Sue Larkey Blog

Medication Insights from Families: What works for their Neurodiverse Children (AS, ADHD) (Episode 308) Medication for Neurodiverse ChildrenI am not a Dr or Specialist, but as a teacher/educator, it is important we understand different medications. In this Podcast on Medicating and Neurodiversity: ✅ Keep a medication diary - Document changes in behavior, sleep patterns, and focus to track medication effectiveness over time using voice memos or quick texts. ✅ Create a team approach - Include teachers, parents, pediatricians, psychologists, dance teachers, and music therapists in observations to get a complete picture of the child's needs. ✅ Monitor physical changes - Watch for weight gain, blood pressure changes, sensory processing increases, or appetite suppression as potential side effects. ✅ Trial different medications - Don't stop at the first medication; parents in the podcast tried 3-4 different options before finding the right fit. ✅ Use the "medical condition" comparison -...

Everything you need to know about PDA - Insights & Tips from Educator PDA classroom strategies podcastStrategies for Teaching PDA StudentsKey takeaways from this podcast for educators and parents/ carers of a child with PDA:✅Build trust and connection with the student, as this is crucial for those with PDA. ✅Offer choices and autonomy within the needed structure and routine. ✅Use indirect language and avoid direct demands. ✅Be authentic and treat the student as an equal. ✅Show interest in the student's special interests. ✅Learn together with the student in a reciprocal way. ✅Allow flexibility in seating, grouping, and task choices. ✅Anticipate and discuss challenges together, like using the bathroom at school. ✅Mix up your strategies since PDA students are smart and strategies wear out quickly. ✅Most importantly, see the positives in these creative, imaginative students.Pathological Demand Avoidance (PDA) in the Classroom: Understanding and Teacher Strategies for EducatorsPDA...

Do I have a child with ODD & PDA? What is it and What to do. What is ODD and PDA? This week's podcast I discuss ODD and PDA, and tips and strategies that can help understand challenging behaviour! Not sure what ODD and PDA are? Listen to this weeks episode for some insight OR Click here to read about it! Discussed in this Episode ✅  Night-Before Planning: Let students choose their next day's activities the evening before and make a video on their phone saying "tomorrow morning, I'm gonna come in and do this, this, and this." ✅  Flexible Work Locations: Offer students choices of where to work - "at the table or under the table," "on the mat or in the corridor," or "in my classroom or in the principal's classroom." ✅  Disguised Learning Through Leadership: Make ODD students helpers - have them mark other students' spelling tests (while learning spelling themselves) or help younger students read (while practicing their own reading). ✅  Indirect Praise Technique: Instead of...

A Guide to Toilet Training Neurodiverse children including stool withholding and toilet avoidance with Guest Melissa Yapp Toilet Training For Neurodiverse ChildrenDiscussed in this podcast: ✅  Create toilet training mini-goals - Focus on 5-minute toilet sits after every meal rather than full toilet training ✅  Use visual schedules for wiping process - Break down each step with pictures showing pants down, underwear down, sitting down ✅  Model the toileting process - Take the child with you to the toilet, show them your process, and have them help with toilet paper ✅  Implement social stories for specific challenges - Create stories about pushing out poos, wiping process, or taking laxative medication ✅  Track bowel movements using phone notes - Share notes between caregivers to identify the child's natural timing patterns ✅  Incorporate toilet time into daily visual routine - Show "first lunch, then 5-minute toilet sit" on the child's schedule ✅  Start super small with timing -...

Decoding Classroom Behaviour: An Educators Guide to Supporting Neurodiverse Students (AS, ODD, PDA, ADHD) Teacher Assistant Autism SupportDiscussed in this podcast: ✅  Create a visual card system with green for "sharing time" and red for "listening time" to help students who call out during lessons understand expectations. ✅  Implement a "Thought Parking Lot" using sticky notes where students can quickly jot down or draw thoughts that come to mind during instruction instead of calling out. ✅  Introduce "Think-Pair-Share" structures with timers so students know exactly when they'll have opportunities to express their thoughts during lessons. ✅  Try different sensory tools beyond standard fidgets - consider wobble stools, therapy balls, or move-n-sit cushions that allow movement while sitting. ✅  Start writing on a blank page for students who experience "blank page anxiety" to help overcome initiation difficulties and executive functioning challenges. ✅  Create visual task...

50/50 - Behaviour Plans: Help your neurodiverse students to help YOU Behaviour Plans for Diverse LearnersDiscussed in this podcast: ✅ Starting with the end in mind ✅ The 50/50 Learning & Behaviour Plan ✅ Modelling behaviour and demonstrating Plan B’s ✅ Encouraging independence with timers, visuals and schedules ✅ Using 3 Rs - rewards, repetition and routinesHOW TO USE THE 50/50 PROGRAMYou will need to use a combination of strategies and while at first it may feel like YOU are doing all the work as the student learns to work with what you provide, you will do less and less and eventually move to a 50/50 approach. This is where 50% of the strategies are by the adult and 50% by the student. Children on the spectrum need to be 'taught' to use a combination of strategies. I have seen many examples over the years where people put in place a strategy and just expect the child to understand how to use it or what it means. The helps Fostering Independence for Diverse Learners. One of...

How Using Visual Schedules Can Build  Independence for Neurodiverse Students Schedules for Neurodiverse Children  10 Ideas to Try from this Podcast: ✅  Library Schedule Breakdown: Instead of just saying "library time," break down the entire sequence - returning books, sitting on the mat, listening to a story - to reduce anxiety and increase engagement. ✅  Morning Routine Visual Chart: Create a visual schedule for morning routines with breakfast, getting dressed, cleaning teeth, and packing bags - with time allocations for each activity. ✅  Assembly Navigation: Use visual schedules to show the sequence of assembly events - national anthem, principal's announcements, class performances - making long sitting periods more manageable. ✅  Hand-Washing Sequence: Break down hand-washing into clear steps with timing - turn on tap, apply soap, wash while singing "Happy Birthday," rinse, dry hands thoroughly. ✅  Homework Time Management: Use digital timers that can be paused for...

Behaviour Solutions for Kids is a great way to help children with Autism, ADHD, ODD, and all other neurodiversity. By understanding behaviour and putting in place strategies to help children regulate their emotions, you can help them cope with meltdowns and shutdowns. Proactive and reactive strategies can be used to help children learn how to self-regulate and choose their battles. With the right tools and strategies, you can help children with behaviour issues find solutions that work for them. It's never too late to start helping children with behaviour issues, and the rewards are worth it.

Celebrating 300 Episodes!Embracing Difference with a class activity “All About Me” Helping Neurodiverse Children with Emotional Regulation Discussed in the Episode: ✅ Use the "About Me: Understanding My Feelings" worksheet with photos to help children identify what helps them when feeling wiggly, tired, bored, worried, excited, angry, or sad ✅ Create brainstorming sessions where children share different self-regulation tools (arm pretzel, crunchy snack, deep breaths) ✅ Implement wall pushups as a proprioceptive activity for children feeling slow/tired, fast/emotional, or fast/wiggly ✅ Teach the "seat pushup" technique during assemblies - push on chair with palms flat, count to 5-10 ✅ Use "The Palm Push" - pushing palms together for 5-10 seconds as a discrete calming technique ✅ Read "The Red Beast" picture book to help children understand anger expressions ✅ Poll the class to see who uses which strategy in different emotional states ✅ Create a visual menu of regulation activities...

What is Interoception & How it Affects Behaviour in Neurodiverse Students (ODD, ADHD, PDA, AS) What is interoception in neurodiverse studentsDiscussed in the Episode: ✅ H.A.L.T factors underlying behaviour. Hungry, Angry, Lonely, Tired and what to do ✅ Many ADHD children don't recognise they're tired until they're completely exhausted. ✅ Some children don't realise they're thirsty until they need to drink an entire water bottle. ✅ A boy was having meltdowns at after-school care because he hadn't eaten breakfast or drunk water all day. ✅ Using marked water bottles with lines indicating how much to drink by certain times of the day. ✅ Creating "appointments" for social connections where different children meet with a neurodiverse student daily. ✅ One mother reported her son couldn't distinguish between needing to use the bathroom and feeling angry. ✅ Having a neurodiverse student help younger children with reading groups to create a connection ✅ Creating toilet timing routines...

Playground Plans: A Guide to Creating Effective Lunchtime Clubs Playground Plans for Neurodiverse Students  Discussed in this Podcast: ✅ Creating a gardening club where students learn lifelong skills while developing social connections - "I personally, huge fan of gardening because then you can join a community garden. It's a lifelong skill. It's something you can talk about right into adulthood." ✅ Implementing a system of "tickets" to give certain students access to supervised activities during recess/lunch - "Art, let's get a ticket. So that is for students that have been identified that need a bit more support." ✅ Setting up board game clubs to teach turn-taking, winning/losing gracefully, and emotional regulation - "Board games you have to learn, learn to win, lose, wait for a turn. Like I think board games teach a huge range of skills." ✅ Creating clubs based on special interests - "They have library dolls. Play skipping elastics. Remember Elastics Captain Ball art...

Navigating Social Meltdowns: Understanding Triggers and Solutions for Neurodiverse Children (AS,ADHD, ODD, PDA etc) What Are Social Meltdowns?Discussed in this Episode:  Document specific social triggers for individual students - "What does a social meltdown look like? What is the triggers for this child? Is the trigger winning and losing? Is the trigger not having a partner?"  Create a visual social knowledge scrapbook - "This is why I like what Anna Tullemans says with a social script explaining other people's perspective." Great social scripts in the Developing Social skills book available here  Implement "process first, collaborate second" - "Maybe we should reverse it in the classroom. Maybe we should give children all a few minutes to think about what they're gonna contribute to the group and collaborate and then talk."  Establish three peer groups for each child - "Dr. Michael Carr-Greg says children need three peer groups. Is could be activities outside school?    Practice...