Listen ... how to include Parents of SENd learners
Cat Jolleys catjolleys.com Post pandemic, we were noticing an increase in the numbers of children presenting with social communication difficulties , at my school (a large, diverse inner city Manchester primary, with high numbers of asylum seekers and international new arrivals). This trend wasn’t unique to us, I discovered following discussions with other Manchester SENCos and CAMHs professionals on the Autism diagnostic team. However, our cohort posed me (as SENCo) an additional challenge in the sense that so many of these children had parents and families who were hesitant, unsure or even resistant to pursue a diagnosis for their children or were reluctant to discussions around the barriers to learning or socialising , their child faced in school. As an experienced SENCo, I wasn’t unfamiliar with this dynamic. As a parent of an autistic son, I was once that parent too! Plus, some of these parents had the additional challenge of being newly arrived in the UK and all t