Little Loves Wellbeing - Danielle Brown Kelly

17/04/2026

🙌🏽 ❤️

On a much much more happier note.
It was an absolute blessing yesterday to meet again with Swindon Robins as well as members of the parish council to discuss and finalise plans for young people in Swindon.
So many exciting and inclusive things coming up for the home educated community, the SEND community and young people.
Inclusive sports, multisports, gardening and growing, meet ups, crafting sessions, opportunities to record learning, socialising, improving of wellbeing.
A new weekly coffee morning with teas, coffees, biscuits and toast provided.

I am so excited and also really proud.
But most of all, so grateful to be heard and then to have my concerns answered and immediately turned in to solutions by people that genuinely care and have been doing so much in community over the years.

After so much of what felt like banging my head again a brick wall, it’s almost surreal to have things moving so quickly and with genuine intent behind it.

17/04/2026

As a little exhausted, haven’t slept in years, burntout, tired af advocate, who feels like it’s never enough. I have to remind myself that there is a lot to celebrate lately, and also a lot that reflects the reality of what families are facing.

Just this year alone, so 4 months, I have supported families across Swindon through advocacy, crisis support, and system navigation, and the outcomes speak for themselves:

Outcomes & Wins
* SEND Tribunals: 2 cases supported so far- both successful, many more to come.
* EHCP Appeals: Multiple successful outcomes
* Section 19 Provision: Successful access secured for multiple children
* School Placements: 3 children supported into specialist settings after being told mainstream was the only option
* Benefits: PIP decisions- 3 successful outcomes
* DLA applications- 2 successful outcomes
* Housing: 3 successful banding/move outcomes

I have attended and supported families at SEND tribunals as an advocate - from application to tribunal end (trust me it’s a lot that goes in to that process over the months).
* Supported parents in writing and rewriting EHCPs (loads)
* Attended school meetings as an advocate, helping families communicate needs and challenge decisions (can’t even keep count of these)
* Helped families understand and navigate SEND law, rights, and processes
* Supported completion of DLA applications and complex forms
* Written professional emails and correspondence on behalf of families
* Supported families and children experiencing severe mental health breakdowns, school-based trauma, suicidal ideation (including very young children).
* Provided emotional support to parents in crisis, often outside of formal systems
* Helped families make safety-led decisions around school attendance and withdrawal
* Created and shared, templates, guides, wellbeing worksheets, resources to help families navigate SEND systems
* Started and run a wellbeing library providing accessible psychoeducational materials
* Provided ongoing signposting to appropriate services and support
* Lots of community building & Grassroots impact
* Developed the Safe Access to Education Framework (a safeguarding and wellbeing model for children unable to access education)
* Secured multiple meetings with Swindon MP, Local authority representatives, Special education leads, and education departments
* Prepared and presented policy-level proposals, multi-agency framework recommendations, challenged systemic issues including misuse of “Elective Home Education” categorisation and lack of access to provision and support
* Created written content highlighting SEND realities, mental health impact on families, systemic gaps and failures
* Developed tools such as SEND Reality Check, A-Z of SEND words, A-Z of ADHD.
* Worked directly with community organisations to design inclusive activity sessions
* Created SEND-accessible provisions
Mind you, I’ve done all of that unpaid, unnoticed, and alongside parenting and caring responsibilities, home educating my children and studying a bachelors of science psychology degree, and whilst managing my own neurodivergence and perimenopause.

So why in the heck do I still feel like I’m not doing enough 😩😩 I’ve written that, read it back and I still can’t make change that feeling.
I get multiple messages every day, I’m here there and everyone trying to help everyone to the point of exhaustion, but why is there still so many people to help.
Why aren’t the people getting paid , whose actual job roles it is to do these things doing enough.
We are in the midst of such a huge crisis. There are so many people like me trying our absolutely best. The most amazing of people who make this community as strong as it is. But it’s just not enough! So many children and families are still suffering 😭

… I think I need a nap.

17/04/2026

We’re now running free group coaching sessions for family members of autistic people.

The sessions are led by trained peer guides with lived experience of being autistic or having autistic children. The sessions offer a safe, supportive space to share experiences, ask questions and learn from one another.

Join us for our next five-session series - Supporting LGBTQIA+ autistic family members to live healthy, happy lives. 🌈

We’ll explore together how neurodivergence relates to gender and sexual identity and look at ways to create an affirming environment, lower stress and celebrate identity.

These sessions will be facilitated by Alexis Quinn and Max Jervis-Read.

Book your free place or share this post with someone who might find it useful:
Morning series: https://orlo.uk/xDuGq

Afternoon series: https://orlo.uk/4zVHv

These sessions are commissioned by the NHS as part of our Autism Central programme. NHS England Workforce, Training and Education

17/04/2026

Me and my PDA social media cycle.

I genuinely love this page.
I love posting.
I love the connections and conversations.

But the second the engagement picks up, it becomes something I SHOULD do… It stops feeling like choice
and starts feeling like demand
And my brain does not do demands.

So then I avoid it, I stop posting, Ignore messages…
And then feel guilty.
Which somehow makes it feel even more like work
Until I resent the very thing I actually enjoy!

Even the things you love can feel impossible when they stop feeling like a choice. PDA doesn’t care if you enjoy it, if it feels like a demand, it’s a no.

This is me and my ‘calling myself out’ post.

10/04/2026

I think this highlights a much bigger issue than whether we have a level 3 or level 4.

My son is diagnosed as level 3 based on his communication differences, sensory profile, and significant difficulty with transitions. On paper, that should indicate “very substantial support needs.” But in reality, systems like EHCPs don’t consistently reflect that. Needs get relabelled as SEMH instead of communication and interaction, and even though he’s described as having “severe” autism, he was still pushed toward a mainstream placement that clearly can’t meet his needs.

So the problem isn’t a lack of levels,it’s that the levels we already have are not being applied meaningfully or consistently in determining support.

I agree that there are autistic people with higher support needs than my son. That’s undeniable. But adding a level 4 wouldn’t solve that lack of clarity, it would just recreate the same issue within another category. There would still be a wide range of needs within “level 4,” just like there is within level 3 now.

The DSM levels were always meant to describe support needs, not to rank people or fluctuate day to day. The idea that someone can be “level 1 on Monday and level 3 on Wednesday” is part of what has blurred their meaning, but that doesn’t mean the answer is adding more labels. It means we need to use the existing framework properly.

I’m also diagnosed as level 1 (what would previously have been called Asperger’s), and even within that category there is huge variability. That alone shows that adding more levels won’t fix the core issue.

If a level 3 diagnosis doesn’t reliably secure the right provision, then introducing a level 4 won’t fix the system, it just adds another label that risks being just as inconsistently applied.

The focus should be on accurately identifying needs and actually delivering the support required, not expanding a classification system that isn’t working as intended.

08/04/2026

Who’s joining me?
So excited for this… This is my 3rd round of Unmasked. I’ll probably sign up to every one because the masking journey is a powerful one, and the people you get to share it with are all lovely 🩷

The next Unmasked Women: ADHD & Me group has a couple of spaces left!

If you've been considering joining, now is a great time to do so.

Tuesday evenings
The Zen Den, Old Town

This is a calm, neuro-affirming space for women who feel exhausted by masking, overwhelmed by everyday life, emotionally overloaded, or quietly trying to understand how ADHD shows up for them as adults. Many women arrive feeling misunderstood, burnt out, or unsure where they fit.

You are not alone, and you are very welcome here.

Find out more and book here:
https://beckyrichens.com/unmasked-women-adhd-and-me
or email:
help@beckyrichens.com

04/04/2026

“Indigo child”

👀

02/04/2026

Good Morning ! Thank you for liking /following my page!
Here you will learn about the gentle non intrusive Therapeutic Programme that is Drawing and Talking. I am now taking bookings for May 2026 ❤️

Please feel free to navigate through the page where you will find a commercial, reviews, a child friendly bio to read out to you child, what really happens in a Drawing and Talking session and much more!

I have worked with over 300 children over 4 years in schools, homes and from Washbourne House in Wroughton. The programme is completely child led which is why I offer 3 different environments to run the sessions in so the child can choose where they are most comfortable.

They do the Drawing and the Talking. I am simply there to hold the space whilst giving them the time to process what they are been holding onto in their subconscious. The right side of the brain is activated by the Drawing (our creative side of our brain) which then talks to the left side of our brain which can then process what it has been holding onto.

HEALING can then begin to take place.

These are the percentages!
95% of our brain 🧠 is our SUBCONSCIOUS. 5% is our COGNITIVE.
So we are are living each day 95% SUBCONSCIOUSLY. Having a creative outlet to process our subconscious is like a healing balm for our brains 🧠 ❤️

Drawing and Talking is for ages 5 years plus. I personally work with children aged 5-18 years and its for ANYONE who needs support 😊
I work with anyone who needs another outlet to process what they have going on. There has been some amazing shifts in how a child feels afterwards and I am proud of each and every one of the children I have worked with.

Your child may have already seen an ELSA, or worked with Be U and maybe more. All of which are amazing interventions. Drawing and Talking is a completely different approach. It is not a cognitive approach. We are working with our subconscious first. If your child is on a waiting list for anything like this or perhaps CAMHs you can still start the work with me and then pause it whilst they access what they have been waiting for then come back to Drawing and Talking.

One of the main reasons I have set up privately is I can help NOW. Drawing and Talking can be started immediately.

Please do get in touch if you would to know more.

If you aren’t local to me (I work in Swindon and a 30 minute radius around it) please head to the drawing and talking page to search for a practitioner in your area
www.drawingandtalking.com

EARLY INTERVENTION IS PREVENTION.

❤️

Fran Hanrahan Drawing and Talking Practitioner

02/04/2026

So when people count sheep to help them sleep, it works because their eyes go left to right imagining them jump and that’s what helps calm the brain.

Meanwhile me, with Aphantasia.
I’m just there like “sheep… 1…, sheep… 2…” 😅 I can’t see sheep, I’m literally just thinking about sheep and counting them, and then get bored and stop.

I’m still processing this whole deal about people literally being able to picture things.
For 41 years I just thought “picture it” was just an expression.

02/04/2026

I saw something the other day that has really made me think, so I wanted to ask others… When you think about your past, where is it?
Left? Behind you? In front of you? Somewhere else?
Do you see it as past is to the left and the future is to the right? Or your past is behind you, and the future is in front of you?

Have a think about the answer for you first, and then go to the comments for an explanation.

02/04/2026

You can mask all you want, but nothing exposes social anxiety more than being in town and seeing a bunch of charity workers blocking the exact path you need to go down 😅

I was talking to my sister about this and we were crying laughing at all the ways we’ve tried to avoid the emotional pressure, like suddenly pretending to be on the phone, turning back and walking a whole long route round, suddenly developing a deep interest in a random shop window, pretending to be on the phone, or literally bolting past as they’re occupied with someone else.
We was practically playing “red light, green light” with them the other day 🤣

And then there’s the times we didn’t escape and somehow got locked into a conversation and signing up to things we absolutely cannot afford, agreeing to donate during our most financially questionable eras, or trying to say no and feeling like there’s always a follow-up question waiting for you that’s going you plunge you deeper in to the awkwardness.

Nothing makes me feel more heartless than saying “sorry, not today”, to someone asking me “so will you support these sick children?” or “Will you help save these animals from extinction?. And nothing makes me feel more broke than saying “no, sorry I can’t spare £2 a month” 🥲

Meanwhile I do support many charities , financially, physically, and by advocating, just not in that exact moment whilst being hounded and publicity shamed (that’s what it feels like).

A trip to town for me is- in, out, minimal eye contact, no sudden movements, just hoping I don’t get found by anyone who wants a conversation 😭

It may be different for other towns, but I swear… the ones in Swindon can sense fear 🤣 they’ll chase you, love bomb you, promise “just a minute”…
Next thing you know it’s been 30 minutes, you’ve given your bank details,
heard the full backstory, spoken to their manager and and suddenly you’ve adopted 3 causes and a new personality, and a direct debit list that’s growing stronger than your willpower 😅

Note: No shade at all to the charity workers. I know you’re doing an amazing job and it takes confidence. I could never 😅 this is 100% a me problem.

Image: (TARK / Chronicle Live)