isabellefk.bsky.social
MEd MRes Interested in narratives of neurodiversity, inclusive education, double empathy, EOTAS, neuroqueering. She/her.
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This research article is really helpful for considering neurodiversity within a UK school system context. There’s a lay summary at the beginning 🙏
journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/...
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specific perceived needs (eg not focusing in lessons) in the absence of the necessary reform which would make the lessons more engaging, fun, relevant, interactive etc. journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/...
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In other words, the individual children with so-called SEND become the issue, and focus just slides off the true problem, which is that our schools are designed and run in such a way as to exclude & marginalise large numbers of children (esp NDs). The authors say that section F is ‘reactive’ to
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fixing, rather than seeing the problem as systemic. So section F tries to ‘normalise’ the child’s behaviour/communication etc rather than indicating how the setting could better accommodate a diversity of learning needs.
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This new research article is a good explainer of why we can end up with (potentially risky) junk in section F of the EHCP, despite best intentions eg of parents. Essentially, the authors say that we’re conditioned to view children who don’t conform to ed norms as outliers prob in need of
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Looking forward to updates on this!
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However, this doesn’t mean we should kick the can if a child is distressed at/due to school. For me, this shows that adjusting the school environment (eg providing safe spaces/people/improving accessibility) is prob a much safer approach for making the child feel better/safer.
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Recent UK govt study showing MH interventions in UK secondary schools make things worse 🫣
assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/media/680f52...
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Congratulations to all involved! 👏👏
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Amazing - what fab evidence & also shows a lot of care for the child.
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Brilliant! 🌟
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@autisticgirlsnet.bsky.social
autisticgirlsnetwork.org/a-step-by-st...
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Some SEND charities have excellent info & guidance. IPSEA are fab re how to do this thing 🙏 www.ipsea.org.uk
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nose-diving, earnings jeopardised, sibling wellbeing impacted etc). You have to be v well-supported, privileged etc to push it all through, and of course most parents know nothing about the legal & bureaucratic framework of this work (yes, it’s work) when they are thrown into it.
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If school is playing catch up (eg if the needs were identified by the parent & not the school itself), it’s often down to the parent to kick the LA into touch. This can be a brutal and risky process because obvs the parent is by this stage under massive pressure (school not working, MH of child
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the process with the LA.
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But a proper EHC needs assessment, involving careful co-production & with school/setting input, and focusing on the child’s best interests/self-determination, can result in a fab EHCP. Ime these don’t just magically happen but need a very committed adult (eg parent, senior staff member) to drive
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support. Again, families are dependent on the school/setting/provider - and there’s no consistency (or accountability). Hit and miss!
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Agreed. Lots of EHCPs are junk - or at best v outdated, eg perhaps based on a primary school EP assessment and never properly reviewed. Ime schools usually ignore the specifics in section F - which can be a good thing, if staff have a better understanding of the child and are offering more effective
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❤️
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I think if secondary school was more ND-friendly, more accommodating, more flexible etc, ALL children would benefit and fewer ‘interventions’ would be necessary.
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I guess, for a start, the school could *consider* SEND and/or ‘internally-presenting’ autism/ADHD. Needs more awareness. The @autisticgirlsnet.bsky.social campaigns for this and has a useful spot-the-signs doc: autisticgirlsnetwork.org/keeping-it-a...
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Ah, that’s fantastic!
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Well, I’m open to the idea, but there are vg data now on eg the prevalence of ADHD/autism in girls with eg anxiety/EDs. NDs - esp girls - are disproportionately impacted. Normative environments & lack of recognition of needs leads to a decline in MH. It’s a structural thing, and obvs needs tackling.
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mismatches occur.
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I don’t think families start from that point. I think it happens when they feel the school has dropped the ball. If you’re parenting a disabled child, putting in hours of work every day outside of school hours keeping them going (eg in relation to 🥄🥄🥄) you notice v quickly when needs vs provision
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Nadia is fab. With autistic children, I think it has to be accepted that the baseline of stress/difficulty/effort in a mainstream school environment is just hugely higher than is normal or healthy. The ‘resilience’ messaging isn’t so safe for this group imv.
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the girl might look ‘fine’. Those children who are @notfineinschool.bsky.social (ie parents can tell there is something badly wrong but school doesn’t see it) are the ones pouring out of education currently.
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That sounds good in theory, and is prob appropriate in some cases? But the risk is that the adults are basing that decision on what they see, when in the case of ‘internally-presenting’ compliant autistic girls (for example), the suffering might be quite staggeringly bad, but on the surface
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problems - eg anxiety, EDs - are usually the ‘presenting problems’ and it can take years before the underlying autism/ADHD (ie the long-term unmet needs) are identified.
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This is probably true. But ime not acting early on issues eg literacy, school distress, lesson inaccessibility, bullying etc rarely goes well. I don’t think - for example - that parents seek diagnostic assessments (eg for ADHD) unless they’ve seen a big decline in wellbeing. For girls esp, MH
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(I don’t think they’d publish my household’s ‘GCSE diary’ 🤭)
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Oof. I wonder what the author/publisher was trying to achieve there?
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Yes. And/or a sense that things_have_already_become_bad, in spite of equalities legislation and best intentions of all concerned.
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problem that traps families and negatively impacts life chances.
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Me too. I also think that because there is now better public awareness of autism & ADHD in particular, and more reporting of the shocking lack of appropriate provision for many children with SEND, parents/carers know that their own children’s difficulties at school are part of an enormous national
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It might be because the parent feels their child’s needs have been unrecognised/unmet - which is why they had to find the expert professional themselves. It’s upsetting when children aren’t thriving or are dreading school.
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Not always. But who can we always trust? Obvs there’s lots of good practice as well as poor.
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I think they’ve made an impressive effort to look at SEND comprehensively. Currently, there’s no accountability.
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Good reminder about the professional codes of conduct, though.
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got on with their learning using only the ‘normal’ equipment, eg pencils & pens.
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One of my children went to a primary school with a resource base and lots of disabled children. Assistive equipment was just to hand for anyone who wished to try it or use it. The children just thought it was all normal - they just naturally settled into using what they needed, or
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Total mess is right. There is lots of evidence of good inclusive practice, however, eg from @teamsquarepeg.bsky.social and @acornsoton.bsky.social. The quality of political debate is shocking.
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@spcialndsjungle.bsky.social has good, serious suggestions. Time for the politicians to do the right thing 🫣
www.specialneedsjungle.com/snjs-80-prac...
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I think that’s because the implementation is bad - the legislation (eg disability rights) is good.
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Having a set for a class would be a nice inclusive approach?
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professionals to evidence need in ways that clear the legal bar. If schools were more accommodating and SEND-friendly, this wouldn’t be necessary.
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Some are, some aren’t. But parents/carers are also rarely correctly informed eg re SEND law by schools. Because LAs gatekeep EHCPs, parents are learning quickly, however! I’m not always sure that school staff are aware of the legal position on eg reasonable adjustments. LAs require parents to find