ABC Children & Young People’s Therapy: Specialist Neurodivergent Support

25/08/2025

25/08/2025

Inclusion Managers:
Adaptive Teaching ebooks. Catrina takes some of the stress out of staff training.

24/08/2025

24/08/2025

How many of us are similar to Sophie?

24/08/2025

21/08/2025

I know, as I post this, that for at least a third of 16-year-olds today will not be a day of celebration.

That’s not because this year group are particularly predictable, or because I have secret information about the GCSE results.

It’s because GCSE results are highly predictable, even though there is always some fuss made each year about how girls are doing better than boys (or vice versa).

GCSE results are graded by comparing the marks with those from previous years, and making sure that the number of people who get each grade remains more or less the same. There’s some variation, but not a lot.

This means that around a third of each cohort are always going to fail their GCSEs. By fail, I mean that they won’t get the grades they need to go onto college without having to do retakes or do another course at the same level as GCSEs.

This is how GCSEs are designed. If everyone does exceptionally well one year, they’ll just shift the goal posts so that some of them still fail. It’s not possible for everyone to pass. If a school does exceptionally well and everyone passes, that just means that more people in some other school failed.

This is different to a test like the driving test. The driving test is an assessment of how good you are at driving, regardless of how good everyone else is.

I know this isn’t much consolation if you have a teenager who has just had disappointing exam results. It’s not a happy way to end your time at school.

But what it means is that they are not alone. Failure is built into the GCSE system. A third of young people have to fail each year.

They all have a future regardless. Let’s help them to feel hopeful about that.

17/08/2025

ABA -what is it and why is it controversial?

When the word ABA (Applied Behaviour Analysis) comes up in conversations about autism, it almost always sparks strong reactions. Some parents are told it’s the “gold standard” therapy. Others hear stories from autistic adults who say it was deeply harmful. So which is it?

To start with, ABA is a behaviour-based approach. It was originally developed in the 1960s to teach new skills and reduce behaviours seen as “undesirable.” This history matters, because back then the focus was often on making autistic children appear less autistic. Hand-flapping, rocking, avoiding eye contact, or having strong interests were seen as problems to be fixed rather than natural parts of being autistic.

For many autistic adults, especially those who grew up in intensive ABA programmes, the experience was not one of support but of suppression. They describe being trained to hide who they were, to ignore their own needs, and to prioritise compliance over wellbeing. Some compare it to masking on demand, which can lead to anxiety, trauma, and a loss of self-identity.

This is why so many in the autistic community view ABA with suspicion or outright opposition. They’re not rejecting the idea of support; they’re rejecting the idea that the goal of support should be to erase autistic traits.

That said, not all therapy that comes under the “ABA” umbrella looks the same. Some modern practitioners emphasise naturalistic teaching, play-based interaction, and following a child’s interests. The problem is that ABA has such a wide spectrum of practice that one family’s positive experience can sit right alongside another person’s traumatic one—and both are true.

So where does that leave parents?

I think the most important questions aren’t “Is it ABA or not?” but:
• Does this intervention respect my child’s autonomy?
• Is the goal to make my child fit in, or to help them thrive as who they are?
• Are their natural ways of communicating, moving, or playing being supported—or suppressed?
• Will this help my child feel safe, confident, and understood?

For me, any therapy or support should be neuroaffirming and trauma-informed. That means it should celebrate autistic ways of being, support communication in whatever form it takes, and help a child navigate the world without denying them their identity.

There are approaches out there—speech and language therapy, occupational therapy, play-based interaction, SCERTS, relationship-based models—that can build skills and confidence without asking children to mask. These can be used in empowering, compassionate ways.

Parents are often put under huge pressure to “do something” quickly after a diagnosis. But doing something isn’t always better than doing nothing if that “something” leaves a child feeling less safe, less accepted, or less themselves.

ABA is complicated. It has a history that cannot be ignored, but also a present where it looks very different in different places. What matters most is not the label on the programme but the impact it has on the child. If it builds joy, self-esteem, and authentic communication, it’s moving in the right direction. If it builds compliance and shame, it’s not.

At the end of the day, autistic children don’t need to be trained out of autism. They need to be supported, respected, and celebrated for who they are.

Emma
The Autistic SENCo
♾️

Photo: One of the derelict Crofts that we stopped at on our NC500 journey. Number 4 stayed in the car because, ‘Only you what to look at that old house Mum.’

I think it’s gorgeous. I instantly fell in love with it. Lick of paint and it’ll be fine… 😂

15/08/2025

Of course they do… an intelligent approach. Meanwhile the US and UK prefer misinformation and knee-jerk reactions.

We cannot protect our children and young people from everything - but what we can do is equip them with the life skills to handle themselves.

📚 Finland Teaches 6-Year-Olds to Spot Fake News - And They're Better at It Than Adults!

Finland has cracked the code on fighting misinformation by starting media literacy education in preschool. From age 5 through high school, Finnish students learn to analyze TikTok videos, question headlines, and spot manipulated images. This groundbreaking approach has made Finland the most resilient nation in Europe against fake news.

CLASSROOM INNOVATION:

Students practice real-world skills like fact-checking viral content, understanding media bias, and recognizing deep fakes. Teachers across all subjects integrate media education into math, science, and language lessons. Kids learn to ask "Who made this?" and "Why was this shared?" before believing what they see online.

PROVEN RESULTS:

Finland has ranked #1 on the European Media Literacy Index for seven consecutive years. The Open Society Institute consistently rates Finland as the most resistant to disinformation among 41 countries. Children as young as 6 can identify fake news better than many adults in other nations.

WHOLE-SOCIETY APPROACH:

This isn't just a school program - it's a national strategy. Finland's 2016 curriculum includes "multiliteracy" that teaches digital citizenship alongside traditional subjects. The country trains teachers, parents, and communities to build critical thinking skills from the ground up.

THE GLOBAL MODEL:

As misinformation threatens democracies worldwide, Finland's education-first strategy offers hope.

Other countries are studying Finland's blueprint to protect their citizens from fake news, conspiracy theories, and digital manipulation. This proves education is the best defense against the post-truth era! 🛡️

12/08/2025

Gender has never been a straight line—no matter how much some people want it to be. Even in the Bible, Jesus spoke of people “born eunuchs” (Matthew 19:12) — likely including those we’d now call intersex. Later translations and teachings reshaped these texts to fit society’s binary norms, erasing that diversity.

12/08/2025

So true x