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self harm

behaviour disorders

ADD & ADHD

depression

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autistic spectrum

speech and language impairments

Tourette syndrome

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moderate/severe learning difficulties

dyslexia

dyscalculia

dyspraxia

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hearing/visual impairment

Duchenne muscular                dystrophy (DMD)

cerebral palsy

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This was written for prisons but has some really useful tips for everyone

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Supporting learners with ASD during lockdown

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Supporting learners with ASD during lockdown

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Kindly shared by Kirsty Walker from City of Liverpool College

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Here are lots of resources and links to the SEND Centres of Excellence

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Special Educational Needs and Disability

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This site brings together some of the most effective materials available on the Excellence Gateway, as well as brand new material. This site will be of interest to teachers, support staff, managers and leaders, working in the FE sector, who want to improve the outcomes for learners with SEND.

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I don't want to spoil this for you - it's such a good read... you will see which area of SEND it refers to (it's not what you might expect from the title). Enjoy!

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This is a guest blog from Jo Byrne a member of the marvelous Claire Collins team. It's beautiful, funny and wise in it's own right, but maybe someone else will recognise themself and book their own appointment. Over to Jo:

Way back in July 2018 I embarked on a project with Claire Collins Consultancy Ltd and the UCL Institute of Education to design and pilot phonics approaches for post-16 learners (see Bit.ly/Post16Phonics). We had a cross team residential to kick start the project and this is where my journey began.

Having never understood phonics in the past and being the only non-literacy expert in the room, I was a little scared yet straight away everyone made me feel valued and part of the team and they all decided to check potential resources out on me first as I was potentially the audience the toolkit was being designed for.

They all very quickly got used to 'I don't get this' and patiently explained and adapted until I did, which worked really well until they asked me to do activities that involved listening to sounds and identifying the differences between phonemes and we all hit a wall.

I remember one colleague sitting next to me with an activity where we had to put sounds made by the grapheme /ea/ into columns and I just couldn't understand what I had to do and my lovely colleague kept going 'UR UR UR' (that is what it sounded like to me anyway) whilst trying to explain the activity to me and I am just sitting there trying not to laugh thinking; 'OMG what is she doing?'

My other colleagues were scratching their heads wondering what on earth was going on when they said; "Have you ever had your hearing tested?" followed by; "I think you need to have your hearing tested" so, being the obedient type of girl I am, I promptly took myself off to Specsavers.

Specsavers declared I had moderate to severe hearing loss in both ears, which is not in their opinion age related and that I needed to be referred to the ear nose and throat (ENT) department at the hospital so they could find out what was going on. They said that they suspected I have always had this. They also said I wouldn't understand phonics because I don't hear over half of the sounds.

Relief washed through me as I was beginning to worry that I wasn't clever enough to understand phonics but I decided that I didn't need to go ENT as, surprisingly, I was not a fan of noise anyway and their diagnosis was just fine by me.

But of course it got me thinking, and more importantly it got my family, friends and colleagues thinking: 'This must be why you don't hear the cooker bleeping? Or the doorbell?' Then I had the realisation that I don't ignore people when they ring, I just don't hear it and also why when I do hear it, I can't hear the person speaking very well. So I decided to get a house phone and a doorbell for the hard of hearing as I felt they would benefit me.

My life suddenly improved; I was no longer on edge waiting for deliveries, I could hear the new doorbell and I loved it! I suddenly knew when people came to the door. Throughout my life, I have had an open-door policy so, rather than knock, friends and family would just come in and the postman, bless him, knew to bang on my window and wave. However, the amount of complaints I have made to various delivery organisations over the years telling them how disgusted I was that they pushed that little card through saying I wasn't in when I was does make me feel a little bad! As for the new phone, well what can I say, initially this did make me slightly angry because they seem to only do very basic house phones for the hard of hearing and I felt like my phone upgrade was really a relic from 20 years ago BUT I loved it and have over the last year or so become quite the chatterbox and will happily pick the phone up to ring family, friends and colleagues (much to their annoyance) because, as soon as I press the little button that makes it all 40 db higher, I can hear everything.

However, a little knowledge is rather powerful and suddenly you know why things happen and, more importantly, others around you are more aware.

I quickly used my hearing as an excuse and everyone fully accepted my excuses. I have always muddled my words up and some words I simply cannot pronounce correctly. For example, a new word entered my vocabulary some months back; 'competencies'. My tongue gets all twisted and it cannot come out correctly. In meetings, rather than feeling dumb, I would just say; 'I have a hearing impairment.' In meetings and events, rather than straining to hear or pretending to hear, I would just sit back and say; 'I have a hearing impairment.'

Family, friends and colleagues also started realising that I didn't hear them in group conversations, and that I just pretended to and they started adapting to me. For example, my best friend brought a mic to use at events so that I could hear. I was a bit shocked and said; 'Why do you think I want to hear, I don't even like noise and I like my quiet life!' but she persevered and made me hear and a bit of me enjoyed it if truth be told.

I started to feel a little guilty, everyone around me was adapting but I wasn't. In fact, I was behaving like Lou Mycroft's folded arms brigade (FAB)! (see https://pdnorth.org.uk/2018/08/29/fab-opening-the-arms/) So I decided maybe I would go to the doctors and visit the ENT department and see what they had to say.

Surprisingly, ENT confirmed that I did indeed have moderate to severe hearing loss in both ears and declared that I needed hearing aids. I said that I wasn't keen on them as I didn't like noise but could accept that they would be useful if I was at events, meetings and social gatherings. They then surprised me and said; 'Well, actually, you need them all of the time for your own quality of life.' They explained that there are so many sounds out there that I was missing out on.

I agreed, although secretly decided I was only wearing the hearing aids at events, meetings and social gatherings but I was curious about which sounds I wasn't hearing. However, my 'FAB' side decided they obviously were not worth hearing so I wasn't really missing out.

I reluctantly went to my appointment to have them fitted and, after a bit of impressive testing, the nurse put the hearing aids in my ears and warned me she was turning them on. Then she handed me a piece of paper with the care instructions on.

Paper... I must have stared at that piece of paper with a bewildered look on my face because the nurse got quite tearful and said; 'Yes Jo, paper makes a noise!' and she scrunched it up. I was in total shock. I never knew paper made a noise and such a beautiful noise at that. I decided there and then these hearing aids were never coming out and I really need them. It was at that moment Post-16 Phonics well and truly changed my life.

Teeth... My very excited granddaughter ran around Tesco's tapping everything saying; 'Can you hear this Grandma? Can you hear this?' I was like; 'Yes I can hear everything darling.' Then, she scratched a display and I almost had a meltdown in the aisle. The noise made my teeth funny. I was like; 'OMG. what on earth are you doing, please don't do that again!', in between nearly laughing and crying at the same time. It felt so weird and it was not a nice feeling (I can imagine it now) and then I realised that I had experienced what people claim blackboards and chalk does to them.

My life has become lots of moments of first-time experiences.

Water... now I knew water made a noise BUT not the noise I could now hear and my brain keeps filling up with describing words that I had been taught as a child. Crystals is how I would describe water, it is like tiny crystals hitting the surface and I find myself smiling whenever I have to flush the loo, it is such a wonderful sound.

Peeing... I went in to a communal toilet at an event and realised I could hear others having a pee. I sort of sniggered to myself like a 4-year-old and went to the cubicle for a wee. Whilst sitting there, it dawned on me that if I could hear others, that meant that they could hear me. Feeling a little bit mortified, I ran back to the room and asked my bestie if it everyone could hear people pee, she started laughing and said; 'Yes Jo, we can hear you pee.' 😊

Frost... it crunches under your feet. I can't wait for it to snow and I am excited about walking on the beach.

Now don't get me wrong, it is not all unicorns and rainbows. I have no background noise at the moment; everything is right at the front of my head swirling around and bombarding my brain. When I get tired, my fingers and toes cringe at sensations such as carpet and toilet paper as they now feel alien to me (it must be a combination of feel but with sound and my senses being overloaded) but I am sure this will all go away as I get used to them. I can also hear stuff that isn't nice, such as people sniffing, which is very annoying yet realised I sniff away when I have a cold or hayfever so I must be also be annoying. Trains passing by or setting off in stations send my whole body into a complete shiver they are so loud. And my ears itch, boy do they itch, so whilst I am bouncing around life enjoying all these new things, there are also at least 7 or 8 times a day when I just want to rip them out of my ears.

Regrets... my poor parents are beating themselves up because they wish they had picked it up when I was young and I am like; 'How could any of us have known 50 years ago that I didn't hear things like paper?' I was never going to say; 'Mummy, Daddy did you know I can't hear some stuff?' I didn't know so how could they?

On reflection, I do think my saving grace as a child may have been my brother. When he first started school, he had an American tutor on placement and she immediately picked up that he was dyslexic, and she fought really hard to get him one to one support and trained Mum how to help him, not only with spelling but with his speech as he couldn't pronounce words correctly. (OMG, as I am writing this I wonder if he also needs to go Specsavers). I can remember having to repeat over and over 'little' and 'hospital' (I pronounced it 'likkle' and 'hospikal') with my brother and most days after school were spent practising reading and speaking with him and Mum. In hindsight, I can only think that this must have helped me immensely.

Another saving grace I think was my Grandma. Grandma was from Ireland and spoke in a thick Southern Irish County Cork accent and I never ever understood a word she said, but she demanded that I sit and listen to all of her stories and boy could she talk and Grandma would also slap me around the head if I didn't listen to her, so I quickly learnt to be an active listener and nod and shake my head as if I was hanging on to every word she said, although I still got a wallop if I agreed to something I should have disagreed too.

Realisations...I refuse to drive anywhere without the window open, yet today in the car I realised it is noisy and distracting and actually closed the window. My poor family have had to put up with that all my driving life.

And as I am writing this, I have just realised that the clock in my living room ticks. I thought it was a silent one.

It is like seeing the world around me in a new way and it is soooooo exciting.

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Guest Blog: Post-16 Phonics Changed my Life

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This is a guest blog from Jo Byrne a member of the marvelous Claire Collins team. It's beautiful, funny and wise in it's own right, but maybe someone else will recognise themself and book their own appointment.

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Tips and ideas about working with those who have difficulty with executive functioning (ADHD)

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Neurodiversity - notes to support understanding

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Neurodiversity - notes to support understanding

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From the Neurodiversity Paradigm, Nick Walker

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Mind booklet 2017
https://www.mind.org.uk/media-a/2963/anxiety-2017.pdf

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On the Fringes:  Preventing exclusion in schools through inclusive, child-centred, needs-based practice. (Jackie Ward)

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On the Fringes:  Preventing exclusion in schools through inclusive, child-centred, needs-based practice. (Jackie Ward)

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Just asking each learner how they are can start communication dialogue as many learners are not asked about themselves.  Some may share, which opens up discussion and possible recognition that others feel the same.  Building a supportive classroom environment. Learners then begin to ask others over time.

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Secure Estate

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An example of how the wrong help might affect someone with ADHD.

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An example of how the wrong help might affect someone with ADHD.

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Applicable to other conditions too...

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People with disabilities are often taught the anti-skill of pretending to ourselves and others that we have no disability-related limitations.

Most people (disabled or otherwise) have the related anti-skill of assuming that everyone present has pretty much the same physical and cognitive abilities. (Or, in other words, that no one present has a disability that significantly affects physical or cognitive functioning.) This often leads to the assumption that people who aren't doing a task either haven't been told what to do, or aren't sufficiently motivated to do it.

These two anti-skills can make it very, very hard to solve problems when something goes wrong for disability-related reasons.

This kind of conversation tends to happen a lot:

Someone: You need to do the thing.

Disabled person: I'm having trouble with the thing.

Someone: "Can't you just do the thing this way that sounds reasonable but is actually impossible for you?"

Disabled person: "You're telling me it's possible in tones of absolute conviction and are making me forget that I won't be able to do it that way. Ok, I'll do the thing from now on."

The disabled person, predictably, fails to do the impossible thing.

Someone with an entirely reasonable need for the thing to get done: Why didn't you do the thing?!

Disabled person: I don't know. I'm sorry, I'll try harder, I'll do it from now on.

This, predictably, doesn't work either.

The task doesn't get done, because it's impossible to do things that way.

In these situations, disability is neither acknowledged nor accommodated, and things end badly for everyone.

Or, to give a less abstract example:

Aubrey has severe ADHD. She's been fired from several jobs for failing to keep track of things and missing key deadlines, and she's on thin ice at her current position. Blair, Aubrey's boss, is running out of patience for the problems caused by Aubrey's overdue work.

Blair: Aubrey, you've missed several deadlines, and it's causing serious problems for the team. What's going on?

Aubrey: I'm having trouble keeping track of everything.

Blair: Most of us here use to-do lists on our cubicle whiteboards. I've noticed you don't have a to-do list on your whiteboard. Can you do that from now on?

Aubrey (who has never, ever used a to-do list successfully): Ok, I'll start using a marker board and meet my deadlines from now on.

Blair believes that everyone can use to-do lists, and has never thought of the possibility that anyone might not be able to.

Blair is making a suggestion that from his perspective is completely reasonable and possible.

Aubrey responds to Blair's certainty, and forgets that her limitations will prevent that from working for her.

She believes, in the moment, that if she tries hard and takes enough responsibility, she'll be able to use the to-do list and meet her deadlines this time.

Even though that's never worked before, and there's no real reason to believe that it will work any better this time.

Trying hard doesn't make disability go away, and it doesn't make impossible things possible.

Aubrey, predictably, fails to use the marker board, because that strategy doesn't work for her. And she, predictably, gets fired, because the tasks need to get done and she's not doing them.

From Blair's perspective, Audrey was given a lot of patience, guidance, and multiple chances.

Blair has a legitimate need for the work to get done.

This is probably going to keep happening, so long as Audrey tries to rely on willpower to solve problems rather than honest assessment of her capabilities.

When others expect us to do impossible things, it can be hard to remember that they are impossible. Particularly if we're told that they're easy or that everyone can do them. Especially if we are surrounded by people who are successfully doing the thing.

All of this can be very disorienting, especially if someone whose opinion we care about is angry or disappointed. It can be surprisingly difficult to keep in mind that disability is real.

It's also crucially important. Agreeing to do something impossible that "everyone" can do doesn't magically give us the ability to do it. It just sets us up for failure.

We are all much better off if we face reality and spend time doing things that are possible. Everyone else does. It's well-known that expecting people to do impossible things is counterproductive and demoralizing. Only exceptionally unreasonable employers expect people to lift 300lbs, sprout wings and fly, turn lead into gold, or decrypt 128-bit encryption keys in their heads.

It's just as unreasonable to expect disabled people to do things that our impairments make impossible. One limitation we share with everyone is that pretending that something is possible won't make it possible. We are much better off acknowledging reality, working with our brains and bodies rather than against them.

This is hard. Remembering the truth often requires us to fight through shame and disorientation, or to violate serious taboos. No one succeeds at this 100% at the time, but it does get easier with practice. It's also really, really worth it.

Whenever you are able to stop trying to do an impossible thing through sheer force of will, it makes it more possible to do things. You don't have to overcome disability to do things that matter. You just have to find things to do that are actually possible, with the abilities you actually have. The things that you really can do are worth doing.

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You can do more when you remember that you're disabled.

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People with disabilities are often taught the anti-skill of pretending to ourselves and others that we have no disability-related limitations. Most people (disabled or otherwise) have the related anti-skill of assuming that everyone present has pretty much the same physical and cognitive abilities.

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Mental health support for young people

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7 September

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World Duchenne Organisation

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September 9, 2022 Nottwil, Switzerland

Duchenne-Konferenz Schweiz

Wir lassen Fachpersonen, Betroffene, Eltern und Geschwister zu Wort kommen und freuen uns auf eine informative Konferenz mit Raum für Gespräche, Austausch und Vernetzung.

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September 9, 2022 Nottwil, Switzerland Wir lassen Fachpersonen, Betroffene, Eltern und Geschwister zu Wort kommen und freuen uns auf eine informative Konferenz mit Raum für Gespräche, Austausch und Vernetzung.

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10 October 2020

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Good mental health for all

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Mental Health Foundation | Good mental health for all

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Explore information to help you understand mental health and get advice on how you look after your own mental health or support someone you know with theirs.

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Women & girls with Autism Spectrum Disorder

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Women & girls with Autism Spectrum Disorder

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Understanding life experiences from early childhood to old age

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Re-think mental illness

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ETF Poster

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10 October 2020

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Duchenne Muscular blog

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Log into Facebook to start sharing and connecting with your friends, family, and people you know.

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Disability and work (Ehler's Danlos Syndrome)

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Disability and work (Ehler's Danlos Syndrome)

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Hanna Barham-Brown

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Disability and work: Let’s stop wasting talent | Hannah Barham-Brown | TEDxExeter

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A blog by Alfie's dad...'raising awareness for carers..'

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Waker upper, dresser, breakfast maker, medicine giver, brew maker, employee, role juggler, house tidier, listener, dedicated driver, problem solver, sleep sacrificer, night watch person. This list could go on and on.

These roles define just some of a carers duties in a typical day. You'll notice I used a Beatles song as the title of this blog, other songs of theirs that could've be used are 'Eight Days a Week', 'Day Tripper', 'Fixing a Hole', 'Getting Better', 'Good Morning Good Morning', 'A Hard Day's Night', 'Help'... You get where I'm coming from!

This week is Carers Week, an annual campaign to raise awareness of caring, to highlight the challenges unpaid carers face and to recognise the contribution they make to families and communities throughout the UK. It also helps people who don't think of themselves as having caring responsibilities to identify as carers and access much needed support.

This years theme is to Make Caring Visible and Valued.
Who is a carer?
A carer is someone who provides unpaid care and support to a family member or friend who has a disability, illness, mental health condition, or who needs extra help as they grow older. It isn't someone who volunteers or is employed to provide support.

Our story
For those of you that may not have read my blogs before our son, Alfie was diagnosed with Duchenne Muscular Dystrophy, a progressive muscle wasting disease in 2018 at the age of 3. It's a life limiting illness that has no cure. Some people may think the term life limiting means that Alfie may not get a regular 9-5 job or he may be limited in the things he can do when he gets older. The harsh reality and one that we as parents we carry with us every second of every day is that life limiting means that person is expected to die prematurely. We'll help him every step of the way to achieve the unachieveable that's for sure and he is very resilient so that will stand him in good stead in the years to come.

As both myself and my wife, Louise are carers for Alfie, I thought I'd share a snippet of a typical day in our lives as his carers.
Morning
Alfie's an early bird. He's always up with the lark! For instance, a couple of weeks ago he was wide awake on three consecutive school days at 4.30am, 5.10am and 5.00am. Once he's up, he's up there is no going back! He's not naughty or having a meltdown. He's simply just looking forward to the day ahead, which is great and something we wouldn't change but just not great at that time in the morning (or should I say in the middle of the night!!)

Our 8 year daughter, Mila-Rose is a little worrier. She gets very upset leaving us in the morning due to separation anxiety. Something which has escalated recently due to shielding during the first lockdown and homeschooling during the winter lockdown. She often doesn't go to sleep until 9/10pm so in the mornings she's that tired we end bearing the brunt of her grumpiness!! Sometimes it's simply a big Mummy/Daddy cuddle that can fix the problem but other times it's tears until the drop off at school. Thought: Maybe that's why I have tinnitus - another problem that drives you insane!!!

From reading the above you can see that the mornings don't start off that straight forward and generally that's 5 days a week! We'll generally get the kids dressed first then they'll have their breakfast which follows with Alfie having his daily meds (10mg Prednisolone). We're out the door by 8.30am on the school run. Once they're dropped off at school, Louise will drop me off at work. Now most people would use this as a time to switch off and go into work mode. When you're a carer and also the main breadwinner that's not really possible. You never really switch off, you're either worrying if they're both ok at school, if your wife is ok or you're worrying about the next pending hospital appointment. Somedays, I'll suddenly find myself trying to remember if I gave Alfie his medication.

I didn't but Louise did, I'd think to myself? Better call her to check! It's simply that you have that many things going around your head that you can doubt whether or not you've done something. Throw in a problem at work and you feel like you're going to have a nervous breakdown there and then. It could only be the slightest work issue but sometimes it can be just enough to tip you right over the edge but somehow you manage to battle through it albeit with difficulty.
Afternoon
Louise works Tuesdays and Thursdays so on those days I'll leave work at 2.45pm to scurry across to pick them both up from school. Add in another stress if you get stuck in traffic! Alfie can get fixated on things and if he gets it into his head that he wants to go somewhere after school we have a battle on our hands just to get him in the car. He's a stubborn little monkey at times and if this scenario arises it can take up to half an hour to get him in his car seat! Once they're picked up, it's off home to get them changed, give them their tea before we'll go back out again to pick Louise up from work at 5.30pm.
Evening
We're home for just before 6pm then the bedtime routine starts. Bath time, PJ's on, reading time, physio stretches for Alfie then they'll both have some milk. Alfie wears night splints to help stretch his muscles whilst he's sleeping so we'll put those on and get him settled. He usually goes to bed at around 7.30pm and generally because he's been up for so long he's usually out like a light! Sometimes that also happens to myself or Louise when we're lying with him! Wake up at 11pm not knowing what day it is!! Alfie did go through a period where he would have a meltdown for 1-2 hours at bedtime but this has now stopped as he takes melatonin, a supplement that quite a lot of boys with Duchenne take to help them settle at night.

Mila-Rose however is just waking up! We'll take her up around 8pm but we'll have frequent living room visits from her after that saying she can't sleep or to give us another goodnight kiss! She just needs a bit of reassurance now and again that everything is going to be alright. This then means if we've not managed to grab something to eat earlier then we'll be dining sometimes as late as 9.30pm. A quick fix meal and as you shovel it down quickly (indegestion to follow no doubt!) you realise you're not quite eating as healthily as you'd like to be.

So as well as our caring role, we're holding down our jobs whilst never really switching off. Occasionally we just want a bit of an evening to ourselves maybe to get stuck into a boxset without falling asleep and waking up on the couch at stupid o'clock! The knock on effect of this typical day is that we're absolutely knackered by the middle of the week! Both physically and mentally. It feels like our days are lived at a 100mph pace. Some days it really is a struggle to get out of bed and motivate yourself.

I'm not writing this because I want your pity or for you to feel sorry for us. We never ever thought we'd ever be carers, especially for one of our own children. You don't choose to be an unpaid carer, life chooses you. We're very lucky as we have fantastic family support to give us that little bit of respite. Other carers are not so lucky, they have it much much tougher and could be caring for someone round the clock - day in, day out. No respite and sometimes no one to talk too. Imagine how lonely and isolating that would be? Throw in the pandemic situation and a carer could be simply cut off from society.
Local Carers Centre
We are registered with Wigan and Leigh Carers Centre who provide fantastic support for carers. They host lots of events and activities for the young and the old but unfortunately for me these mainly take part in the daytime so I'm unable to attend due to being at work. At the Centre, they support both young and adult carers to recognise their own needs, have their voices heard, help with their physical and mental wellbeing and ensure they are fully understood, valued and supported in their caring role. As well as supporting us on numerous occasions they also helped to get us registered with our GP's as carers and we were told that we would get an annual health check.

I recently had my Carers Health Assessment over the phone with the Nurse from my local GP. It lasted all of two minutes! I was asked the following questions...

My age?

My weight?

Did I Drink?

Did I Smoke?

Did I have a Blood Pressure machine?

No questions were asked about my wellbeing, my mental health or if our family required any support or direction. Personally, I think Carers deserve more time than a couple of minutes on the telephone, the support has to be available from every angle possible in order to gain an insight to the Carers needs.

I feel that it's also vitally important to know how the health and wellbeing is of the Carer. The carer is often the most important, if they aren't 100% then how can they fully carry out their duties for the person they're caring for?
Battles
We've had our battles in the last three years, we tried to get a social worker on board to help us manage our caseload but she just said you've pretty much covered everything yourself and there is not much more I can do for you at this time!! Luckily, we're proactive in getting the right support at the time that it's needed but sometimes not without a fight. We had a 2 year battle to get an EHC Plan for Alfie, we've had to decide whether to put him on daily steroids or 10 days on, 10 days off steroid treatment, we've had adaptations done to our home but have had to fight to get it the way we wanted it to be. We are trying to build the best future for our family but some carers simply won't have the time or the energy to manage these things to get the support they require.
Rewarding
Caring however is also hugely rewarding and I do believe it has made us better people. What we have been through in the last 3/4 years has certainly made us stronger, I now always refer to the term, "You never know how strong you are until being strong is the only choice you have." Being a carer can also have an impact on other aspects of your life ie. your marriage - you're not always on the same page in terms of decision making and that can bring added strain. We may look like we're always coping and going about our everyday duties with a smile on our face but the cracks are there. They're always there. At times, you simply just wish you could have a 'normal day'. A day without something to juggle or spinning round in your mind. You lie in bed at night wondering if you've made the right choice or the right decision, for instance in regards about Alfie's medication. You're constantly questioning yourself.
Wellbeing
We're constantly told to take care of our health and wellbeing but it can be hard to find the time to meet your own needs. Sometimes we struggle to sleep well or find time to exercise. Managing our stress levels is also a struggle, you find yourself shutting down and a simple problem can escalate into what feels like a big problem. Then something else will be thrown into the mix and they just pile up.

You can also feel lonely or isolated as a carer, especially as some people might not realise just how tough it can be. They can say that they understand and you know you'll always have their support but until you've lived it 24/7, 7 days a week then only then would they realise what you're experiencing.

If you're a family member, a friend, an employer, a colleague of someone you know who has caring duties, why not just simply ask them if they're ok and if they're getting the right support. Maybe they just need a listening ear or someone to talk to about their life away from their carers role. The smallest things can sometimes make the biggest difference.

It could just help to make them visible and most importantly, feel valued.

Well done to every single carer out there. You're doing an amazing job!

Kieron x

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Waker upper, dresser, breakfast maker, medicine giver, brew maker, employee, role juggler, house tidier, listener, dedicated driver, problem solver, sleep sacrificer, night watch person. This list could go on and on. These roles define just some of a carers duties in a typical day. You'll notice I used a Beatles song as the title of...

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A blog by Alfie's Dad - 'Adapting to the new normal..'

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In his short time on planet earth Alfie has endured a lumber puncture (which thankfully led to him being lactose intolerant and not meningitis as first feared), he's suffered a broken collarbone, a diagnosis of a life limiting illness and to top it all off, he's currently living through a pandemic! He could write a book - The Not So Secret Diary of Alfie Sales aged 7 and a bit! - hmmm, could be a bestseller in the making there!

He's already had his fair share of hospital appointments in his time, probably more than some people have in their lifetime! He and other boys we meet with Duchenne still fill us all with inspiration and most importantly, hope. Alfie loves life and gets up everyday with a huge zest for the day ahead. How can that not give you have a positive outlook on life?
Winter lockdown
The Winter lockdown was tough. Post-Christmas is hard enough at the best of times but facing a lockdown during the dark winter days was really tough. Homeschooling was relentless. Zoom call after zoom call, independent task after independent task. Made even harder by the fact that kids need routine, especially Alfie. Take him out of his routine and it really stresses him out. After finally receiving his EHC plan at the start of the summer term (after a 2 year battle to get it in place!) this lockdown led to him being even further behind in his learning as he didn't have his one to one (well he had us but to him we are his Mum and Dad not his teachers!).

Mila-Rose also became very dependant on us both. I suppose it's only natural given the amount of time we've all been together. The separation anxiety well and truly kicked in once they both returned to school. Thankfully now they have both settled back in really well at school and both received glowing praise from their teachers in the end of term reports. We've also signed Mila-Rose up for a girls football club so hopefully that will give her some confidence in herself and she'll also get a bit of quality time alone with myself or Louise.
Hospital Appointments
Back in late March, we had an appointment at Manchester Children's Hospital. It was Alfie's calcium clinic. He hates hospital appointments and gets really stressed about them. At this clinic, we discuss his bone scans, diet and his Vitamin D intake as Alfie takes a fortnightly supplement to boost his levels. He'll usually have a blood test and this is why Alfie fears every appointment due to the thought of having an injection. During the pandemic, the hospital appointments have been limited but they all seem to have come at once in the past few weeks. Usually both myself and my wife, Louise would attend the appointments with him but at his bone density scan, only one of us was allowed into the hospital with him. This was the same for the Calcium Clinic and it's hard leaving him and seeing him so distressed. We drove to Manchester only to find out when we got there that the appointment had been cancelled! Alfie had got himself all worked up and was inconsolable before we set off. We hadn't received a phone call or letter to say it had been cancelled. Fortunately, we didn't have to put Alfie through the ringer again as it was done as a telephone appointment at a later date. His Doctor was really pleased with his bone scans and said that his bone density was that of his peers which is very reassuring as you always have the anxiety in the back of your mind that things may have changed and the call was ended with a "long may this continue" from the Doctor.

As we hopefully near the end of these COVID restrictions, it's nice to have some form of normality. 12-18 months out of anyone's lifetime is a big sacrifice but when you're 7 years old and have a life limiting illness, the sacrifices are far greater.
A trip to the Cinema
This week we had a massive breakthrough as both Mila-Rose and Alfie had seen on TV that Peter Rabbit 2 was finally being shown at the Cinema. Now Alfie doesn't have a great track record at the cinema as he's not that keen on large open spaces and noise. This is quite common for boys with Duchenne as I have mentioned it in previous blogs. He decided he was going albeit a little apprehensively so on Wednesday morning they both bounced up out of bed to announce it was Peter Rabbit day! We'd booked the 16:50 showing after school so they were very excited. Mid-morning that day I received an email from Cineworld to say that the screening we had booked had been cancelled due to scheduling! There was no way we could pick them up after school and disappoint them so we managed to get into an earlier screening but it goes to show that although we're heading towards some form of normal it's not quite the normal we once knew.

Alfie tucking into his lactose free pizza!!

Alfie was very nervous going into the cinema so he wore his ear defenders and I carried him in so he could close his eyes until we were seated. We managed to get there before the lights were dimmed so that eased his anxieties. Within 5 minutes of sitting down the ear defenders were off, he was tucking into his popcorn and chuckling away at the movie! A high relief as both myself and Louise were anxious as to how he would react and also it can put a dampener on Mila-Rose's experience. A great family evening out was finished off with a trip to Twentyman's for their favourite pizza!
Summer holidays
As we approach Summer - well you wouldn't think it with the weather at the moment! - we would usually try to get away abroad with our family at least once a year to make those 'precious memories' but that looks highly unlikely for us until 2022 at least. The UK staycation is proving to be very popular in these coming months but the UK's seaside towns will also be extremely crowded and the prices for short breaks are already skyrocketing eg. £2k for a week in a caravan at a Haven Park in North Wales! You're not exactly guaranteed to have glorious sunshine like you would in Spain either!
Relationships
Being at home for such a long amount of time also affects your own relationship. Yes, you get married to be with that person for the rest of your life but no one mentioned in the terms and conditions that you'd be living with them almost 24/7 for over a year!!! It's not healthy for any relationship to be in that situation and as well as dealing with everything else we have to deal with day to day, throwing a pandemic into the mix really tops up the stress levels! I think what we have been through these past few years would put a massive strain on any relationship and in some cases possibly end in separation but we're still going strong and now as we've both had our full vaccinations we're looking forward to a few well deserved date nights! Not sure what we're going to talk about though!!!
Safe Haven
The safe haven of our home, the place where we were are supposed to relax after a tough day has endured a large amount of stress, meltdowns and sometimes even silence this past year. It's not a school. It's not a workplace. It's our home. On the positive side, we've also spent some quality time together in which we've made some amazing memories, sometimes through a bit of creativity and other times just being in the moment.

Hopefully now we're on the right road(map!!) out of this lockdown and we'll soon be back to living life to the max just as Mila-Rose and Alfie like it!

Take care,

Kieron x

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In his short time on planet earth Alfie has endured a lumber puncture (which thankfully led to him being lactose intolerant and not meningitis as first feared), he's suffered a broken collarbone, a diagnosis of a life limiting illness and to top it all off, he's currently living through a pandemic!

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Angela Duckworth

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Grit: The Power of Passion and Perseverance

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Grit: The Power of Passion and Perseverance [Duckworth, Angela] on Amazon.com. *FREE* shipping on qualifying offers. Grit: The Power of Passion and Perseverance

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How iPhone 12's Lidar and AI help me navigate the street as a blind person

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How iPhone 12's Lidar and AI help me navigate the street as a blind person

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BBC news

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Technology that can describe the environment around it can be life-changing for blind people or those who have sight loss.

Apple's iPhone 12 Pro uses a Lidar (light detection and ranging) sensor and artificial intelligence to enable users to identify objects and detect how close people are to other people around them.

In the age of the coronavirus pandemic where maintaining social distancing is important, such technology could prove particularly useful.

Blind reporter Lucy Edwards tries the technology on her local high street for BBC Click.

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iPhone helps me navigate the street without sight

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Technology that can describe the environment around it can be life-changing for blind people or those who have sight loss. Apple's iPhone 12 Pro uses a Lidar (light detection and ranging) sensor and artificial intelligence to enable users to identify objects and detect how close people are to other people around them.

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Sara Novic

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Before the pandemic, my husband and I would often meet our friends for a beer at the weekend. For many, grabbing a drink with friends is the epitome of a relaxing evening. But for deaf people in a hearing crowd, a pub can be a perfect storm of bad lighting, loud background noise and full mouths that make communication difficult. Sometimes, I enjoy myself and my friends, and I try to ensure that I can understand the conversation. But sometimes I am not in the mood for this work. I stare at my beer, let my eyes glaze over. I am there, but not there.

Deaf people have a term for the isolation that grows out of being surrounded by non-signing hearing people: 'Dinner Table Syndrome'.

The dinner table, a symbol of family life and bonding in popular hearing culture, often represents loneliness and inaccessibility to deaf people. In the UK and US, 90% of deaf children are born to hearing parents, and the majority of those families don't learn a signed language to communicate with their child. Dinner Table Syndrome describes the phenomenon in which "deaf people are perpetually left out of conversations", says Dr Leah Geer Zarchy, a deaf associate professor of American Sign Language (ASL) and deaf studies at California State University, Sacramento. "If something is funny and everyone erupts in laughter, the deaf person will lean in to the closest person and ask what was so funny. More often than not they'll be told, 'Oh, it was nothing' or 'I'll tell you later'. Except that later never comes."

Automatic captions can be turned on in recorded video events, but the accuracy of those captions vary from 'close enough' to nonsensical (Credit: Alamy)

Inaccessibility at our literal or metaphorical dinner tables can lead to language loss, or even language deprivation, for deaf children. People learn language and get information not only from direct teaching but also indirect exposure, says Dr Jon Henner, a deaf assistant professor of professions in deafness at the University of North Carolina, Greensboro. But with multiple conversants and mouths full of food, the value of speech cues at a dinner table are limited. Family members also tend to move back and forth between topics quickly, making speechreading even more difficult, because there's less contextual information.

The coping mechanism for deaf people at events like these is to disengage. "Often at events like these I would just go off and read," says Henner. "A lot of us have stories like this."

For the deaf community, interactions with non-signing friends, family members and colleagues have always contained barriers. But as our work and social lives have moved almost explicitly online due to the Covid-19 pandemic, these issues are exacerbated. As society develops new virtual means of working and living, deaf people are often left out of the conversation, further widening the inequality gap.
'Emboxed discourse'
In March, when quarantine first began, there was a moment in which some members of the disabled community wondered whether the pandemic might finally be the great equaliser. Neurodiverse people and those with chronic illness were finally being allowed to demonstrate that working outside an office could be just as productive. And, since remote working with children at home meant many adopted flexible or non-traditional working hours, people eschewed phone calls for emails, another relief for the deaf and hard-of-hearing.

For my own part, I was a video-conferencing novice, having used Zoom only a handful of times before, and thought technology could actually come to our aid in large-scale conversation settings - could it be that work meetings or trivia nights might now be closed captioned? But video conferencing platforms are actually just another dark bar, another dinner table. However, unlike the table at the pub, disengagement isn't an option as the majority of our lives are now played out on screens.

Dr Julie Hochgesang, deaf associate professor in the linguistics department at Gallaudet University in Washington DC, calls conversations that happen in these video-conferencing spaces "emboxed discourse"- they are shaped by the constraints of our screens. Hochgesang says emboxed discourse settings like Zoom can impede access, not only by perpetuating or worsening the standard "dinner table" barriers, but also creating new problems specifically for signed conversation.

As Hochgesang points out, often these issues aren't bugs or malfunctions, but actual design features: Zoom's auto-focus feature doesn't know whether to focus in on the hands or face, often blurring a signer or causing a flashing-light effect in their background. The jumping of Zoom windows to follow sound does nothing for conversations among signers, and for conversations in which there is a deaf minority using an interpreter, the deaf person must "pin" the interpreter's screen, foregoing the rest of the meetings' participants. Their gestures, facial expressions and funny pet photo-bombs are all lost. At an in-person meeting with an interpreter, one can still see the other participants, but Zoom meetings bring deaf people back to the childhood dinner table, once again deprived of the discourse setting's ambient information.

Video calls can impede access, not only by perpetuating or worsening standard barriers, but also creating new problems specifically for signed conversation (Credit: Alamy)

To caption a live Zoom event, one must get a typist or hire a third-party captioning service. Automatic captions can be turned on in recorded Zoom events, with the accuracy of those captions varying from 'close enough' to nonsensical, with transcriptions botching proper nouns or anything beyond standard conversational English. Like in Geer Zarchy's dinnertime example in which the deaf child is promised to be filled in "later", these retrospective recordings or transcripts often never materialise.

In a world where Zoom happy hours, trivia nights, weddings and birthdays now abound, Dinner Table Syndrome has also cropped up in mixed deaf and hearing company where communication strategies have previously been negotiated. In person, my hearing friends know to tap me on the shoulder to make sure I can see them clearly, to repeat themselves and to write out what I don't understand. Online, though, things move quickly, hearing people cut out and talk over one another and the two-dimensional nature of an emboxed discourse setting makes speechreading even harder. It's also unrealistic to put the financial burden of paid captions on private citizens in a strapped economy. But that doesn't make the feelings of isolation any less painful.

Hochgesang says she worries about that our time spent in emboxed discourse settings might influence accessibility in the future, "that all the hard-won changes we've made in our access and rights as deaf people may be eroded or even lost... [and] that visual and tactile cues will change so much in a way that benefit hearing people and further strand deaf and deaf-blind people".
Change, slowly but surely
In the meantime, deaf people must continue to do the invisible labour of advocating for our right to understand and be understood in these virtual spaces.

Over the past six months, deaf people have worked hard for access. Deaf educational audiologist Tina Childress started the website Connect-Hear to aggregate communication strategies for masked in-person and online interactions with deaf people, including technological workarounds to add captioning or circumvent platforms' "features" detrimental to signed discourse.

The platforms themselves have also made adjustments. While Zoom has yet to incorporate in-house or free captioning, Microsoft Teams and Google Meet have integrated automatic captioning as a part of their platforms. Automatic captions, produced by artificial intelligence programmes, are far from perfect and can lull hearing hosts into a false sense of inclusion, but they are better than nothing. Zoom has made several changes to its paid education platform that allow teachers to pin deaf students (who won't trigger the speaker view) and deaf students to pin both teacher and interpreter, though these are not available to the general public.

For conversations in which there is a deaf minority using an interpreter, the person must "pin" the interpreter's screen, foregoing the rest of the participants (Credit: Alamy)

As we continue the fight for accessibility, one of the best ways a hearing person can be an ally is to take on some of this advocacy work. Asking, "Will this be captioned? Interpreted?" is a valuable reminder that inclusion isn't just for deaf people - it's for everybody. Volunteering to be a typist at a Zoom event, or donating or raising funds so an organiser can pay for third-party captions or an interpreter are also concrete ways to offer support.

Emboxed discourse settings don't have to mean inequity for deaf and hard-of-hearing users. As Hochgesang points out, "deaf people excel at multimodal communication" because we do it daily as we navigate a hearing majority world, and video-conferencing and social networking tools are optimised for that. As it becomes increasingly standard for conversations to flow between verbal and written modalities, and even video, GIF and image-sharing, deaf people have the opportunity to thrive. That is, if hearing people will give us a seat at the table.

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Why 'Dinner Table Syndrome' is getting worse for deaf people

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Before the pandemic, my husband and I would often meet our friends for a beer at the weekend. For many, grabbing a drink with friends is the epitome of a relaxing evening. But for deaf people in a hearing crowd, a pub can be a perfect storm of bad lighting, loud background noise and full mouths that make communication difficult.

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Jamie & Lion

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I'm Jamie, and this is Lion. We are an autistic duo who focus on using technology to make the lives of autistic people better.

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Activity Alliance

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Inclusive Fitness Initiative (IFI) Gyms in UK | Activity Alliance

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Find your nearest IFI accredited leisure facility today. Activity Alliance (previously known as EFDS) want to get more disabled people physically active.

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Dyslexic student achieves first-class honours degree

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Dyslexic student achieves first-class honours degree

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Sky news 2/3/21

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A student who could not read until he was 13 has just earned a first-class honours university degree and is planning a career in academia and politics.

William Carter, now 22, has severe dyslexia and dyspraxia, and was put in the bottom set in all subjects at primary school and teased because he could not read.

He was referred to children's mental health services due to feeling lonely after falling behind other pupils and being unable to participate in lessons.

Mr Carter, who received free school meals, was then sent on courses to prevent him from becoming a criminal when his school attendance fell.

He tried desperately to learn how to read and write at secondary school but was again put in bottom sets throughout his education there.

He was eventually seen by a specialist, who gave him a diagnosis of severe dyslexia, which lead to a remarkable turnaround that saw him achieve high A-level results and be awarded the London Schools and the Black Child outstanding achievement award.

Mr Carter has now graduated from the University of Bristol with a first-class honours degree in politics and international relations.

He said that learning how to read and write "made the world more intelligible to me and, ultimately, made me more intelligible to the world".

"Fundamentally, dyslexia made me who I am today," he added.

He said he felt his role at school was to keep quiet in order to let the "more intelligent" pupils to learn.

"The fact that I, through luck and the support of others, 'made it' in spite of social-economic barriers shouldn't justify our system and society," he continued.

"Instead, it should challenge its core assumption - the false idea that those few who succeed are examples of a system working rather than a system in disrepair."

Mr Carter said he plans to spend his career in academia, then politics before "turning this observation into actionable policies and politics".

During his time at Bristol University, Mr Carter attended conferences around the world, spoke at the European Parliament and received several awards for his academic performance.

He and his academic adviser Dr Jonathan Floyd began planning an initiative to get political theory taught more widely in UK secondary schools.

They met with lords, MPs, educators and government officials to seek support for the scheme, which they hope to launch soon.

Mr Carter is now studying for a PhD in political geography at the University of California, Berkley, where he received a prestigious Fulbright Scholarship.

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Dyslexic student who couldn't read until aged 13 achieves first-class honours degree

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A student who could not read until he was 13 has just earned a first-class honours university degree and is planning a career in academia and politics. William Carter, now 22, has severe dyslexia and dyspraxia, and was put in the bottom set in all subjects at primary school and teased because he could not read.

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The most efficient way of being inclusive is by giving the learner ownership of how any alternative approaches/support should be  actioned.

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The most efficient way of being inclusive is by giving the learner ownership of how any alternative approaches/support should be  actioned.

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Undiagnosed Learning Difficulties - some thoughts

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Undiagnosed Learning Difficulties - some thoughts

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Some reflections about this topic.

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Sia named worst director for casting of non-Autistic person in autistic role

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Singer Sia has been named "worst director" for her controversial debut film at the Razzies, the pre-Oscars prizes for the year's worst movies.

Titled Music, her film won three Golden Raspberry Awards in total, including worst actress for Kate Hudson and worst supporting actress for Maddie Ziegler.

The movie has been criticised for casting Ziegler in the autistic lead role and for its portrayal of autism.

It was described as an "insensitive" and "ill-conceived" "autism musical".

The film follows Zu, a drug dealer, who is a recovering alcoholic, played by Hudson, who becomes the guardian of her young autistic half-sister, played by Sia's protégé Ziegler.

The Australian pop star has previously apologised for casting a neurotypical actor as a nonverbal autistic girl, and for scenes depicting the use of restraints on autistic people.

"I plan to remove the restraint scenes from all future printings," she tweeted in February, shortly before deleting her account. "I listened to the wrong people and that is my responsibility, my research was clearly not thorough enough, not wide enough."

'Fake news snooze-fest'

Now in their 40th year, the Razzies have previously honoured titles such as Cats and Showgirls. This year's winners were announced in a video on YouTube.

The award for worst film to the "fake news snooze-fest" Absolute Proof, which claimed there had been fraud in the 2020 US presidential election. Its star and director Mike Lindell also won worst actor.

Donald Trump's former lawyer Rudy Giuliani's cameo in Borat Subsequent Moviefilm, saw him win worst supporting actor. Mr Giuliani dismissed as a "complete fabrication" a clip from the film which appeared to show him with his hands down his trousers on a bed in a hotel room.

Meanwhile, Robert Downey Jr's critically-panned remake of Dr Dolittle picked up the award for "worst remake, rip-off or sequel".

A special prize went to 2020 itself for being "the worst calendar year ever".

Golden Raspberry Award winners in full:

Worst picture - Absolute Proof

Worst actor - Mike Lindell, Absolute Proof

Worst actress - Kate Hudson, Music

Worst supporting actress - Maddie Ziegler, Music

Worst supporting actor - Rudy Giuliani, Borat Subsequent Moviefilm

Worst screen combo - Rudy Giuliani & His Pants Zipper, Borat Subsequent Moviefilm

Worst director - Sia, Music

Worst remake, rip-off or sequel - Dolittle

Worst screenplay - 365 Days

Special governors' award - 2020 as the worst calendar year ever

Follow us on Facebook or on Twitter @BBCNewsEnts. If you have a story suggestion email entertainment.news@bbc.co.uk.

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Razzies: Singer Sia named worst director for controversial film Music

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Singer Sia has been named "worst director" for her controversial debut film at the Razzies, the pre-Oscars prizes for the year's worst movies. Titled Music, her film won three Golden Raspberry Awards in total, including worst actress for Kate Hudson and worst supporting actress for Maddie Ziegler.

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Rosie King

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How autism freed me to be myself | Rosie King

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Everything you needed to know about SEND funding for FE learners

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Over two parts, this course will cover:

The high needs funding system, including top tips relating to contracting, relationships with LAs, and budgeting.

How other funding, e.g. disadvantage blocks or AEB, can be used to support SEND learners, including those with EHCPs.

Current developments and directions of travel in relation to High Needs funding and contracting.

The course will be highly interactive, allowing delegates to share experiences and ask questions.

Upcoming

No suitable dates or locations? Please register your interest and we will let you know about new events as they are announced.

Who is this for?

Non-financial leaders and managers in a SEND role in FE providers.

Training aim

Improving the knowledge of funding for SEND learners among non-financial specialists.

Outcomes

At the end of the course, participants will:

Have a greater understanding of the complexities of the high needs funding system.

Have a greater understanding of contracting and budgeting, and how to work effectively with LAs.

Understand how other funding streams can be used to support learners with SEND, including those with EHCPs.

Know more about current developments and directions of travel in relation to High Needs funding and contracting.

Length

Both parts of this course will be approximately 2.5 hours long. Each part will be run over two separate days. Delegates can attend either part, or both.

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Over two parts, this course will cover: The high needs funding system, including top tips relating to contracting, relationships with LAs, and budgeting. How other funding, e.g. disadvantage blocks or AEB, can be used to support SEND learners, including those with EHCPs. Current developments and directions of travel in relation to High Needs funding and contracting.

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'Silenced:  The hidden story of Disabled Britain'

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'Silenced:  The hidden story of Disabled Britain'

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For more than a century a group of people in Britain has been shut out of society, denied basic human rights and treated with fear and prejudice (BBC Summary)

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Silenced: The Hidden Story of Disabled Britain

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The untold story of how disabled people fought back against decades of fear and prejudice.

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Disability UK have written a report hoping that its voice impacts on the National Strategy for Disabled People 2021

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In 2020, Disability Rights UK launched a new campaign - We Belong.

Disabled people make up a fifth of the population of the UK. We are not invisible. And yet we are still the largest minority which faces discrimination in this country.

We spoke with disabled people across the whole of the UK, and compiled a report based on what we were told. This report forms the basis of our submission to the Government's consultation on its National Strategy for Disabled People. Read the report here (PDF).

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Disability Rights UK has launched a new campaign - We Belong. Disabled people make up a fifth of the population of the UK. We are not invisible. And yet we are still the largest minority which faces discrimination in this country.

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How to get the best out of an ADHD employee

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How to get the best out of an ADHD employee (just LIFT!) - Bing video

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How to Get the Best Out of an ADHD Employee (Just LIFT!)

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Free resources to download from Ambitious about Autism

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Toolkits

Welcome to our Employ Autism resources hub.

We have designed a collection of toolkits to help more autistic young people access sustainable and meaningful employment opportunities.

The resources will help employers to develop their awareness and understanding of autism. They will support the hiring and retaining of talented autistic young people.

These resources are also relevant for autistic young people, their parents/carers, teachers, and other relevant professionals to support a young person to make informed choices about their future employment opportunities.

Sign up today to receive updates on work opportunities and resources for autistic people in your area.

The resource has been co-produced in partnership with Ambitious about Autism Youth Patrons as experts by experience and expert partners Creased Puddle, utilising best practice and up-to-date research, the Autism Education Trust, and the Department of Education.

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Ambitious about Autism is the national charity for children and young people with autism. We provide services, raise awareness and understanding, and campaign for change. Through TreeHouse School, The Rise School and Ambitious College we offer specialist education and support.

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Free resources to download from Ambitious about Autism

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Toolkits

Welcome to our Employ Autism resources hub.

We have designed a collection of toolkits to help more autistic young people access sustainable and meaningful employment opportunities.

The resources will help employers to develop their awareness and understanding of autism. They will support the hiring and retaining of talented autistic young people.

These resources are also relevant for autistic young people, their parents/carers, teachers, and other relevant professionals to support a young person to make informed choices about their future employment opportunities.

Sign up today to receive updates on work opportunities and resources for autistic people in your area.

The resource has been co-produced in partnership with Ambitious about Autism Youth Patrons as experts by experience and expert partners Creased Puddle, utilising best practice and up-to-date research, the Autism Education Trust, and the Department of Education.

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Ambitious about Autism is the national charity for children and young people with autism. We provide services, raise awareness and understanding, and campaign for change. Through TreeHouse School, The Rise School and Ambitious College we offer specialist education and support.

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Session One

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Deaf-friendly teaching: For Further Education Staff

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Deaf-friendly teaching: For Further Education Staff

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The aim of this resource is to help staff in further education:

Make effective provision for deaf students so that they make good progress and develop the independent learning and life skills they will need in adulthood

Take the reasonable steps required under the Equality Act 2010 to ensure that deaf students are not treated less favourably than other students.

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Deaf-friendly teaching: Further education | Documents and resources

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This resource is to help staff teaching deaf young people in further education settings.

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Session 2