Neurodiversity and Ableism – a young person’s perspective
With Kyle Thapar Kyle Thapar is a young teen who attends a mainstream provision. As he is neurodivergent, Kyle recently chose the topic of neurodiversity and ableism for a presentation …
Category: Autism
Restricting autism assessment? Not on our watch, say Bristol parents, as they launch legal action
with Fiona Castle, Assess for Autism, Bristol The below quote from a new NHS autism Framework document illustrates everything about the “NHS Utopia” described in today’s article. “For an undiagnosed …
Review: Why building a nurturing environment is vital for supporting autistic young people (Book Giveaway)
with Cathy Wassell, The Autistic Girls Network It’s time for another book giveaway! We have TWO copies of SEND parent, Cathy Wassell’s new book, Nurturing Autistic Young People, illustrated by …
Nowhere to go: The lack of provision for young people with complex needs
with Sarah London, mother to a 17-year-old, severely autistic young man We are all painfully aware of the lack of special school places and the impact that this has on …
Survey reveals “systemic bias” of professionals and parental blame linked to family profiling of autistic children with Pathological Demand Avoidance
with Alice Running and Danielle Jata-Hall Research of more than a thousand families of autistic children who also have Pathological Demand Avoidance profiles (PDA), has revealed what the authors say …
The autistic girls are out there: Losing the gender bias in diagnosing autism
by Dr Felicity Sedgewick and Hannah McLinden, University of Bristol It has always been the case that the number of boys being diagnosed with autism far outnumbers the number of …
Don’t write us off before we’ve started, say autistic pupils in new campaign to protect rights and funding
With Megan Horan, Ambitious About Autism A new campaign to stop autistic children and young people being ‘written off’ at school is being launched today by charity, Ambitious about Autism. …
Using a different lens for neurodivergent children: Don’t treat them as younger, give them the tools to achieve
A little while ago someone on my Facebook posted a meme that supposedly showed the functional age of a child with ADHD according to their chronological age. The meme contained …
Moving Towards Neurodiversity Inclusion
It’s Neurodiversity Celebration Week! When I launched Neurodiversity Celebration Week over three years ago, I never imagined that my campaign would be so widely embraced and well received. As a …
The Family Experience of PDA – Book Giveaway
with Eliza Fricker, SEND parent and illustrator Eliza Fricker is an illustrator and designer, who is also the parent to her daughter who has a type of autism known as …
Growing up disabled: Puberty, privacy & positivity with Siena Castellon and George Fielding
Around one in five people in Britain live with a disability. That’s really quite a lot of people, all who have the same jumble of flaws, strengths, fears, desires and …
My experience with EMDR as an autistic young person
After a prolonged blogging dry spell brought on by the torture of lockdown, I am back in business with my writing. This time around I will recount what EMDR (Eye Movement Desensitisation Reprocessing) has done for me. What is …
Six top tips for managing meltdown triggers for autistic pupils in school
with @Cherrylkd, Special school assistant headteacher Twitter seems to be a popular hangout for teachers, and I’m pleased to see many proudly specialising in SEND. @Cherrylkd is a popular SEND …
Exploring the “subtle spectrum” of autistic discovery
What is The Subtle Spectrum of autism? People looking for the genetic roots of autism have identified around a hundred genes linked to being autistic. The combination of these genes …
What does the Government’s new Autism Strategy actually mean for autistic children and young people?
With Tim Nicholls, Head of Policy at the National Autistic Society If you’re seeking an NHS diagnosis for autism for your child or yourself, you are still almost certain to …
Whole School SEND Spotlight: The Autism Resource Suite
Autism is one of the most commonly identified needs in England, with more than 82,000 school-age children with an Education, Health and Care Plan for ‘Autism Spectrum Disorder’, representing 30% …
Helping autistic learners recover from pandemic educational losses
with Louise Bull from the Autism Education Trust Today is the start of Autism Awareness Week 2021, with the focus for many on recovery from the pandemic (although whether we …
Why is He Still Here? Book giveaway
Today we’re offering a free copy of a new book written by the youngest author that we have featured so far on Special Needs Jungle. Max Toper is an eighteen-year-old …
Neurodevelopmental Neurodiversity Network: A collaboration to advance understanding of neurodevelopment and neurodiversity
A short while ago I happened upon a website for something called the Neurodevelopmental Neurodiversity Network, which being autistic myself, immediately piqued my interest. Its website describes it as “an interdisciplinary …
Missing the mark: Anxiety and avoidance, illustrated.
with Eliza Fricker, SEND parent and illustrator Twitter, eh? Sometimes it makes you grind your teeth, or it can offer a spark of wisdom. Or in the case of today’s …