Autistic SLT

28/05/2026

When a school states, “We apply the behaviour policy regardless of any additional need.”

Some might think this sounds fair. But fairness and equity are not the same thing. Treating every student identically within a behaviour system does not automatically make that system ethical, inclusive or non-discriminatory. In fact, when policies fail to account for neurodivergence, disability-related distress, sensory overwhelm, impulse regulation, communication differences or nervous system dysregulation, they can become structurally discriminatory, even when implemented consistently.

Students with are often disproportionately exposed to punitive responses at school, while simultaneously being less likely to have their sensory, regulation, executive functioning, communication or relational needs consistently understood and supported.

ADHD communication style may be misinterpreted through a behavioural lens. And:

- Impulsivity framed as defiance.
- Distress framed as disrespect.
- Overwhelm framed as non-compliance.

Adults begin anticipating “poor behaviour,” resulting in increasingly harsh responses: withdrawal of warmth, relational rupture, public correction, isolation from peers, repeated sanctions. Too often, neurodivergent distress becomes moralised. Adults may apply labels such as: “rude”, “attention seeking”, “oppositional”, “making poor choices”, “not trying hard enough” rather than understood within the context of disability, cognitive overload, sensory stress, emotional dysregulation, unmet need, accumulated shame or nervous system threat.

Once a child is repeatedly punished for manifestations of their neurodivergence, it is discriminatory, especially when schools know:
• the child is disabled
• the behaviour is linked to that disability
• the environment contributes to dysregulation
• the child is already trying extremely hard to cope

A student in distress is not transformed through punishment.
The danger of some “positive behaviour” systems is that they become compliance systems - rewarding neurotypical regulation, communication and inhibition capacities while sanctioning disability-related differences.

This calls for:
- proactive relational support
- sensory-informed environments
- emotionally safe classrooms
- curriculum access that reduces overload
- regulation-informed responses
- adult understanding of nervous system distress
and a shift away from interpreting everything through a behaviour lens

www.divergentperspectives.co.uk

27/05/2026

Hope everyone’s coping with the heat this week ☀️ I have some availability for July.

Just a reminder that I offer Neurodivergent-Affirming Speech & Language Therapy support for Autistic children and adults, both across Greater Manchester and virtually I offer:

- Communication assessments
- Therapy sessions
- Parent & carer advice sessions
- Supervision for SLTs & consultations
- Training for schools, SLTs, and SLT teams

You can learn more about me, my approach, and the services I offer here:
🌐

Neurodivergent-affirming speech & language therapy in Manchester. In-person & online support for children and adults.

13/05/2026

“What if he wants to stay in the Sensory Room forever?”

This type of sentence often comes up for us as professionals when supporting children and young people in education.

The scenario - a child is in the sensory room, regulating, settling, recovering. Transitions are hard - especially when environments are busy, unpredictable, or overwhelming. Then, the adult thinking shifts - the child is not following the expectations or the rules...

“He needs to follow the schedule.”
“He should be in class now.”
“Other students need the sensory room.”
“He’s avoiding work.”
"If he gets away with this, other students will want to do this too."

When curiosity and pause is needed at this moment to think - "What does he need right now?" Instead, the focus is how do we get him back?
The need for adult certainty takes over. And then it creeps further - into catastrophe-thinking: “What if he won’t come out of there?” "What if he wants to stay in there forever?"

Once we start imagining worst-case scenarios:
“He’ll never leave”
“He’ll get used to it”
“We can’t allow this”

…the response often becomes – ‘let’s solve this with positive behaviour support’. Responses might include: remove incentives, shorten the time, insist on the exit happening (with a countdown), remove access to the room, increase prompts, or offer a reward.

The response to "help" the child leave the sensory room is not because the child/young person is ready - but because the adult needs to regain certainty. But what if we stayed a little longer? What might we gain?

❤️ Connection
❤️ A sense of the young person’s insiderness in that moment
❤️ A chance to say: I see you. I hear you. I’m with you.
❤️ Space to ask: What do you need What’s making this hard?

There’s an irony here - The more we use pressure and control to restore order, the further we move from understanding what’s actually getting in the way. The more we rush the exit, the harder the transition often becomes.

So instead of: “What if he stays in there forever?” We might ask:
💬 What is the sensory room doing for him that the classroom isn’t?
💬 What signals tell us he is ready to transition — on his terms?
💬 How can we make the next environment feel safe enough to move into?
💬 What would it look like to trust the young person, and trust their regulation, rather than rush it?

Because when adult anxiety sets the pace, children are often the ones who carry the cost.

08/05/2026

Sometimes the “persona”
we created to survive

is the very thing
blocking the healing
we ache for.

(Read that again, slowly.)

- Jeff Foster

07/05/2026

“What if he wants to stay in the Sensory Room forever?”

As Speech and Language Therapists, here are some of the reasons Elaine McGreevy (from Access Communication Ltd) and I have heard professionals use to justify NOT supporting neurodivergent children’s needs:

“He can’t wear ear defenders in the real world.”
“She can’t still use a dummy at her age.”
“He’s too old to carry a teddy.”
“If we let her use a fidget, everyone will want one.”
“If we let everybody have a support toy, that won’t work here.”
“He has to learn to sit at the table properly.”
“She has to learn to speak to other people.”
“He needs to be more resilient.”
“She needs to learn to cope with noise.”
“He can’t avoid assembly forever.”
“He can’t go on the school trip if he can’t manage the bus.”
“We can’t keep making exceptions.”
“We only allow toilet breaks at breaktime and lunchtime.”
“We don’t allow eating lunch in the classroom.”
“We hid his blankie and he doesn’t seem to need it anymore.”

Underneath many of these statements is the same message: Your needs are the problem. Your distress is inconvenient. Your access needs disrupt the system. You are expected to adapt to environments that won't adapt enough for you.

Too often, the goal becomes - How do we make this child more compliant? quieter? More tolerant of discomfort? More convenient for systems that were never designed with them in mind?

Rarely, are these questions the first ones that come to mind in education:
❓What helps this child feel safe?
❓What reduces distress and overwhelm?
❓What helps them participate without harm?
❓What helps them feel understood, thought about, and like they belong here?

At the root of much of this is ableism, childism, oralism and other forms of prejudice and . Not always in overt cruelty, but in the expectation that disabled and neurodivergent children must suppress their needs, endure discomfort, and perform neurotypicality to access , , dignity, and care.

🌐 www.divergentperspectives.co.uk

27/04/2026

27/04/2026

Practical Peer Support for Life’s Never-Ending Tasks.
Our Peer Assistance service will provide practical, side-by-side support for Autistic parents. Focusing on reducing the overwhelm by assisting with administrative tasks and daily planning.

From DLA/EHCP support to body doubling for task completion and appointment preparation, we offer a collaborative environment to help you manage your needs more effectively:
▪️ Practical assistance with documentation.
▪️ Support with list-making and task prioritisation.
▪️ Collaborative planning for professional meetings.

Disclaimer: This is a peer-to-peer service based on lived experience. We are not legal professionals and do not provide expert or legal consultancy.

25/04/2026

Harms of being online for young people mini series, further highlighting each topic individually.

Today's topic: Body image

Social media often presents a highly filtered and carefully curated version of reality. Young people can be exposed to unrealistic standards of beauty and appearance, which may lead them to feel like they are “not enough” as they are. Over time, this can impact self-esteem and body confidence, sometimes contributing to insecurities or unhealthy behaviours (i.e. eating disorders) as individuals try to meet these perceived standards.

24/04/2026

Hi everyone 👋 Alongside my private practice as a Speech and Language Therapist, I’m also the co-founder of 'Divergent Perspectives', a training provider for Speech and Language Therapy teams which I run with my friend and colleague, Elaine McGreevy.

We help education and healthcare professionals better support autistic/neurodivergent children and young people through neurodivergent-affirming, trauma-informed training.

We’ve created 2 infographics to share a bit more about who we are, our backgrounds, and the perspectives we bring to this work.

If you’re looking for training for 2026–2027, feel free to get in touch
www.divergentperspectives.co.uk

✉️ [email protected]

22/04/2026

Our next text-based peer support group is taking place on 29th April.

The session will be held on Google Meet, with cameras and microphones switched off. We’ll use the chat function to communicate, creating a calm and low-pressure space to connect.

This session is ideal if you're in a noisy or busy environment, or if you don’t have the energy to be on camera or speak out loud.

Our peer supporters will be there to help guide conversations and offer support throughout 💛

Our aim is to create supportive spaces that are accessible to as many people as possible.

If this sounds like something you'd like to be part of, drop us an email at [email protected]

22/04/2026

"Connection happens when there is no agenda" - Jeff Foster

As professionals supporting neurodivergent children, we fall into working ON children rather than WITH them. We default to standardisation, which stops us from listening for meaning and starts us listening for errors. Without connection, we shift from trying to understand the child to correcting them. This is where ableism quietly enters practice: when difference is treated as a deficit, and variation is framed as something to fix.

Connection disrupts that - when present, therapy is no longer about correction or performance.

🌐 https://www.divergentperspectives.co.uk/