Mental Capacity and young people with SEND: A quick primer
Earlier this week I attended the SEND seminar of the law firm, Boyes Turner who represent families having difficulties getting the SEN or disability support they need. The firm is …
Category: Mental Health
Why Family Therapy can break down the barriers we didn’t know were there
I post quite frequently on the SNJ Facebook and Twitter accounts, articles about mental health difficulties faced by young people today. The posts come from a wide variety of sources …
Who’s looking at your kids’ photos online -and not in a good way?
A story in the Independent newspaper has make me lurch up from my sickbed to highlight something I have known about for some time, but just not the scale of …
£35 million cuts to children’s Mental Health services: Speak up to stop CAMHS cuts!
In January 2015, the government pledged £1.25 billion funding for improving children’s mental health services. A Children’s Mental Health Taskforce was set up and produced some findings in a “Future in …
Living with Mr Worry – tips from a mum
Like many families, we have several of the Mr Men in our home. Mr Grumpy, who arrives with my son (and husband) when it’s time to wake up every morning; Mr …
Counselling and mental health services: Will they still be delivered?
The mental health of our young people has been in the headlines a lot recently with Child and Adolescent Mental Health Service (CAMHS) services have been described as ‘unfit for …
Mindfulness: How can it help with mental health difficulties?
It is Mental Health awareness week this week and the theme for this year is Mindfulness. Earlier this year, Special Needs Jungle ran a post in conjunction with the first …
CAMHS “Future in Mind” Will it really mean a change for the better?
It’s tough being a young person today. When I was a girl, you had to be a child actor to grow up in the public eye, but today, it’s like …
Talking about self-harm: Prepare to be aware
Self-harm. It’s something that many find hard to understand. Why would you intentionally hurt yourself? When we hear about it, it’s usually in relation to young people, most often girls. …
Children’s Mental Health: Our experience of CAMHS nearly broke us
The children’s charity, Place2Be have launched the first Children’s Mental Health Week this week. The Duchess of Cambridge yesterday spoke of her and her and Prince William’s belief that early …
The 12 “Dos” of Christmas for parents of disabled children
Christmas is almost upon us and it seems like it’s been a long time coming. The retail hype seems to start earlier each year so it’s no wonder many parents …
Supporting your child through the anguish of bullying
It’s almost the end of Anti-Bullying Week and as we started the week talking about bullying and SEND young people, I thought it would be fitting to end it with …
Anti-Bullying Week: Violent Bullying of SEND children widespread in England’s schools
It’s Anti-Bullying Week this week. New figures show that 40% of young people in an ongoing research study of English schools said they had been bullied in the previous year. …
World Mental Health Day – Some healthy thinking tips
Today is World Mental Health Awareness Day and I thought it would be a good opportunity to write about keeping your mental health in a good place. Time is often …
Teaching teachers and parents about social media safety
This post isn’t specifically about special needs, but it’s for all teachers and parents everywhere to help you stay safe on social media. Yes, not your kids. You. My day …
The importance of learning resilience
We have all to one extent or another, faced difficult times, whether in our family, school or working lives. We have had to learn how to find a way through …
Supporting Social and Emotional Development
I’m seen as a mum who is strong and proactive (some call this passionate, some call it bolshy, and others call it, well I leave that to your imagination). I …
Autism in Pink: Helping to identify undiagnosed girls with ASD
Autism used to be thought to be mainly a male preserve – “the extreme male brain” as described by Prof. Simon Baron-Cohen. Figures from a recent Prevalence Study by the …
Seclusion Rooms: What Every Parent and Professional Should Know
Sharon Paley is based in the UK at the British Institute of Learning Disability (BILD). She is currently undertaking a professional study tour of Australia and has received a Florence Nightingale …
Battling anxiety: Mental Health Awareness Week
It’s Mental Health Awareness Week and the theme chosen for 2014 is Anxiety, something that affects children with special needs to an extraordinary degree. All children are anxious on occasion, …