Succeeding with SEND is an exclusive series of insightful conversations between Special Education Needs and Disability (SEND) students and experts, exploring the students' personal journey to diagnosis as well as the support they received to enable them to succeed throughout their education. The series aims to challenge the negative perceptions and assumptions placed on individuals with varying disabilities and needs, with the hope of inspiring others.
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In this special episode of Succeeding with SEND, we brought together an advisory teacher/SENCo, Mary Long and an Educational Psychologist, Melanie Adkins, to have a conversation on what to expect this school year and how to create a whole school approach on dealing with issues.
With the gradual return of students to school, and the new systems put into place to stop the spread of the virus, it is anticipated that there will be a rise in anxiety, behaviour and Mental Health issues. Teachers will now be faced with new challenges, due to students being out of the classroom for such a long period of time.
Mary is a qualified SENCO with 20+ years experience in teaching and learning, leading in SEND, EAL and EMA in mainstream schools and in a specialist provision, and now part of an advisory team CENMAC working with students, staff and families across London and beyond.
Dr. Melanie Adkins is a Deputy Principal Educational Psychologist for a Local Authority Educational Psychology Service.
Melanie has been an EP for fourteen years and has experience of both Local Authority and private practice. Melanie has also been an Academic Tutor on EP Doctoral training. Melanie is also an Accredited Play Therapist, Clinical Supervisor and Sandplay Practitioner. Prior to training as an EP, Melanie was a teacher in a variety of primary schools, part of the School Leadership Team and a School SENDCo.
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In this episode, we welcomed Dr Calum Hartley, professor at Lancaster University and his autistic post-graduate student, Mollie Lee.
We learn how Mollie was diagnosed in her late teens - which is often the case with girls with autism, in contrast to their male counterparts. We also learn how an autistic person’s struggle with social interaction can lead to poor mental health and create significant challenges during their educational journey. Mollie shares how she managed to overcome many hurdles before and after her diagnosis and is now dedicating her postgraduate studies to autism.
Our student speaker for episode 2 is Mollie Lee, a 21 year old post-graduate psychology student at Lancaster University studying developmental disorders.
She was diagnosed with Autism Spectrum Disorder at 17, when she was already interested in psychology and atypical development which she now gets to pursue.
Our expert speaker for episode 2 is Dr Calum Hartley, a Lecturer in Psychology at Lancaster University.
He is an internationally-recognised expert in autism and his research focuses on how this disorder impacts children’s symbolic communication.
Calum was awarded his PhD in 2014 which investigated how minimally verbal children with autism understand pictures and words. In 2016, he was awarded a Future Research Leaders Fellowship by the Economic and Social Research Council to profile how children with autism identify, retain, and generalise the meanings of words. Calum is currently supervising several PhD projects exploring this topic. He is also interested in aspects of social cognition, including sharing and ownership, and is involved in a long-running outreach project (‘Science Hunters’) that uses Minecraft to introduce science to children with special educational needs.
For more information about Calum’s publications, please visit his university web page.
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In this episode, Ruby shares her inspirational journey through education while talking honestly about her experience.
Ruby is a perfect example of Succeeding with SEND, having been told to only expect a B or C in her English GCSE, but finally finishing with an A. We also get to hear Helen speak about her work with the BDA and how they are helping students and teachers to tackle dyslexia.
With research indicating that 1 in 10 people in the UK suffer from a form of dyslexia*, this lifelong disorder is now becoming most common cause of reading, writing, and spelling difficulties**.
Our student speaker for episode 1 is Ruby who is 16 and has just completed her GCSEs and is now studying for her A levels in Geography, Politics and Economics.
Ruby’s interests include music, (she plays the piano and flute both to Grade 8) and sings in the school choir. She enjoys netball and keeping fit and has recently started volunteering with a local dyslexia organisation.
Ruby’s dyslexia was discovered when she was struggling with her reading and spelling at primary school. Through strong support at home and school, Ruby has overcome many obstacles associated with reading and has achieved excellent results in her GCSE examinations including a 9 (A Star) for English Language.
Our expert speaker for episode 1 is Helen Boden CEO of British Dyslexia Association.
With a background in education and training since 1990 and a qualified specialist dyslexia teacher, Helen began work for the BDA in 2002 and has been with the organisation for 15 of the last 17 years.
After running the organisation’s training department, Helen became CEO in March 2018, with a focus on empowering dyslexics through lobbying, raising awareness, training and direct support.