WOWSERS, this has been a wonderfully busy week, lets jump right in!
We at Awesome Archie are always aiming to be up to date with the support that we provide (for free) to our many families, schools and workplaces.
We do this by keeping current with our CPD and constantly learning from the experts in the neurodivergent and educational field. Throughout the entire academic year, we are taught by the hundreds of industry experts via the SENDcast and annually we attend the NAS Professionals’ Conference.
This year was so helpful for us as a team. There was so much about the importance of being a consistent neuro-affirming educator, support worker, parent, carer. How small adjustments and lots of patience and empathy can literally change an entire life!
HOW INSPIRING IS THAT?! YOU CAN CHANGE A PERSONS LIFE!!!!
The conference itself was eight hours long with powerful insights from people like Holly Sprake-Hill, Carrie and David Grant, Holly Sutherland and Davida Hartman.
We also learned about a phenomenal, FREE senior school support called NEST. If you would like to hear details about this remarkable… and I’ll say it again “FREE” toolkit, please visit their website.
https://salvesen-research.ed.ac.uk/our-projects/nest-neurodivergent-peer-support-toolkit
We pledge to continue to use ALL of the information learned to better support our community. We LOVE doing what we do and we never take for granted the privilege of sharing your parenting/teaching journey. Please, if you have any specific questions or need to be pointed in a new direction, drop us an email on awesomearchieontour@gmail.com and we will be happy to help 
All our fresh knowledge will be turned into short, but valuable, daily content that you can access (for free!) via our socials… so follow us to ensure that you don’t miss out!!
The remarkable value of a school soft landing.
This week, I have been lucky enough to see two local schools demonstrate the value and importance of a soft landing for their neurodivergent students.
The term “school soft landing” describes an environment where a pupil is met with warmth and no rush at the start of the school day. As each child is wonderfully unique, the landing should be too. For one child, entering via the school office 15 minutes early could be a great starter. For others, a TA welcoming with a gentle, quiet, playful and fun period before any work begins can be the key to a great day in class.
Unfortunately, with the school system being vastly underfunded and teaching staff so often not given the opportunity for regular and up to date SEN training, consistent, successful soft landings are rare. Enter Miss Lucy Dyer and Mrs Rowan Totczyk.
These two remarkable school support workers, both from different schools across Dorset and Hampshire, have demonstrated how an empathetic start to a child’s day can make all the difference. Both Ro and Lucy go above and beyond their “official job role”. We have consistently witnessed incredible art pieces (made at home in their free time) for pupils to enjoy. We’ve seen mindful meditations and “Mario Cart” themed exercises to support both monotropic interest and proprioceptive regulation.
THANKYOU TO YOU, YOU ARE BOTH AWESOME!
Thank you to Specsavers Christchurch for showing true neuroinclusivity!
Our family of six is proudly neurospicy! We love to share our adventures with anyone who’ll listen. We try to focus on the positives, but are realistic with the lows and share all of these emotions on our many socials. One of the areas that I struggle with the most is close interactions with strangers. I hate visiting the doctor, I am always uncomfortable at the dentist and getting my eyes checked is the worst. I mean, it’s not hard to see why?! You are literally sat nose to nose with a stranger that will shine a light in your eyes while asking multiple questions… nightmare! But not any more… and, before you ask… WE ARE NOT SPONSORED OR OBLIGED TO SHARE THIS!
Specsavers in Christchurch have gone above and beyond to make us all feel comfortable. From the lovely Kieran Bull (our optometrist) to Amelia Crabb who talked me through the dreaded “puff in eye” gadget… we are so thankful.
I simply explained that I was nervous and that being autistic meant that, for me, this kind of thing was tough. They looked after us with respect, care and empathy. Daisy and I now have beautiful brand-new specs, and the boys are following soon
