Sue Larkey Blog

DEPRESSIVE MELTDOWNS WHAT THEY ARE AND WHAT TO DO Discover Useful Depressive Meltdown Solutions Today! Subscribe to this podcast via your favourite app Join my newsletter for more awesome information about ASDThis Podcast and Blog covers content on depression and may be sensitive to some listeners/readersDisclaimer: I am not a Psychologist and highly recommend you do seek help from a Psychologist for students or your children if this Podcast brings up any concerns.Depression and Autism One in three autistic adolescents has the signs of clinical depression. Understanding the signs of depression in autistic teens is the first step to improving their quality of life.Personally, I am seeing this in younger children especially as a result of COVID-19. What is a depression attack: "An implosion of despair and hopelessness with an intense need to end it all right then and there" - Dr Tony Attwood Discussed in this Podcast ✅ What Signs to Look out For✅ What can we do?✅ Excerpt from...

USING GAMES TO TEACH PART 2: SOCIAL SKILLS, EMOTIONAL REGULATION & MORE Subscribe to this podcast via your favourite app Join my newsletter for more awesome information about ASDPart 2 of Using Games to Teach - check out Part 1 here. Games are great for teaching kids social skills, including winning & losing, turn-taking, sharing, and much more. What this podcast contains: ✅ "Emotional Literacy" explained ✅ Why talking about your own emotions is important ✅ Sue reads an excerpt from the book, The Red Beast (check out my podcast where I interveiw the author here) ✅ How to use the Socially Speaking Boardgame at home & school ✅ How to make your own fun Emotion Game the whole family /class will love If you enjoyed Using Games to Teach Part 2! Check out my previous podcasts on Social Skills: Episode 126: Using Games to Teach - Part 1: All the Skills you can Learn Episode 73: Top 10 Tips to use when Teaching Social Skills to Students with Autism Epsiode 4: Promoting Social...

USING GAMES TO TEACH PART 1: ALL THE SKILLS YOU CAN LEARN Explore Using Games to Teach Today! Subscribe to this podcast via your favourite app Join my newsletter for more awesome information about ASDWhat can Boardgames and Card Games do for the children you know? Over the next two weeks I am going to do a deep dive into how to use Boardgames and Card Games to make learning fun and teach lots of skills along the way. Using Games to Teach - Part 1: All skills you can learn 🧠 Maths - Counting, Adding, Money (Monopoly, any Dice / Card Games)🧠 Reading (ie. Scrabble, Social Speaking, Cluedo, Pictionary, etc)🧠 Comprehension (same as above)🧠 Fine Motor (ie. Pictionary, Operation, etc) Next week: Social Skills, Emotional Regulation & More - check it out here   Ideas discussed in this Podcast ✅ Let children watch others play first or give them a job like rolling the dice✅ Take current interests and buy games or make your own to motivate them to play✅ Make your own Guess Who using...

REPLAY OF SETTING UP LEARNING FROM HOME FOR STUDENTS WITH AUTISM SPECTRUM, ADHD, ODD, PDA & NEURODIVERSITY Subscribe to this podcast via your favourite app Join my newsletter for more awesome information about ASDParents / Carers & Educators, you have a very complex role, supporting children to learn from home during lockdown…..aghhh Discussed in this episode replay With the COVID-19 pandemic and lots of changes, it's all very confusing, stressful and uncertain. Especially when we keep going in and out of lockdowns. To reduce some of this stress I have created 11 Top Tips to Support Learning from Home with a podcast explaining these tips. I highly recommend you give it a listen. This podcast is aimed at providing you with strategies and solutions to help to support the children you know & make learning from home a success. Lovely Feedback from using Timers after listening to Podcast   Resources Mentioned in this Podcast & For Recommended for anyone who...

TEACHER ASSISTANT TIPS FOR SUPPORTING LEARNING AT SCHOOL AND HOME - YOUR QUESTIONS ANSWERED Learn about Valuable Teacher Assistant Tips Today! Subscribe to this podcast via your favourite app Join my newsletter for more awesome information about ASDWhat you can learn in this podcast ✅ Swearing - What you can do? ✅ Motivating & Stretching students ✅ Building Rapport with students & what to do if they don’t want help ✅ How to frame things in positive ✅ How to reduce overwhelm ✅ How to engage students in lockdown / learning from home ✅ How to build confidence and accept making mistakes   This podcast includes the answers to these questions asked by you! Don't forget to sign up to the Sue Larkey Podcast Community to ask your questions! Discover Teacher Assistant Tips Today! Teacher Assistant Course Part 2 “Understanding and Meeting the Needs of Neurodiverse Students” If you have already completed the Teacher Assistant Course - please check your emails for access to NEW Free...

MAKE LEARNING FUN - USING COOKING TO TEACH AT SCHOOL AND HOME Discover Using Cooking to Teach Today! Subscribe to this podcast via your favourite app Join my newsletter for more awesome information about ASDUsing Cooking to Teach Cooking is a daily activity for everyone. It is a wonderful activity to teach ALL ages and stages. Cooking is an activity families, schools, community groups – indeed anyone can do it – and it provides long term recreation and independent living skills. Through cooking you can teach all curriculum areas (see below). By providing a structured programme with goals/learning outcomes you can develop a cooking programme that addresses the learning style and needs of the individual student. One child may use the programme to learn to read while another may use it to communicate, using visuals.10 Ways to Use Cooking to TeachHere are some examples of how cooking can be used to teach a wide range of skills at both school and home:Sequencing: cut up recipes and get...

WHY CHANGE = BEHAVIOUR - AND WHAT YOU CAN DO ABOUT IT Discover Why Change Equals Behaviour Today! Subscribe to this podcast via your favourite app Join my newsletter for more awesome information about ASDMany children with ASD have difficulties accepting change and transition from one activity to another. In fact, most behaviour happens during change/transition. In my experience this is because it requires problem-solving, choices and adults tend to use more verbal information instead of visual information. It can also be a time of movement and high noise level, which can cause sensory processing difficulties. Below, I have listed some key times you may need to put in place strategies to support children during change. Discover why change equals behaviour today!  Transition Example Activity / Behaviour Structural Change Routine Change   Pack away / finish activity Give five minute warning. Use a Time Timer so can visually see ‘how long’. Use a visual schedule that shows...

LOVE ON THE SPECTRUM - SEX THERAPIST SHARE HER TIPS Learn more about Relationships on the Spectrum and how to help your loved ones today! Subscribe to this podcast via your favourite app Join my newsletter for more awesome information about ASDHave you been watching Season 2 of Love on the Spectrum? I love the show, and it's such a good insight into the difficulties people with autism can face in the dating world. To take a closer look, this week on the podcast I'm joined by Counsellor and Sexologist from the show, Jodi Rodgers.  What we discuss in this episode: ✅ What needs to be changed in the current sex education programmes in schools ✅ Step by step ways we can support kids on the Spectrum with having relationships  “Girlfriend/Boyfriend/Partner” ✅ How do we support and respect Autistic students to guide them through the ups and downs of relationships? ✅ How Jodi uses interests/knowledge to explain how to build relationships, i.e. “Clark Kent & Superman” ✅ How to quickly...

STRATEGIES AND INSIGHTS TO INFORM YOUR TEACHING PRACTICE WITH TEMPLE GRANDIN AND SUE LARKEY Improve Your Teaching Practice Today! Subscribe to this podcast via your favourite app Join my newsletter for more awesome information about ASDThis FREE Ebook and Webinar are focused on Teaching Students with Autism Spectrum - Strategies & Insights to Inform your Teaching Practice with Temple Grandin and Sue Larkey. They are designed for Educators to use lived experience and evidence-based research to increase engagement and participation for their students with Autism Spectrum. The free Webinar is also the first lesson in my BRAND NEW Temple Grandin and Sue Larkey Course - check it out if you enjoy the Webinar!   Another FREE E-book with 100+ Tips & Strategies! Download the free E-book so you can read along while I explain in this week's Podcast. What you will learn: An Inspirational Story: Strategies Behind Temple Grandin’s Amazing Successful Life. The 9 Compelling Reasons...

TOP TIPS FOR TEACHING CHILDREN WITH AUTISM IN THE EARLY YEARS Perfect Early Years Teaching for children with Autism Today! Subscribe to this podcast via your favourite app Join my newsletter for more awesome information about ASDWhen working with any child with ASD it is critically important that the programme implemented is realistic, both for the child and for the family. By realistic I mean setting everyone up for (achievable) success and that everyone across all environments has the time to implement it. I believe the best way to create a realistic programme is to only address one or two ideas at any one time. I recommend in the early years you always have visuals of the goals you are working on in a prominent place (e.g. fridge or preschool office) so ALL people engaging with the child know the week’s two goals. Over the years I have found by displaying the goals ensures consistency and everyone creating opportunities to reinforce the goal. As children with autism spectrum...