Blurb for the blog page, which is not a blog page…
One of the aspects of Gentle Learning that makes us a supportive community is the experiences we all bring to it. When my daughter was first having difficulties, I started a blog to help me make sense of all that was happening. CAMHS workers told me to look up girls and autism. I read the few research papers available at the time and saw my daughter and me reflected in the words of the women who had shared their experiences with the researchers. It hit me like a hurricane - intense, cold, and unrelenting. What does this mean? Does this explain my seen and unseen struggles? Could I be autistic?
On this page, I share some of the blog posts from that time. I will add a little context if needed. My hope is that it will help those who are in the early stages of their journey of supporting a child with mental ill health and those who are on a journey of self-discovery of their own neurodivergence.
Here, you will also find transcripts of videos we have shared, which contain topical or relevant content, as well as the occasional newsletter-style article and other musings.
If you would like to share your story to help support and inspire others, feel free to get in touch. office@gentlelearning.co.uk
My tips for distractibility
We all get distracted at times, and as adults, we have probably constructed habits and routines to help us with this. Children need to be taught ways of focusing, and neurodivergent children may need extra support with this. I was asked recently by a parent for strategies she could suggest to the school to support her son. Here are my suggestions.
The power of talking
Talking is an essential learning tool.
My views on regulating the tuition industry
Jane Higgins BA(Ed) Hons (QTS)
There has been a lot of discussion recently about the tuition industry and the fact that it is completely unregulated, so I wanted to follow the lead of some other tutors I follow and respect on social media and give a brief outline of my experience and qualifications.
It’s about accessibility
When creating this new website, I found it interesting how text alignment can influence a website's accessibility. I prefer the look of justified text, but I suspected there might be an issue. My web designer sent me this, which helped understand why it could affect dyslexic readers and those using screen readers, etc. I asked Funke Oseni to review it for me. Here is what she found out.