How Can I Help Your School?
As a teacher, I know from first hand experience how attention, behaviour and mental health can be detrimentally impacted by the quality of sleep the child has had the night before. For children to be expected to stay regulated in a classroom, to concentrate, sit still, complete work, to play and socialise appropriately when they are tired and exhausted is hard to comprehend- as adults we would struggle and would likely ‘ease the brakes’ that day but children are rarely given that option when they’re at school. This then leads to higher levels of anxiety, masking, meltdowns and shutdowns which, results in another difficult night. It can feel like a never-ending cycle for parents.
Many children with autism and anxiety have targets within their education health care plans around sleep. They often highlight the difficulties the child has around sleeping and how it is affecting the child negatively but rarely give the families the support to carry out the necessary changes. This leaves parents and siblings left to struggle on their own, which in turn can hav a negative impact on their own relationships, mental health and ability to ‘keep going’.
Working together for your pupils
My school packages are aimed to help schools to improve the lives of the families within their community whilst also having a positive impact on the child’s behaviour and well-being while in school. Research has shown that a better night’s sleep leads to improved behaviour, improved attention and improved communication so tackling a child’s sleep will benefit so many areas of not their life, but also the lives and relationships of those around the including siblings, staff and other pupils as well as the parents and their colleagues. It really has a ripple effect!
My work will focus on two areas; looking closely at the daytime events (this is where much of the anxiety preventing sleep will occur) and then looking at the sleep issues themselves.
I will begin my work with the family by taking undertaking initial calls and asking them to complete a comprehensive questionnaire and sensory profile. Once this information is received I will create bespoke plans (sleep and sensory if required) for the child and will arrange a time that is convenient to speak it through with the parents/carers. I may require additional information from school staff, but knowing how busy everyone already is, this will be kept as straightforward as possible.
Depending on the package chosen by the school, the parents will then have the knowledge to implement the changes and will either receive a follow up call 2 weeks later to see how they are getting on or will receive up to 4 weeks of support through calls and/or messages to help them stay on track.
I also offer workshops for parents as well as INSET training for staff as include discounts when working with multiple parents so please get in touch for more information.
