 --> 00:43:00.280 on earth would our bodies learn and develop best 00:43:00.280 --> 00:43:04.780 by sitting still? There's no sense in which sitting 00:43:04.780 --> 00:43:09.860 still, Sitting fixedly is universally the best 00:43:09.860 --> 00:43:14.719 way to take part or engage. That playful engagement, 00:43:14.900 --> 00:43:18.519 joyful engagement includes managing your own 00:43:18.519 --> 00:43:21.360 regulation with movement as you're learning. 00:43:21.480 --> 00:43:24.440 It has to, it has to. I guess it's a muscle that 00:43:24.440 --> 00:43:27.840 we've got to exercise because it certainly feels, 00:43:27.980 --> 00:43:32.659 I suppose, one teacher, a room of 30 kids can 00:43:32.659 --> 00:43:35.659 be really daunting. And it's even more daunting 00:43:35.659 --> 00:43:37.300 to think they're not sitting on their chairs 00:43:37.300 --> 00:43:38.760 and they're still, you know, they're all moving. 00:43:38.860 --> 00:43:41.880 The idea of that I can imagine is really daunting 00:43:41.880 --> 00:43:45.219 for teachers. Of course you want to control the 00:43:45.219 --> 00:43:49.280 chaos. So that's a natural way to control the 00:43:49.280 --> 00:43:53.500 situation. But is it the best way? Let's be curious 00:43:53.500 --> 00:43:56.860 about that. Yeah. Let's ask that. And actually 00:43:56.860 --> 00:44:00.199 the curiosity is, is it the only way and is it 00:44:00.199 --> 00:44:03.280 always the way? So, you know, the mainstream 00:44:03.280 --> 00:44:06.239 schools I work in, even where they come from 00:44:06.239 --> 00:44:08.460 quite a traditional approach, sometimes, you 00:44:08.460 --> 00:44:11.460 know, they're still within learning within the 00:44:11.460 --> 00:44:14.099 classroom. There are kind of breakouts and group 00:44:14.099 --> 00:44:17.360 work and stuff and kids are moving around the 00:44:17.360 --> 00:44:19.059 classroom or moving around the school to some 00:44:19.059 --> 00:44:22.179 extent. But it's just sort of unhooking from 00:44:22.179 --> 00:44:26.340 an idea that learning looks one way. Yeah, and 00:44:26.340 --> 00:44:29.380 planning it, being intentional about it. Don't 00:44:29.380 --> 00:44:31.809 do it accidentally. Oh, yeah, I suppose we did 00:44:31.809 --> 00:44:35.550 move around a bit today. Plan for it. Yeah. Look 00:44:35.550 --> 00:44:37.289 back at your lesson plan that you've planned 00:44:37.289 --> 00:44:39.389 for your hour and think, are there enough opportunities 00:44:39.389 --> 00:44:43.250 to move? How have I... And embed them. Plan for 00:44:43.250 --> 00:44:44.670 it, I think, because then it will happen. It 00:44:44.670 --> 00:44:46.849 will be more integrated. And I think it's like 00:44:46.849 --> 00:44:48.849 a muscle that you have to exercise. Then you'll 00:44:48.849 --> 00:44:51.489 just do it naturally because you'll have put 00:44:51.489 --> 00:44:54.829 those things in, yeah. Yeah, for sure. I mean, 00:44:54.849 --> 00:44:56.630 I know you know, Jordan, that once you start 00:44:56.630 --> 00:45:00.980 using this sensory integration... lens for what 00:45:00.980 --> 00:45:04.000 you're doing you can't imagine how you used to 00:45:04.000 --> 00:45:06.639 teach without it I can't imagine how I used to 00:45:06.639 --> 00:45:08.840 think I was doing speech therapy without it I 00:45:08.840 --> 00:45:12.400 can't believe how much time and effort and energy 00:45:12.400 --> 00:45:15.960 I wasted without doing this I thought I was being 00:45:15.960 --> 00:45:18.860 more efficient but of course I wasn't you know 00:45:18.860 --> 00:45:23.139 I can't you can't unsee it once you get it yeah 00:45:23.139 --> 00:45:26.179 it's true I feel like I suppose working in my 00:45:26.179 --> 00:45:30.929 room my learners are it's so clear sensory integration 00:45:30.929 --> 00:45:33.489 is required and regulation is required you know 00:45:33.489 --> 00:45:36.590 it's literally in your face and I feel like that's 00:45:36.590 --> 00:45:38.510 really great to sometimes have that magnifying 00:45:38.510 --> 00:45:41.250 glass to see that and then to take that magnifying 00:45:41.250 --> 00:45:43.570 glass and look at all the other classes because 00:45:43.570 --> 00:45:45.070 then you're seeing it through that lens as you 00:45:45.070 --> 00:45:48.269 as you say I can't help but see the mainstream 00:45:48.269 --> 00:45:53.650 classrooms through the lens of my room yeah which 00:45:53.650 --> 00:45:57.030 is which maybe I need to be more gracious and 00:45:57.030 --> 00:45:59.030 the other teachers because they they aren't they 00:45:59.030 --> 00:46:02.210 haven't exercised that lens yeah and I think 00:46:02.210 --> 00:46:04.530 you know I absolutely I think you know teachers 00:46:04.530 --> 00:46:07.550 do an amazing job you know it's don't I genuinely 00:46:07.550 --> 00:46:10.309 am staggered that you all can keep going given 00:46:10.309 --> 00:46:12.309 what's been happening in the UK in the last however 00:46:12.309 --> 00:46:15.409 many years so you know if you're doing an absolutely 00:46:15.409 --> 00:46:19.150 staggering brilliant brilliant job I am full 00:46:19.150 --> 00:46:21.349 of admiration for teachers I do not have the 00:46:21.349 --> 00:46:23.960 fortitude to be a teacher you know Just amazing 00:46:23.960 --> 00:46:28.599 work. And there is still more to do, more to 00:46:28.599 --> 00:46:31.940 learn. But I think the things that really kind 00:46:31.940 --> 00:46:33.559 of grabs me with sensory integration is when 00:46:33.559 --> 00:46:36.820 you're working in this way, nobody's expecting 00:46:36.820 --> 00:46:40.320 you to do more. They're expecting you to do different 00:46:40.320 --> 00:46:45.199 so you can do less. Yeah. Working in a different 00:46:45.199 --> 00:46:48.539 way, letting go of conceptions or misconceptions 00:46:48.539 --> 00:46:51.539 about what things should look like, what learning 00:46:51.539 --> 00:46:55.460 should look like. in order not to waste your 00:46:55.460 --> 00:46:58.880 effort, energy, time, resources and yourself. 00:46:59.300 --> 00:47:02.820 It takes so much time trying to manage behaviour. 00:47:02.940 --> 00:47:06.059 It takes so much time writing up behaviour reports. 00:47:06.179 --> 00:47:08.760 It takes so much time phone calls with parents. 00:47:09.099 --> 00:47:11.440 You know, how much time are we wasting doing 00:47:11.440 --> 00:47:14.699 that when actually we could have spent 10 minutes 00:47:14.699 --> 00:47:17.380 having a dance break and a stretch break and 00:47:17.380 --> 00:47:21.719 a hum all together to avoid that? Yeah, yeah. 00:47:21.860 --> 00:47:24.300 And nobody goes into teaching to manage behaviour. 00:47:24.579 --> 00:47:27.300 Nobody does. Nobody thinks what I really like 00:47:27.300 --> 00:47:30.360 to do is spend my time lecturing year eights 00:47:30.360 --> 00:47:31.940 about why they must have run down the corridor. 00:47:32.139 --> 00:47:34.780 And that also, that breaks teachers down too, 00:47:34.980 --> 00:47:37.480 because we're such empaths. You know, you go 00:47:37.480 --> 00:47:39.860 into teaching and nursing and, you know, all 00:47:39.860 --> 00:47:42.519 of that because you care, you really care. And 00:47:42.519 --> 00:47:45.739 seeing your student distressed and in crisis. 00:47:46.559 --> 00:47:49.280 really does wear you down and and also if you're 00:47:49.280 --> 00:47:51.199 feeling helpless in all of that then that's going 00:47:51.199 --> 00:47:54.360 to wear you down too so having a strategy on 00:47:54.360 --> 00:47:56.719 board and having that the whole class you know 00:47:56.719 --> 00:47:58.940 behind the strategy and it not being singled 00:47:58.940 --> 00:48:01.739 out could could really help I think try and get 00:48:01.739 --> 00:48:04.940 that energy back everybody likes to have a mission 00:48:04.940 --> 00:48:06.579 don't they and I think if you've all got that 00:48:06.579 --> 00:48:09.539 outcome in mind and you're all working you know 00:48:09.539 --> 00:48:11.480 towards the same goal then that could be really 00:48:11.480 --> 00:48:14.780 great altogether rather than seeing it as a challenge 00:48:14.780 --> 00:48:18.780 or as a extra thing more more more extra oh what 00:48:18.780 --> 00:48:21.639 does she want me to do yeah I want you to I want 00:48:21.639 --> 00:48:24.800 you to be able to do less and I guess the place 00:48:24.800 --> 00:48:28.219 to start if nothing else is if you catch yourself 00:48:28.219 --> 00:48:30.980 thinking things should look or be done a certain 00:48:30.980 --> 00:48:33.900 way if you just ask yourself why do I think that 00:48:33.900 --> 00:48:36.860 that's the place to start because once you start 00:48:36.860 --> 00:48:40.179 to think actually I'm just assuming because that's 00:48:40.179 --> 00:48:43.179 the way I was taught how to do it once you start 00:48:43.179 --> 00:48:46.599 thinking could there be other ways to get to 00:48:46.599 --> 00:48:49.500 the outcome with a different process that's where 00:48:49.500 --> 00:48:53.019 it all starts to yeah question yeah I think that's 00:48:53.019 --> 00:48:55.679 a really great thing to end on actually I often 00:48:55.679 --> 00:48:58.059 give myself homework after these podcast episodes 00:48:58.059 --> 00:49:01.039 and I think that's a really great one so for 00:49:01.039 --> 00:49:04.699 this week for us all to be keep that curiosity 00:49:04.699 --> 00:49:08.159 about our own intention about our own desires 00:49:08.159 --> 00:49:11.840 you know am I a bad teacher was that a bad lesson 00:49:11.840 --> 00:49:14.940 or actually Did we just not regulate beforehand 00:49:14.940 --> 00:49:17.320 or was it just not appropriate? Or did I just 00:49:17.320 --> 00:49:18.900 do it in the wrong environment? You know, question 00:49:18.900 --> 00:49:21.019 those things. It just makes us better, doesn't 00:49:21.019 --> 00:49:23.380 it? Rather than being disappointed because you're 00:49:23.380 --> 00:49:26.000 setting yourself up to fail, basically. Yeah. 00:49:26.440 --> 00:49:29.940 And just that whole sense of, you know, one of 00:49:29.940 --> 00:49:31.880 the beautiful things about sensory integration 00:49:31.880 --> 00:49:35.420 is that... You know, we didn't know this when 00:49:35.420 --> 00:49:37.579 I was training as a speech therapist 150 years 00:49:37.579 --> 00:49:39.960 ago. We used to think that early years, yeah, 00:49:40.000 --> 00:49:41.679 your brain was knitting itself up and then you 00:49:41.679 --> 00:49:43.900 were cooked. But now that knowledge that your 00:49:43.900 --> 00:49:46.960 brain is learning, adapting, changing every minute 00:49:46.960 --> 00:49:49.380 of the day for your whole life. So no matter 00:49:49.380 --> 00:49:52.099 how bad things have been in the past, there's 00:49:52.099 --> 00:49:55.039 always the possibility for change and growth 00:49:55.039 --> 00:49:57.400 and doing things differently. There's always 00:49:57.400 --> 00:50:00.599 that possibility. It never stops. We never stop 00:50:00.599 --> 00:50:05.300 growing, changing, adapting. never amazing and 00:50:05.300 --> 00:50:07.860 that is a perfect segue because i know that everybody 00:50:07.860 --> 00:50:09.980 listening is going to want to follow you on your 00:50:09.980 --> 00:50:14.480 socials so where can they find you amy so i'm 00:50:14.480 --> 00:50:17.980 on linkedin and i'm on instagram i have because 00:50:17.980 --> 00:50:20.880 it didn't sit ethically right with me i have 00:50:20.880 --> 00:50:23.780 got rid of some of the social media channels 00:50:23.780 --> 00:50:26.920 which previously i had you know big kind of followings 00:50:26.920 --> 00:50:29.630 on but I can't do that. It's not right. So that's 00:50:29.630 --> 00:50:33.030 currently where I am or my website. So achatterofmagpies 00:50:33.030 --> 00:50:37.530 .com. There's information there and kind of links 00:50:37.530 --> 00:50:40.429 through to other sensory resources. Can I flag 00:50:40.429 --> 00:50:42.690 up a resource that I'm not involved in, but, 00:50:42.690 --> 00:50:45.289 you know, I think is a great one, which is Sensory 00:50:45.289 --> 00:50:47.829 Inclusive Schools. So that's from Sensory Integration 00:50:47.829 --> 00:50:50.369 Education. They've got lots of resources there 00:50:50.369 --> 00:50:53.119 for teachers. amazing thank you so much amy such 00:50:53.119 --> 00:50:56.199 an important conversation um and i really hope 00:50:56.199 --> 00:50:58.539 that everybody listening feels inspired yeah 00:50:58.539 --> 00:51:02.099 i certainly do so thank you so much lovely to 00:51:02.099 --> 00:51:04.099 talk to you thank you so much thanks