Autism, Neurodiversity and Me

Join Steph Reed and Louise Maggs talking about collaboration between home and school for PECS users and success stories.

Autism Specialist Teacher Lynn McCann is on the podcast to talk about ADHD, lived experience and the impact on teaching neurodivergent students.

TV presenter, producer, director and podcaster Gareth Jones AKA 'Gaz Top' joins Steph Reed to discuss the value of neurodiversity in the context of neurodiverse family.

Bonus episode: This is a live recording from a 'Facebook Live' I hosted this week. It took place in a group aimed at general support through the Covid-19 Crisis, in the island of Jersey, where I am from. I took this opportunity to talk to parents and carers about potential strategies that could be helpful for families with children with special needs, when spending all day at home.

Zafer Elcik, founder of the Otsimo educational apps joins Steph Reed to discuss how he originally built the apps to help teach his brother. Zafer works alongside educators, speech and language therapists and families to develop educational games aimed at learning different concepts, as well as a free open source AAC (Augmentative and Alternative Communication) tool in Turkish and English.

Jenny McLaughlan, founder of Chewigem, a support community for different sensory needs as well as a range of chewing, fidget and sensory aids for children and adults joins Steph on he podcast. Hear some great sensory related success stories!

Steph Reed, autism specialist teacher discusses and poses questions about enhancing communication at school and home through adapting the environment, our teaching approach and resources.

Angela Charalambous, a reading specialist from the Workshop Reading Centre in Johannesburg discusses strategies to support children to enjoy reading and feel more confident.

Jane Crawford and Helen Cottell from the West Sussex County Council Autism and Social Communication Team discuss the information in the 'Evidence Based Guide to Anxiety in Autism' put together with Sebastian Gaigg from the Autism Research Group at City University of London. Themes covered include how anxiety presents differently in autism, the potential causes of anxiety and practical strategies to help and support.

Experienced teachers Haia Ironside and Steph Reed discuss important themes to consider in autism early intervention. Themes include using a combined approach, the importance of a multidisciplinary team, intervention which is not directly targeted at the child but in the form of supporting parents, families and educational settings, the monitoring and evaluation process is in place to review impact. Also importantly highlighting the question “what are we intervening for and why?. The importance of effective home and school partnership where all information is being shared. Being informed about specific interventions and one we go into more detail is the SCERTS approach (because we both love it!). We also discuss family support and family engagement.