Isabelle Finn-Kelcey

Interesting. Lots to unpack. FWIW dyslexia & ADHD are lifelong neurodevelopmental differences from a culturally situated notion of ‘normal’, not SEND labels.

I listened to this yesterday - brilliant & helpful.

Also unhelpful in KS3/4. Which retrieval technique should we use when a YP is masking?

excellent explainers & training for schools on the best evidence-based research ✨

www.nationalelfservice.net/mental-healt...

www.annafreud.org?gad_source=1...

Agreed. It’s so frustrating - there is lots of fab research out there, conducted to the highest ethical & academic standards, eg @grrand-team.bsky.social’s impressive RE-STAR project on emotional regulation in the classroom.

@annafreudcharity.bsky.social, @thementalelf.bsky.social & others have

‘With your body’

‘Compliantly perform arbitrarily selected explicit behaviours so I don’t need to attune to or decode your internal emotional/cognitive states’ 🙄

Thanks so much for sharing @autisticrealms.bsky.social 💛 Your work on burnout and monotropism has been incredibly influential in my own practice, so it really means a lot.

Thank you also for amplifying it, I hope it reaches those who will most benefit 💛

Great thread - thanks for sharing! 🙏

Good to hear this!

We’re rolling out new training to improve neurodivergent children and young people’s wellbeing in schools and help them feel they belong.💜

We estimate over 10,500 neurodivergent students will benefit from the programme, Neurodiversity and Wellbeing in Schools, over 3 years.

Please share

We have a few fully funded spaces available on our Neuro-Affirming Discovery Programme for 18-24 year olds starting 18th Feb.

Register your interest here:
thrivingautistic.org/discovery-pr...

I’m guessing that a lot of our creative & integrative T&L in specialist & AP settings, EOTAS & home ed would work well if introduced as part of ‘core’ pedagogy and provision ✨

So disappointing to see this divisive headline suggesting that ‘SEND’ is not only separate from but is in conflict with ‘core’ education provision.

Integrative, inclusive provision, such as #neuro-affirming T&L, is needed.

autisticrealms.com/neuro-affirm...

These might include preferred formats/modalities (eg access to audio versions of texts).

Also, I’m wary of the assumption that support/scaffolding should be gradually phased out. YP with eg processing/focusing difficulties/differences (eg dyslexics & ADHDers) ought to be able to count on ongoing & reliable reasonable adjustments - just as adults are entitled to in the workplace.

Neuro-Affirming Research in Practice: Supporting Autistic Students, Embracing Monotropism In The Classroom And Beyond | Autistic Realms Written by Tanya Adkin and Helen Edgar, based on the presentation we delivered to the National Autistic Society Professionals’ Conference in March, 2025. Sh ...

Really surprised not to see working with YP interest/motivation mentioned in support strategies.

Super important for #neurodivergent & #monotropic learners with/without so-called ‘SEND’.

Here’s why ✨

autisticrealms.com/neuro-affirm...

Template letters Download and make changes to our template letters to fit your situation

This is a scary headline for families already struggling for much-needed support.

Families: the law hasn’t changed and the process of legally diluting YP’s rights would take years.

IPSEA has fab legal info & template letters to request support ❤️

www.ipsea.org.uk/template-let...

“it’s not processes, policies & services holding our very fragile SEND system together, but families up and down the country. And at a huge financial & emotional cost”

Valuable insights from SNJ and @georginadurrant.bsky.social 🙏

Yes exactly

I find this time of year tough because it’s when our community groups fill up with new families whose YP can’t stay in school. Otherwise, not bad thanks! Yourself?

“SEND is not a framework for inclusion, but an administrative construct created to manage difference without requiring the education system itself to change” - @kieranrose.bsky.social 🙏

There is no such thing as SEND - The Autistic Advocate In this article Kieran Rose looks at why there is no such thing as SEND in UK Education and addresses the harm casued by SEND narratives.

Agreed.

theautisticadvocate.com/there-is-no-...

Congratulations!

Graphic titled “Book Review.” It shows the cover of Re-Storying Autism: A Framework for Families, Parents, and Carers by David Gray-Hammond and Helen Edgar, featuring a colourful infinity symbol. Beside the cover is a quoted positive review praising the book’s focus on sensory experience, interoception, burnout, identity, and belonging. The review is attributed to Kelly Mahler, with five stars and her portrait. The background is soft sage green with decorative lines and the words “Book” and “Review.”

So excited about the book & course for families/ parents/carers supporting Autistic people of all ages, I wrote with @neurohubcommunity.org

Pre-order video course 20% discount
neurohub.blog/invitation?c...

Order the book
(paperback & ondemand course out Feb 16th)

www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B0GHGG8SS...

Great point. Market research-style polls can be interesting, but they don’t have the ethics standards or rigour of actual academic research.

This kind of content would make a great data set for discourse analysis though 🤭

Just to say, a Teacher Tapp poll is not a representative sample of teachers in England.

bsky.app/profile/scho...

Text reads: And so frankly, we do need to be much clearer as a society… About what we expect of people… And the responsibilities that come with rights. That means: Much stronger powers for the Charity Commission to shut down charities that promote extremism. It means tougher regulation of home schooling… Because schools are so important for integration… And so we need a higher bar for people who want to opt-out of that responsibility.

Now I appreciate he's on the ropes, but Starmer seems to have been letting his dog-whistle speechwriter out again in Hastings.

I'm not *keen* on the implication that wanting to spend more time with your family = terrorism but, possibly more painful, he's misrepresenting the legislative changes.

And to you Charlie

Agreed. Also hard to trust the entire system because YP’s needs are only deemed ‘special’ when they fail to align with a bunch of arbitrary cultural assumptions that may or may not have anything to do with the ways children actually develop & learn 🤷‍♀️