Nurture Connections

Such honest advice. Our words have power & even when said from a good place & love in our hearts sometimes it has the opposite effect. Semantics & the use of language is vitally important in trauma informed care 💛

Stop Telling People Who Grieve That They Are “Strong” - Meredith Copeland "You're so strong." "Your strength is inspiring." "I could never go through what you've gone through." It's time to stop saying these...

We see you and we hear you 💙❤️
Today is just another Sunday. Stay of social media & be kind to yourself 💛

UPDATE- I have filled enough hours to ease my worries. Thank you all so very much 💛. I still have space but I am reluctant to commit just now as I don't want to let schools down if family circumstances change. Thank you for everyone's continued support & belief in Nurture Connections 💛.

As many of you know my family & I are facing a difficult & uncertain future like many of us just now in this crazy world 😢. On top of this, Glasgow are cutting their education workforce by 10% over 3 yrs, as a self employed educator ( & parent) this is terrifying....this being said I'm trying my hardest not to say goodbye to Nurture Connections. My husband has played an integral part in building up Nurture Connections over the years, he planted the seeds for the future of the business and we both want to continue to see it grow. Despite what we are personally facing as a family I still have to work next school year so if by some miracle you have money in your budgets send me a mesg as I have some space. First priority will be given to my schools where my contract has been paused then to my waiting list schools but I completely understand if you cannot renew or start a new contract due to GCC budget cuts 💛

🌟 Exciting News! 🌟

The Children (Care and Justice) (Scotland) Bill has received royal assent and has now become an Act🎉

This landmark legislation enhances protections and support for children across Scotland.

From updates to the Children’s Hearings System to ending the use of Young Offenders’ Institutions for under-18s, this Act is a major step forward in child welfare and justice.

For more information, visit:https://www.cycj.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2024/06/Children-Care-and-Justice-Scotland-Act-2024-Info-Sheet.pdf

As the original post states, this is not to shame educators but to help us see a young person’s experience from their perspective 💛

💭Let’s Talk About Behaviour Charts💭

I know this might be an uncomfortable topic for some but I think it’s an important one!

Please consider visible behaviour charts and systems in your classrooms and what purpose they serve. These originated from the Jenny Mosley Goldentime era and were created with the best of intentions…to reward ‘good’ behaviour and deter ‘bad’ behaviour. Inevitably, the same children day in, day out ended up on red, the dark cloud, unhappy face, etc.

Effectively reinforcing that they are somehow ‘bad’ or ‘naughty’ and letting the rest of the class know this too. We now have so much more information about the toxic impact of shame on the developing brain. There are better ways to reinforce expectations that are more private and sensitive to all young people, but particularly those with additional needs and/or are neurodiverse.

Is your school still using similar systems? What are your thoughts on this? I would love to know.

P.s. this post is not to shame anyone. You don’t know until you know. Then you need to do better.☺️

🩵

“Sensory” is one of those buzzwords these days in parenting groups, on Pinterest, and in relation to different diagnoses. I’ve seen people use it to mean pretty much everything. When I talk about sensory processing, I am not talking about kids playing with rice or shaving cream in a bin. 😊

There are a few different ways of conceptualizing sensory processing, but the way that I’m familiar with and is one of the most popular is Winnie Dunn’s “four-quadrant” model.

In an attempt to nutshell this, the concept is that there are two axes (as pictured). One axis runs from low tolerance to high tolerance for sensory input. The other runs from passive to active in terms of how someone will respond to that sensory input. That leaves you with four quadrants, which describe literally everybody — not just people with sensory processing difficulties. In the way that a scale like introversion/extraversion can measure everybody (some are high, some low, some somewhere in the middle), this scale can describe everybody.

Someone who has a high tolerance for sensory input, and actively moves toward that level of comfort, is sensory-seeking.

Someone who has a low tolerance for sensory input, and actively moves toward their level of comfort, is sensory avoiding.

Someone who has a low tolerance for sensory input, but does not behaviorally respond to it, is sensory sensitive.

Someone who has a high tolerance for sensory input, and does not behaviorally respond to it, is low registration (but I call it “sensory missing”, because that fits the pattern better).

It gets more complicated when you factor in the different types of senses: touch, sight, hearing, smell/taste (usually rolled into one for these purposes), vestibular (inner ear sense of uprightness/dizziness/movement), proprioception (inner body sense of where you are in space), interoception (ability to feel and interpret inner body signals including hunger, thirst, toileting, etc). This is because people could have a low tolerance for auditory input but a high tolerance for visual input, for example. People are not necessarily always grouped into one category, and the extremes of the categories are usually where there is some kind of associated dysfunction.

This overlaps with autism (and, more broadly, neurodivergence) because sensory processing differences are arguably a ubiquitous part of autistic people’s experience of the world. Sensory processing is one of the big categories in which autism (almost unanimously) causes difference.

The correlation doesn’t go in the opposite order; having sensory processing difficulties doesn’t automatically imply autism.

I suspected for a long time that I have sensory processing difficulties — as soon as I had language to begin describing what was going on inside my body. I’ve scored myself on assessment tests in the past, but all the assessments I had access to were designed for children, so I was guessing/remembering what I thought might have been true when I was a kid. As a therapist, I was able to use an adult assessment (not something freely available online, unfortunately) to confirm it for myself.

There is some debate about whether sensory processing disorder is, in and of itself, a distinct disorder. It is not its own classification in the DSM-5, for example. Some people argue that it should be. Others argue that SPD is always associated with another neurodivergence, such as autism, ADHD, etc. The amount of overlap between SPD and neurodiversity seems powerful enough to me to tentatively lean towards the latter, but this isn’t an area of research in which there is certainty to be had just yet.

This is an area that I have written quite extensively on, so I'll drop some additional resources about it in the comments.

[Image description: A plus sign splits the image into four quadrants. The two axes of the plus sign are labelled “high tolerance” to “low tolerance” and “passive” to “active”. In each of the quadrants is the category corresponding to that description: in the high tolerance and active quadrant are the “sensory seekers”; in the low tolerance and active quadrant are the “sensory avoiders”, in the low tolerance and passive quadrant are the “sensory sensitive”, and in the high tolerance and passive quadrant are “sensory ‘missers'”. End description.]

Little known facts about autism I come across in my daily work life. Feel free to add any of your own # #

Anxiety in girls - particularly appearing to come out of the blue around puberty/ starting high school - is very often a feature of autism, autistic girls often fly under the radar because they are sociable, make friends easily and have “coped” with primary. Often they don’t fit with peoples preconceived ideas of what autism “should” look like.

Autism and trauma can and regularly do co - exist together. Recent awareness about ACEs and trauma has been a really helpful progression for all professions but many times that limited knowledge stops professionals from referring for neurodevelopmental assessment and their difficulties are perceived to because of their history (behavioural).

You do not have to have the piece of paper that says your child has autism to apply for financial support. If your child needs more support that an average child and this can be confirmed by health and education professionals a claim for DLA / Scottish child disability payment will be considered there is no requirement for a diagnosis for those facing a long wait for assessment

Mother's day can be difficult for some. Be kind & gentle with yourself today. It's 24hrs, tomorrow is a new day and will come soon 💛💙

Please can we remind everyone to drive slowly on the way up to school - the speed of cars and vans this week has become increasingly worrying.
Can we also remind people to be sensible when parking at the school and not block the flow of traffic.
Children's safety is our priority and speeding and dangerous parking puts children at risk!

Free support service for parents / carers with questions or concerns about sensory differences.
Log your query and an allied health professional with an additional qualification in sensory integration will get back to you within 3 working days

Sensory Help Now Home Sensory Help for parents and carers. Receive information with short sensory processing courses about sensory issues and ask questions to a certified sensory integration paediatric practitioner. Learn more about your child’s behaviour, sensory seeking or sensory overload, your sensory concerns can ...

Sometimes young people blame themselves for pressures they are feeling, rather than seeing that they are caused by external forces. If your child is putting a lot of pressure on themselves, try talking to them about focussing on things they can control.

📷 mindfulenough__

"You're never alone when it comes to dealing with your child's self-harm."

On , we're re-sharing this advice for parents on how to support a child or young person who is self-harming.

How to support a child or young person who is self-harming - Place2Be Place2Be’s Regional Clinical Lead for Scotland and Wales, Rebecca Wilkinson-Quinn, offers some practical ways in which parents and carers can support a child who may be self-harming.

💙💛

Something for us all to bear in mind , not just educators. Society deems it a sign of disrespect when, actually, it can be a persons only sense of security.....thank you for sharing SmallTalk Speech & Language Therapy

Important Information For All Students

Sharing this to raise much needed awareness. I did not know about CVI until Calming Minds Health & Well-being educated me about it...this has been taking from their page.....

When my daughter was being assessed for CVI it was something I found people - especially schools knew very little about, I as an AHP didn’t have a lot of knowledge and it wasn’t something on my radar when working with children - it is now (I’ve sent more children for eye tests in the last couple of years than I have my entire career ) - and I’m learning more about the sensory implications and thru further study.
CVI - cortical visual impairment isn’t a vision issue as such - the eye doesn’t have difficulty seeing but brain has difficulty processing what is seen effectively. CVI Scotland is an excellent place to look for more info and they have a series of blogs on lots of different related issues

A Common Form of CVI in Mainstream School Children Showing what impaired visual perception due to CVI looks like. This is probably the most common form of CVI.

For those who need to read / hear this as the new term approaches....

Four years ago, my son crashed out of school, with what we now know was autistic burnout.

He went from 100% attendance to less than 50% attendance in under six weeks. What followed was two years of not being able to attend school : a period in a pupil refferal unit, and a year at home with bespoke learning before he was able to return to formal education.

During that time, I lost count of the number of professionals who told me that every day missed in school was a day less of his future.

I was told he wouldn't get any qualifications. I was told he wouldn't be able to develop his social skills. I was told that his future was being sacrificed by not being in school. I was told that by not "making" him go to school, I was damaging his education. I was blamed and shamed and threatened with fines and prosecution.

Today, my son submitted his application for university. 🎤

From one parent to another, I just want to reassure you that priotising your childs mental health and well-being is NEVER the wrong decision.

You are not making this up
. and this this is NOT your fault.

Your child's future will not be "over" because they can not attend mainstream school.

You CAN trust your gut.

If you haven’t sent cards this year, or forgotten someone’s gift.
If you don’t have matching pyjamas or a festive family photograph.
It’s okay.

If you can’t find the energy to be merry and bright,
or your tree isn’t even decorated yet.
That’s really just fine.

If you don’t feel like watching your favourite Christmas movies, or honouring the traditions that you normally always do.
Don’t sweat it, my friend.

This year has been hard, for many.
Really hard.

If you can’t see a way to celebrating like you have in the past, don’t worry.
Just hang on in there, finding any joy you can in any little way.

Just make it through till next year.
One day at a time.

We need you.

Hang on in there.

You are loved.

Donna Ashworth
Author of ‘wild hope’

Image by Joshua Seoyng

This is all over social media but lacks an understanding that altering our neurobiology is more complex than this

Especially if we’ve ANY ongoing trauma (which is very common)

For example - playing with a baby if your autonomic nervous system is stuck in a state of shut down (low mood) means you and they may feel very little

Meditating if you are feeling very agitated and your mind is racing may make things heightened and more overwhelming so your system releases more activating chemicals that feel stressful

The chemicals shared on the list are more feel good ones rather than ‘happiness chemicals’

For some of us completing a task brings no relief or dopamine as our system jumps to the next one or focuses in on the ones we are avoiding

So as to keep us in a more familiar state of ongoing stress and dissatisfaction

Sooooooo, you are NOT failing if you’ve tried to release ‘happiness chemicals’ as listed here and ‘failed’

It’s just that it’s more complex and is linked to FIRST having more easy access to balance and regulation in your autonomic nervous system

Before a walk, playing with a pet can bring some feelings and a biology of relaxation and contentment.

💛💙

Fans are waking up this morning to the very sad news of Matthew Perry's death. I have to say, my reaction to it took me completely by surprise....I broke down, big sobbing snotty tears. Some may ask why? You didn't know the actual man, you watched a character for decades thats all, there was no human connection but for some of us there was a huge connection. For a lot of people Friends is a comfort show. We have it on in the background, some of us ( me!) fall asleep to it & this is because it's familiar, it's comforting in an overwhelming world and for some fans their 'safe place' or 'safe person ' is gone. You are allowed to grieve for a person you have never met ; if Matthew Perry & Chandler gave you laughter & comfort when you needed it most feel your hurt today, you are allowed to 💛💙

Words copied from the fabulous HT Wilma O'Donovan - Our school has been voted school of the year. It is an absolute privilege to be part of this community. My young people are just the best ever, my staff are super heroes and my parents support us all every step of the way. Please vote for us. We are in the North West category. ❤️ ❤️ ❤️ Now my words 🤣👇
I wouldn't be where I am today professionally if it wasn't for this school & community taking a chance on me. 6yrs later they are family....VOTE VOTE VOTE 💛💛

Highpark Primary School has been shortlisted for SCHOOL OF THE YEAR with the Glasgow Times Community Champion Awards 2023!

The link below will go live tomorrow until 31st October and we would be grateful for your support in voting for Highpark!!!!!

https://www.glasgowtimes.co.uk/community-champion-awards/

Thank you x

Book on now! It’s time to talk. Urgently. https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/the-unintended-consequences-of-the-expansion-of-trauma-informed-practice-tickets-728395660027

Thank you for sharing this The OT Toolbox ! Our sensory needs don't just go away when we are adults & I think we forget this sometimes 💛

When emotions are high, do you curl up under a blanket, grab your phone, and scroll? Do you binge Netflix for hours? Tap your leg, click a pen, or bite your nails? Did you know these are forms of regulation that supports emotional needs? But what if you could find tools to support emotional and behavioral regulation to calm nerves, ease anxiety, and support emotional health?

This new blog on Adult Sensory Diets covers more than just a scheduled set of sensory tools: https://www.theottoolbox.com/sensory-diets-for-adults/

One of the best groups out there, highly recommended 👌

Glasgow meet up 'For Girls Who' are neurodiverse (aged 7-14) Opportunity and invitation for Neurodiverse girls aged 7-14 to meet , play and get to know each other in a safe social space.

Autumn Term when we email and we prepare.
And they say ‘let’s wait and see’..

Oh how i love this post!! Some of us need to MOVE to regulate ourselves not 'be still in the calm corner' & also just a wee side note....not everyone needs to talk it through either 🙄