Deborah Plummer on Imagework and Helping Children to Cope with Change, Stress and Anxiety

“When a child comes up with an image that represents how he feels about a situation, he is tapping into something that goes way beyond logical thought processes. And when he realises that he can ‘play’ with these images and be creative in forming new images, then he can begin to take more control. Imagework often triggers insights and shifts in perspective which may not come through logical thinking alone.”

February 15, 2010Adoption and Fostering

Linda Woodcock on Managing Meltdowns

“The low arousal approach is based on three assumptions, firstly that most individuals who are distressed are extremely aroused at the time, therefore we should avoid doing anything to make it worse…”

September 15, 2009Adoption and Fostering

Linda Miller on the ‘5P Approach’ to behaviour management for young people with Autism

“The 5p Approach evolved over several years as a result of my work as a psychologist within schools. I grew increasingly concerned that I was often called in to deal with behaviour difficulties after the event, when a better understanding of autism and the reasons for the behaviour occurring could have prevented many problems arising in the first place…”

January 15, 2009Autism

Robbie Woliver on Alphabet Kids – From ADD to Zellweger Syndrome

“We started getting these alphabet-soup diagnoses, and even as I became more expert on the subject, it was still a confusing maze to me. I wanted to write a book to help other parents and those professionals who work with them, that would provide a roadmap that would make their journeys easier. This is really the book I wish I had when I started my research almost two decades ago.”

October 15, 2008Autism

Kenneth Aitken on Dietary Interventions and hopes for the future of Autism Spectrum Disorders

“Personally I don’t believe we should be waiting on the Holy Grail of a wonder treatment for everyone with ASD, however appealing this may seem to some. Some people with ASD symptomology neither need treatment nor want it.”

September 15, 2008Autism

Kay and Haitham Al-Ghani on creating The Red Beast

“I began to explore ways of getting the children to visualise their anger as a sort of beast that was very difficult to control. In this way the anger was depersonalised. After all, we are all capable of becoming angry, it is how we deal with those feelings that matters. Children with ASD already have a great deal of anxiety to cope with in a normal school day, and so the chances of awakening the ‘beast’ are increased. I thought about the methods I used to calm children and incorporated these into a story. However, this story really came to life when I asked my son, Haitham, to illustrate it for me.”

June 15, 2008Adoption and Fostering

Tony Attwood talks heroes and Harry Potter

“I think that the greatest enjoyment is seeing the progress of individuals that I have known for a number of years, in terms of self understanding, abilities and circumstances.”