We're joined by Helen Rutherford, a specialist sleep practitioner from The Sleep Charity, who has several years of experience supporting neurodiverse children and young people with sleep.In this episode, she discusses the common sleep challenges experienced by children with special educational needs, expert tips and strategies for supporting your child’s sleep through this seasonal shift and beyond and sensory issues and regulations to improve sleep quality, from winding down rituals to creating a tailored sleep environment for your child’s needWe hope you enjoy listening. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

We're joined by Kirsty Doyle, Entrepreneur & Fashion Designer, discussing how she works with young people to build aspiration as they enter the world of work.On this episode of SENsational, Kirsty shares her experience of her entrepreneurial journey, talking about her set-backs and challenges, and how she has worked with children and young people across the UK, offering inspiring sessions and visits to her very own studio, to help young people think about their future endeavours. Kirsty works with us as part of our Futures programme, a programme designed to deliver unlimited aspiration and endless opportunities for every child and young person, through Futures ambassador sessions, work experience opportunities apprenticeships, mentoring and more. Find out more about the Futures programme here: www.witherslackgroup.co.uk/futures Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

On this SENsational episode, we are joined by Maggie Morton and Laura Oliver, Occupational Therapists for Witherslack Group as they discuss children's most common sensory-seeking behaviours and the best ways to support them. They also explore sensory regulation, sensory overload and the best strategies and activities that can be integrated into the daily lives of our children to help them build essential life skills.We hope you enjoyed this episode of SENsational. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Ever wondered if your young person might need an EHCP? Simone Mattinson, Partnerships Manager for our Group, shares her first-hand experience from a parent and professional perspective. From exploring how to navigate the EHCP process to details of a draft EHCP, plus many more interesting insights worth knowing. For more details on the EHCP process, download our free 'A Guide To The Education, Health and Care Plan' Support Pack: https://www.witherslackgroup.co.uk/resources/education-health-and-care-plan-ehcp-support-pack/ Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Join us for a discussion with Wendy Yeo, Head Teacher of our Castlefell School, and Arron Hutchinson, Education Training Director of The ADHD Foundation Neurodiversity Charity, exploring ways to support your child settle into a new school. Whether it is the jump from primary to secondary or transitioning to a SEN provision, they have top tips and strategies to support your child along the way.We hope you enjoyed this episode of SENsational.Join us for a free live webinar, by visiting:https://www.witherslackgroup.co.uk/advice-and-support/events-and-webinars/ Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

We believe that every child or young person deserves access to inspirational education, regardless of their unique learning requirements or needs. Susan Gill, Head Teacher from our Bridgeway School, talks us through the unique benefits of Special Educational Needs schools and some of the amazing outcomes of pupils who have flourished the support they need.We hope you enjoyed this episode of SENsational.Join us for a free live webinar, by visiting:https://www.witherslackgroup.co.uk/advice-and-support/events-and-webinars/ Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

There are so many moving parts to home life, right? From school runs to meal times and everything in between, how can it all be managed? In our latest episode of our podcast, SENsational, we explore managing a neurodiverse household with Tracy Bowyer, Parenting Co-Ordinator from The ADHD Foundation Neurodiversity Charity.Thank you for listening, and we hope you find this episode of SENsational useful. If you want to learn more about our other webinars and resources, please visit the website www.witherslackgroup.co.uk/resources.  Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

We're pleased to bring you this episode of SENsational titled 'Autism: What Every Parent Needs to Know, with Anne-Marie Harrison, training director from Ideas Afresh Education. This episode is designed for parents and carers right at the beginning of their journey. Perhaps you’re just discovering your child is showing traits of autism, or you’re even considering applying for an assessment to diagnosis. We'll be chatting about how to get an assessment, myths and misrepresentations associated with autism, and some top tips and strategies on how to support your child at home.Thank you for listening, and we hope you find this episode of SENsational useful. You can explore more of our resources, including webinars and downloadable guides, by clicking here www.witherslackgroup.co.uk/resources.  Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Social media and online games are evidently present in our children and young people's lives. On this episode of SENsational, we are joined by two Witherslack Group experts, Dr. Dee Khaira, Clinical Psychologist and Lois Howard, IT Infrastructure and Development Manager, where we explore educating ourselves and our children, platforms that come with surprising risks, plus top tips on keeping our children safe as they use these online devices. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Learning to read can be challenging for our neurodiverse children and young people. On this episode of SENsational, we are joined by leading phonics consultant Amy McElhatton, who talks us through the importance of introducing reading at an early age, how we can break learning down into more manageable chunks, and how to collaborate with your child's school to ensure that learning can be implemented at home as it is in school. Thank you for listening, and we hope you find this episode of SENsational useful. You can explore more of our resources, including webinars and downloadable guides by clicking here www.witherslackgroup.co.uk/resources.  Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Chris Bonnello, autistic advocate and award-winning writer and speaker, joins us for another episode of SENsational. In this podcast, Chris explores finding methods to succeed in both school and social environments whilst learning to embrace the authenticity of ASD.Thank you for listening, and we hope you find this episode of SENsational useful. You can explore more of our resources, including webinars and downloadable guides by clicking here www.witherslackgroup.co.uk/resources.  Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

On this episode of SENsational, we have the pleasure of sharing knowledge of our expert speaker Emma Weaver, Deputy CEO of the ADHD Foundation Neurodiversity Charity, unravelling strategies on how to deal with impulsive behaviour, the ‘stop, think, and do’ coaching model, and how to help children overcome low feelings after an outburst. Thank you for listening, and we hope you find this episode of SENsational useful. You can explore more of our resources, including webinars and downloadable guide by clicking here www.witherslackgroup.co.uk/resources Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

The exam period can be a particularly stressful and overwhelming time for neurodiverse children and young people, and so as parents and professionals, it is important to know how to help guide them through this.In this episode of SENsational, we welcome Colin Foley, Training Director at the ADHD Foundation Neurodiversity Charity, and Chris Bonnello, an Autism advocate and author of ‘Autistic, Not weird’ as our expert speakers who talk about why neurodiverse children and young people find it hard to learn and retain information, offer strategies to help your child’s memory capacity, and share tips and techniques to help focus on revision and an exam.Thank you for listening, and we hope you find this episode of SENsational useful. If you want to learn more about our other webinars and resources, please visit the website www.witherslackgroup.co.uk/resources.  Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Preparing our children for finishing school and heading off to their next adventure can be a difficult time and there is sure to be some anxieties around such a big transition. For our neurodiverse families, there might be heightened concerns around how will our children manage, will there be enough support, are they even ready and what will they do without us!In this episode of SENsational, we chat with Emma Weaver, Deputy CEO of the ADHD Foundation and Emma Reardon, Director for Autism Wellbeing to discuss, Life Beyond School: Making Successful Steps.During the session, we cover planning for big transitions, creating realistic expectations, what help might be available from universities or colleges, as well as at-home techniques to help support self-regulation. Thank you for listening, and we hope you find this episode of SENsational useful. If you want to learn more about our resources, please visit the website www.witherslackgroup.co.uk/resources.  Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

On this episode of SENsational, we welcome Emma Weaver, Deputy CEO of the ADHD Foundation Neurodiversity Charity and Stephen Howell, Lead Practitioner at Witherslack Group, as our expert speakers for our topic, Changing Perceptions: A Pathway to Positive Behaviour.During our conversation, we look at why neurodiverse children sometimes have difficulty self-regulating, the impact of positive and negative language, what differences we may see between girls and boys, the influence that school can have on a child and their emotional responses, and of course, there are lots of top tips and support included as well!Thank you for listening, and we hope you find this episode of SENsational useful. If you want to learn more about our other webinars and resources, please visit the website www.witherslackgroup.co.uk/resources.  Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

As part of Witherslack Group’s Seasonal Support Pack, we are delighted to bring you a very special episode of our podcast, SENsational! This session focuses on advice and support over the Christmas holidays, which can be a wonderful time for making special memories, but also a challenging time for many families. Throughout this episode, we’ll cover lots of practical strategies to help make Christmas an enjoyable and positive experience for you and your family. It was a pleasure to welcome Emma Weaver, Deputy CEO and Colin Foley, Training Director from the ADHD Foundation Neurodiversity Charity, as our expert speakers guiding us through our topic.  Thank you for listening, and we hope you find this special edition of SENsational useful. If you would like to find out more about our Seasonal Support Pack, please visit the website www.witherslackgroup.co.uk/resources.  Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Join us for a super powered episode where were we discuss strategies to help develop wellbeing, confidence and self-esteem. During our discussion we focus on nurturing a strength based approach to neurodiversity and the positive impact this can have on our children and young people. This approach aims to help people see the best in themselves and empower them with their own unique qualities. We are delighted to welcome Professor Sean Duggan OBE and Chief Executive of the NHS Confederation's Mental Health Network as our expert guide through this topic, where we explore some of the challenges that our children face, the social impact and school environments. Thanks for listening! Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

ADHD is a complex neurodevelopmental condition, characterised by hyperactivity, impulsivity and inattention. For parents and carers, having a child diagnosed with ADHD can be daunting, but it doesn't have to be. In this episode we chat with Lisa Rudge, Director of Parent Services at the ADHD Foundation on all things ADHD; what it is, what to expect, myths related to the condition, challenges and the positive traits. We also discuss some strategies parents and carers can put in place at home to help with routines.We hope you enjoy listening! Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

For many, there is much joy in going for a run, a nice long walk or taking part in a team game, and we know the positive impact exercise can have on both adults and children; peace of mind, freedom and feel-good factor to name a few.In this podcast, we discuss the positive impact that exercise can have on our neurodiverse children and young people, whilst recognising that, for some, it might not always feel like something they want to get involved in. However, with encouragement and some imaginative ideas on what exercise can look like, we can help develop skills, friendships and confidence that will benefit our children for the rest of their lives.Ed Wright, Deputy Head Teacher at both Avon Park and Dovetree Tree Schools is our guide and expert speaker on this session and a very passionate advocate of exercise.We hope you enjoy listening!  Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Trying to keep on top of things as an adult can test our organisational skills, as well as our patience, however, it’s really important to look at the hurdles our ADHD children face in their day-to-day life, when it comes to keeping themselves organised, planning and of course staying calm if it’s not all going to plan. For the next episode of the SENsational podcast, we will be focusing our attention on ADHD and the building blocks to being organised and staying calm. Tracy Bowyer, Virtual School Co-ordinator for the ADHD Foundation Neurodiversity Charity joins us on this podcast to cover topics such as organisational skills, support strategies when out in the community, morning routines, homework, best-laid plans when a child is becoming distressed or struggling to find their calm, and a schools response to a child being organised or disorganised.Our podcast is all about celebrating neurodiversity, strengthening our children’s superpowers and empowering parents, carers and professionals with knowledge, advice and support.Happy listening! Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.