Supporting SEND pupils and their families: 20 free top tips for instant impact
Our SEND parent community is wise and knowledgeable, and we like to tap them for their views now and again. A while ago, I set the following topic: What are …
Category: TopTips
10 top tips for moving local authority with an EHCP
with Liz Arriens Troy, a parent of a child with Down Syndrome The 2014 SEND reforms were supposed to have made EHCPs more easy to move between local authorities when …
Helping our disabled children understand that difficult experiences don’t define them or their future
Place2Be’s Children’s Mental Health Week 2022 is supporting the theme of ‘Growing Together’. The aim is to help and support children to understand and learn from previous experiences that they …
I think my child has a special educational need. What can I do?
So often on SNJ we talk about the difficulties faced when getting SEND help. But if you’re new to the area and you’ve only just discovered that your child might …
Parents’ top tips for summer serendipity with your disabled child
Ah, the school summer holidays, don’t you just love them? Six, long, glorious weeks of unstructured days stretching out before you… But just how glorious are those weeks when you …
Top tips for working on your child’s speech and language targets
The speech therapy process is very much a collaborative one. Even if your child is lucky enough to get regular speech therapy sessions, that’s still only half-an-hour or an hour …
Hayley’s EHCP Save-Our-Sanity SOS plan
It seems that at every milestone and crossroads in your child’s life, your pride, relief and excitement at their achievements is met with an equal measure of stress and worry. …
Tips for keeping up your child’s literacy over the holidays
It’s always a tricky one, especially if your son or daughter has made good progress with literacy during the preceding term: how can you make sure they don’t just forget …
Draft Plans and Working Documents in an EHCP
Working Documents (WD) and draft EHC plans are quite similar, although with a draft plan you can negotiate on all of it whereas a WD only (currently) relates to sections …
Top tips for keeping your cool when parenting styles conflict
One of the things that can cause big conflicts in a relationship, particularly where there is a child with special needs, is differing styles of parenting. We’ve had our own issues …
Top Tips for finding your way through the speech therapy process
If you are concerned about any aspect of your child’s development, it can be difficult to know where to turn for advice. How can you know whether you are right …
Learning to cope with your child’s Pathological Demand Avoidance
I’ve noticed there is a lot of information on social media about Pathological Demand Avoidance, now recognised as part of the Autism Spectrum (by The National Autistic Society). It’s a …
Top tips for mindful parents in developing your children’s resilience
The theme of last week’s Children’s Mental Health week was Resilience and, although I’ve written about this subject on SNJ before, I thought it was worth revisiting because, in my …
What DO you buy for a child with a visual impairment at Christmas
I love Christmas – I really am one of those annoying people who gets into the festive spirit with huge gusto. Sorry. However, the one thing that gets to me …
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 …
On conversation, sensory issues and being different: Some SNJ book reviews!
I am sometimes sent books for possible review but find it difficult to fit it all in. Luckily, I know some parents who are very good at reading and reviewing …
Stress-free Holiday Tips: Planning travel with special needs children
It’s that time of year when Christmas seems a distant expensive memory and the days are temptingly beginning to draw out. Yet we still have months of damp and cold …
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 …
Top tips for a successful One Page Profile
The new Children and Families Act is supposedly person (and family) centred, i.e. the child (and family) should be at the centre of all decisions made about them. The services …
Back to school with your special needs child: Some top tips for a smooth ride
The Summer is almost over and as parents we are either reluctantly or desperately looking to the start of the new term, depending on how the last few weeks have …