“Imagine if you couldn’t understand what people’s facial expressions meant, so you couldn’t tell if they were being friendly or angry with you. That’s the reality for 10-year-old Bradley, who has ASD* and ADHD**.
(*Autism Spectrum Disorder/Diagnosis **Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder)
I’m Julie, a teacher in a primary SEND* unit. Bradley is bright and alert when he’s focused, with a keen interest in facts about animals and science. He’s very good at challenging what he is told! And he can think outside the box.
Bradley tends to sit at his own workstation to concentrate. This can make him feel isolated. He often wants to join in with the others more but then struggles.
He wants to be friends with others and can be very sweet and caring but then lashes out - and this drives others away.
He needs to know how to express himself in a calm and non-confrontational way. He finds it hard to regulate his emotions and gets angry quickly.
Bradley is particularly worried about moving to secondary school in September and has outbursts of frustration.
We are concerned about how he will cope when going through puberty and starting a new school with bigger classes. He needs a lot of reminding to look at other people’s facial expressions to try and work out what they might be feeling when he interacts with them.
Rachel from Esteem ran a series of sessions on mental wellbeing, which were amazing! Bradley was really engaged. Through Rachel’s hands-on activities and stories, the children explored a range of emotions and how they can identify what they - and others - are feeling.
Bradley was quite taken with Eden the puppet when Rachel read ‘Eden’s Day of Big Emotions’! He learnt that emotions are normal human responses to different situations and experiences and explored good – and bad – coping strategies.
Rachel introduced the group to the different coloured ‘Zones of Regulation’ to help them judge whether their feelings are appropriate and proportionate.
She helped them practice simple techniques to improve their emotional regulation and wellbeing, such as calming breaths and using a calm-down toy.
Bradley loved making the calming down toolkit – decorating and filling a box with sensory items, which he now uses whenever he is feeling frustrated or angry to help him calm down.”
Relationships and Health Education is so important for children like Bradley, as the nature of their special educational needs impacts their emotional and relational wellbeing.
Children with ASD go through puberty and hormone changes and have romantic feelings, just like their peers, but mainstream Relationships and Health Education is often not accessible to them.
It is vital that they receive content and teaching methods that meet their needs, such as smaller group size, extra processing time, revisiting concepts in different ways, and using visual aids, stories, and tactile, sensory activities.