The Good The Bad and The Ugly

Martin - has frontal lobe damage from an accident when he was 16 as well as having been diagnosed with autism while he was going through the diagnosis process with his children. Martin talks about how the frontal lobe damage affects him and his autism and how it can be misdiagnosed as Bipolar disorder. Martin talks about how it hurts him to see his children struggling and how he blames himself for passing autism on, the guilt. Martin also talks about his two children with autism and the different challenges they have all faced, as well as his neuro-typical daughter who has anxiety and now works as a carer for children with SEN.  If you appreciate these podcasts, please consider donating a £1 or more to help cover the costs associated with the production of these podcasts. Support us - thank you. If you listen in on iTunes, Stitcher or YouTube, I would also appreciate it if you could subscribe rate and review my podcasts - It all helps spread the love – thank you. Start or join a conversation on issues raised in this podcast by joining our FB discussion group Music: https://www.purple-planet.com

Marta - mother to Diego who is almost 9. Diego was born prematurely, he has complex needs, he has autism and is non-verbal. Marta talks about the constant fight that us SEN parents have and how this affects our mental and physical health. If you appreciate these podcasts, please consider donating a £1 or more to help cover the costs associated with the production of these podcasts. Support us - thank you. If you listen in on iTunes, Stitcher or YouTube, I would also appreciate it if you could subscribe rate and review my podcasts - It all helps spread the love – thank you. Start or join a conversation on issues raised in this podcast by joining our FB discussion group Music: https://www.purple-planet.com

Becky Hardiman is currently the CEO for The Fragile X Society, UK. Becky talks about what Fragile X is, and how to find out if you or your child is a carrier or has the full mutation by requesting a blood test for Fragile X. Becky also talks about the importance of getting a correct diagnosis and how the society can support families. Telephone: 01371 875 100 E-mail: info@fragilex.org.uk If you appreciate these podcasts, please consider donating a £1 or more to help cover the costs associated with the production of these podcasts. Support us - thank you. If you listen in on iTunes, Stitcher or YouTube, I would also appreciate it if you could subscribe rate and review my podcasts - It all helps spread the love – thank you. Start or join a conversation on issues raised in this podcast by joining our FB discussion group Music: https://www.purple-planet.com

Lisa - parent of 2 young adults both on the autism spectrum. Lisa talks about the differences between her 2 boys with them being at different ends of the spectrum. Mathew having the diagnosis of Asperger and Nathan having autism, sensory processing disorder as well as epilepsy. Lisa also talks about how upsetting that her ex partner, the father of the boys is not only still in denial after many years, but also favours one child over the other. If you appreciate these podcasts, please consider donating a £1 or more to help cover the costs associated with the production of these podcasts. Support us - thank you. If you listen in on iTunes, Stitcher or YouTube, I would also appreciate it if you could subscribe rate and review my podcasts - It all helps spread the love – thank you. Start or join a conversation on issues raised in this podcast by joining our FB discussion group Music: https://www.purple-planet.com

Sam was a young carer for her brother Christopher who has additional needs, she talks about him being bullied and having to always fight his corner. Sam now has two children, Brook 8 who has dyslexia and Tyler 11 who has ADHD and mild Tourette’s syndrome and is also waiting for his autism diagnosis. Being a carer for much for much of her life has affected her mental and physical health over the years. If you appreciate these podcasts, please consider donating a £1 or more to help cover the costs associated with the production of these podcasts. Support us - thank you. If you listen in on iTunes, Stitcher or YouTube, I would also appreciate it if you could subscribe rate and review my podcasts - It all helps spread the love – thank you. Start or join a conversation on issues raised in this podcast by joining our FB discussion group Music: https://www.purple-planet.com

Lisa - play worker and & Teaching Assistant to children with SEN Lisa talks about her passion for working with children with SEN in the early years, believing that early intervention is important to the child’s development. Lisa talks about having a good relationship with the parents of the children she cares for also believing that strategies used at home, she could also use, so everyone is on the same page, helping to better support the child. If you appreciate these podcasts, please consider donating a £1 or more to help cover the costs associated with the production of these podcasts. Support us - thank you. If you listen in on iTunes, Stitcher or YouTube, I would also appreciate it if you could subscribe rate and review my podcasts - It all helps spread the love – thank you. Start or join a conversation on issues raised in this podcast by joining our FB discussion group Music: https://www.purple-planet.com

Sandra - mother and carer of young adults with additional needs. Sandra talks about her two boys who have autism. Sandra talks about supporting other families and being on her local radio station where she spoke about a buddy system for children with additional needs to be better included in mainstream activities. Sandra also talks about her job as a carer. Start or join a conversation on issues raised in this podcast by joining our FB discussion group

Lisa - This is my personal experience of the Covid-19 pandemic while having a child with complex additional needs. Start or join a conversation on issues raised in this podcast by joining our FB discussion group

In this awful pandemic, many, including myself have been suffering with insomnia and other sleep problems. Amanda Baker my wonderful friend is a Psychotherapist and RTT practitioner based in London. She has kindly shared with me an audio that has supported me with my sleep problems. I hope it helps you too. I’d like to introduce myself. My name is Amanda Baker and I am a Psychotherapist and Rapid Transformational Therapist (RTT) practitioner, based in London. RTT is Marisa Peer’s highly successful method that has helped thousands of people worldwide to successfully overcome their issues. RTT is a hybrid therapy that incorporates powerful therapeutic interventions with hypnosis . It is an extremely dynamic, incisive therapy that is designed to uncover the root cause of your issue, free you from  self-defeating beliefs, habits  and behaviours and imprint new powerful and positive messages into your subconscious to produce permanent life-changing results.  It has a  high success rates in treating issues like anxiety, depression, insomnia , fears and phobias, addictions and even physiological conditions  I offered Lisa this particular sleep recording after hearing of the difficulties she was experiencing with sleep.  I am happy to share it with others on her request as I am so aware of the collective anxiety as well as personal anxieties about change and security that so many people are experiencing at the moment. But I am also aware that for families with children with special needs the challenge can be even greater. That many children with special needs suffer high levels of anxiety that lead to restless sleep. That the change in routine can be even more challenging for them and by their very nature they will be absorbing these higher levels of societal anxiety which can further impact their sleep and of course consequently the sleep of their parents and carers. This is simply a suggestion based visualisation/ hypnosis recording to alleviate sleep issues particularly pertaining to anxiety , suitable for adults and teenagers experiencing sleep issues that doesn’t involve the regression and therapeutic interventions that a 90 minute RTT session would involve  but can still be very effective at accessing the unconscious mind and rewiring it with beneficial suggestions .  I do hope it will be helpful for those that are struggling and salute all those who face these additional challenges. I’ve always been struck by the extraordinary courage , patience and tenacity that my dear friend Lisa demonstrates as she navigates the world that she describes in ‘the good, the bad and the ugly’ and dedicates herself to the needs of her special boy.  Amanda Baker  DIPL. PSYCH MBACP C.CHYP CPPD MPMH GHR Reg  07960 014959 amanda@amandabaker.co.uk www.amandabaker.co.uk Start or join a conversation on issues raised in this podcast by joining our FB discussion group

This is another Covid support special podcast. Kindly shared from the wonderful Ben Eydmann from MahaDevi - Roberta Sumar Yoga Center, which specialises in teaching yoga to children and young adults who have additional needs. Many of our children, as well as us parents are struggling with being able to relax during this awful pandemic. Ben talks us through a Yoga Nidra which can be listened to by both children and parents, preferably together. This could help both to relax and if done daily at the same time could support a routine while learning how to relax, which is so important, especially for our children to learn how to self regulate. Enjoy. Start or join a conversation on issues raised in this podcast by joining our FB discussion group

Family Based Solutions previously known as PAARS was established in 2011 by three founders, who had all come across parent abuse while working as secondary school support workers. It was apparent that these families were not getting the support that they desperately needed. Family Based Solutions works with the whole family, helping families to end abuse and repair relationships. I talk to Joe Lettieri, one of the founders about what Family Based Solutions does and how they help and support families dealing with violent challenging behaviour, which could be higher at the moment during the pandemic. Joe tells me that some of the families  also have additional needs and how they are supported, as well as the great volunteers that they have, and how some children who have been supported also go on to become volunteers, becoming a wonderful source of support for others. 5 Chase Side Cresent Enfield London EN2 0JA 0208 363 6262 Start or join a conversation on issues raised in this podcast by joining our FB discussion group

A group of volunteers talk about the support they received at a charity run organisation for families and people with additional needs; all then wanted to give back and so they in turn became volunteers. Most charity run organisations depend on volunteers, and volunteering is a great way of gaining confidence, experience and skills before finding paid work. Start or join a conversation on issues raised in this podcast by joining our FB discussion group

Throughout this awful pandemic, many, including myself have been experiencing varying levels of anxiety. My friend Mel Gaffney, a life coach and 3 Principles facilitator, has kindly offered to talk about anxiety, what it is, why we experience it, and ways to deal with it, so we can get on with our lives free from the needless suffering it can cause. I hope this helps you. Start or join a conversation on issues raised in this podcast by joining our FB discussion group How the 3 Principles can help you The Three Principles describe how all human beings experience life. These Principles apply consistently and universally with no exceptions so it doesn’t matter what or who we are in life, the human system works in the same way. The Principles are descriptive not prescriptive simply describing how we are creating our experience of life from moment to moment. The greater we understand and see for ourselves how our minds work, the more ease and joy we will find in life, irrespective. I am sure you have had the experience of really struggling with something and then just when you have given up or gone off to do something else, you get a new idea about how to solve it – a flash of inspiration, an insight. That’s the deeper intelligence at work and it is a natural gift of the human mind. It works the same way for all human beings in all situations. We all have access to a deeper intelligence that provides the answers to all life’s challenges, we just don’t always see this and spend a lot of time and energy looking in all the wrong places for the answers. Sages and visionaries throughout the ages have told us to look within. They were pointing us to look beyond the limitations of our personal thought systems to the deeper intelligence, to the creative force within us all. The heart of Three Principles Facilitation is a conversation within in which a diverse range of challenges such as depression, anxiety, grief, trauma, abuse, spiritual crisis, long term physical health issues, addictions, marriage, careers, business, parenting, can all be addressed; when we understand how our experience is being created, we discover just how resilient we are in the face of those challenges and that it is an inherent part of who we are. I do not have the answers to your problems. My aim to help you uncover your own answers, see what is consistent, what is required without needing to change external circumstances, practice techniques, delve into a painful past or analyse the content of current issues, but to explain how we create our experience, how our minds work, and change is really just a thought away. To provide signposts to guide you, to help you transform your own experience of life, to live a fuller life, to attain your goals, in the full knowledge that you are OK no matter how life unfolds before you, to go further and beyond your expectations. Go Further & Beyond www.gofurtherandbeyond.com mel@gofurtherandbeyond.com 07565 962074

Claire Cook, is a Mum to 3 children, and carer to her middle daughter who has autism and Down Syndrome. She is an advocate for inclusion, and passionate about mental health well being after her own breakdown a few years ago. Since then Claire has found NLP (Neuro Linguistic Programming), and credits her continued emotional health and resilience to techniques grounded in NLP. She is now a qualified NLP Practitioner, and is establishing a toolkit to support carers (& anyone!) to live their best life. If you would like to find out more about NLP and be supported through these unprecedented times, Claire runs 2 Facebook groups, offers 1:1 support and has an online 90 minute Mindset Reset course running on 30th May. Links below: Facebook group specifically for family carers Facebook group for NLP techniques 90 minute Mindset Reset event Holding The Space For You "We all deserve to Live Our Best Life". Start or join a conversation on issues raised in this podcast by joining our FB discussion group

We are heartbroken that the Markfield Project’s adventure playground was partially destroyed by a huge fire in the early hours of Friday 22nd May. Markfield’s accessible playground is used by around 700 disabled and non-disabled children and young people each year, from all over Haringey and beyond. During the covid-19 pandemic we have found creative ways to support the community – including pioneering ‘socially-distanced’ play sessions that have been a lifeline for disabled children and their parents. Fortunately no-one was hurt in the fire, and the Markfield building was not affected. Some parts of the playground were saved due to the quick response of the Fire Brigade who came and put out the fire, after being summoned by an early morning park walker. The police are still investigating the cause - it appears to have started in the park outside the playground, and then spread. We have quickly arranged for a specialist demolition team to take down the burnt play structures, and make the rest safe, and we have fenced off the affected areas and had in volunteer teams to clear up. The remaining play structures have been inspected and signed off as safe to use, and so we have now re-open for our one family at a time socially-distanced play sessions We are hugely grateful for the fantastic show of support from the community. Now we are making plans for the full restoration of the playground, and we are determined to use this awful event as an opportunity to restore the playground to be even better than it was before. We have set up a crowd fundraiser towards the costs of the re-build. Please consider contributing if you can  Our Go Fund Me Page About Markfield: Markfield is an inclusive community hub in Tottenham, north London, where people can play, socialise, and get information & support. The charity was created more than 35 years ago by parents of disabled children to create a space for inclusive play. It provides a diverse range of services for disabled children, young people and adults, parents, carers and siblings. The charity’s aims are to enable disabled and autistic people to be themselves and live life to the full. For more information about our charity please visit www.markfield.org.uk Follow us on Twitter: @MarkfieldProj Start or join a conversation on issues raised in this podcast by joining our FB discussion group

Tamika 20 years old, talks about being the older sister to two brothers, one who has autism. Tamika talks about how this has shaped her life and how she has followed her dreams of working towards a career in TV and being mindful about how disability and autism was not really shown on TV when she was a child, she is interested in children’s programmes and how she would like yo see more inclusive and diverse characters to be portrayed Start or join a conversation on issues raised in this podcast by joining our FB discussion group

Wendy & Katie are mum and daughter, Wendy also has a son, Ben, 21 years old who is on the Spectrum, Ben has this diagnosis, Katie has been assessed four times for an Autism Spectrum Condition but has always just missed out on this diagnosis. Katie is good at masking, and we discuss how girls with ASC often do this; and how leads to some girls being misdiagnosed with various other mental health conditions. Katie talks about why she needs the correct diagnosis. Wendy talks about the difficulties that her son Ben has with making and maintaining friendships and the bullying he has suffered. ve – thank you. Start or join a conversation on issues raised in this podcast by joining our FB discussion group

In this podcast Tracy talks about the heartache of having a child in residential care during the Covid pandemic. The lack of clear government guidelines has meant that Tracy and hundreds of other families have not been able to see their children during the whole pandemic With the easing of lockdown for others including ‘family bubbles’, shops and zoo’s re-opening, this however, does not apply to families with children in care homes, and they are not being told when this will lift. They are feeling like a forgotten part of society. Tracy has campaigned in the media, both in the press and on radio and has set up a petition hoping government will stop and listen and bring about change to the current guidelines, for her and other families, in the hope of being able to see their children in the near future Sign Tracy's petition here Start or join a conversation on issues raised in this podcast by joining our FB discussion group

Ali, years after being diagnosed with anorexia and other mental health conditions, has recently received the correct diagnosis of autism and ADHD. Ali talks about being able to understand and support both her children who have the same dual diagnosis; both girls were diagnosed before her. Ali now supports other families by facilitating courses, as well as having a support group for adults on the pathway to diagnosis. Ali also has a blog and website where she talks about her experiences Website https://iamhervoice.co.uk/ Facebook blog https://www.facebook.com/shehasmyheartiamhervoice/ Email alison@iamhervoice.co.uk Start or join a conversation on issues raised in this podcast by joining our FB discussion group

Tracy - has 3 children, the eldest has autism and ADHD, the middle child is neuro-typical and the youngest, who is only five years old, has been permanently excluded from school. Tracy knows that her youngest has Pathological Demand Avoidance but her local borough does not recognise PDA, so he cannot get the diagnosis. Tracy talks about the lack of understanding and support from the professionals she has had to deal with during this crisis and how she hasn’t stopped fighting to get her child into the right educational setting. Start or join a conversation on issues raised in this podcast by joining our FB discussion group