This week FCA South Western got together to hear a presentation from Nathan Whitbread a neurodiversity coach who spoke to the team about how we are all different and how important it is to have open and ‘real’ conversations about how we all work differently and need varying levels of support. We reflected on the different types of neurodiversity and how our children who are neurodiverse will need reasonable adjustments in the education and home environments. The team thought about how they can advocate for children with an understanding of the Equality Act and what support they are entitled to under legislation and law.
Nathan showed us a video of a child who is neuro diverse and how a busy café with all of its sounds and smells can be overwhelming to them, we could relate this to many environments children have to spend time in and adapt to moving fostering homes and how this can be difficult for them. The importance of being explained the rules/routines of the home such as whether you take your shoes off at the door, what is the bedtime routine etc.
The team then took part on the ‘brain bus’, each person was a different part of a trauma brain and they had fun bopping each other with balloons, making noise with loud toys, popping party poppers and spreading glitter over the bus. This highlights how overwhelming it can be for a child who has experienced trauma to manage everyday activities and how this can lead to dysregulation.
Julie our therapist then asked us to write a sentence on a piece of paper while being talked to constantly and only looking through our peripheral vision. This was a fantastic activity that highlighted how it feels for a neuro diverse child in a school environment. The team described feeling anxious and overwhelmed trying to complete the sentence, I found myself writing some letters backwards and it was definitely not legible!
Opportunities to come together as a team and learn about different topics is crucial to continuing to develop a highly skilled team who can provide an outstanding service to children and foster parents.
