ZOOM WORKSHOPS/WEBINARS FOR POA LEARNING OCTOBER 2020 !
Please click here to see the chat log from my 1st webinar held on Tuesday 27th October
Please click here to see the chat log from my 2nd webinar held on Wednesday 28th October
To celebrate ADHD AWARENESS MONTH in October I have been invited to give two workshops/webinars for POA learning (poalearning.org.uk)
POA Learning is a hugely valuable and impactful organisation which are the learning arm of the Prison Officers’ Association (union).
They are very forward thinking and supportive of neurodiversity.
Their whole ethos is about unlocking potential which couldn’t be more perfectly in tune with my own work!
POA Learning co-ordinates trade union education and lifelong learning opportunities for all Prison and Secure Hospital employees,members of associated unions, friends,family and local communities.
I’m SO excited !!
This is a cause close to my heart especially because as you read this right now, in just one UK prison alone (HMP Cardiff), 33% of the inmates have ADHD ; some of whom were not diagnosed until they were adults.
With the government still calling conditions such as ADHD,ADD, EDF (Executive Function Deficit) and PDA (Pathological Demand Avoidance) “Conduct Disorders”, when actually it is not wilful behaviour but a simple lack of dopamine to the brain and therefore a different ‘wiring’, I am very keen to spread awareness and bring positive support.
Those with special needs/different abilities are anything from 2-6x more likely to pick up an additional mental health issue. Boys are twice as susceptible as girls.Those with neurodiverse brains are also born with significantly higher cortisone levels (the stress hormone) than those who have neurotypical brains .
Without the right support and understanding, along with the continual messages of “you’re naughty”,a “behaviourial”, you’re excluded or you don’t belong, these children grow into young adults who are far less resilient to stress, peer pressure, gangs… and more susceptible to later substance abuse.
You could be that one person who is educated and aware enough to be the one pebble on a child’s life path that changes the course of their future.
It is far easier to build a child than to repair a broken adult.
It is this neurological, neuroscientifically proven research, education and awareness that I will bring to this event along with many practical tools, techniques,positive growth mindset activities,mindful exercises and proven massage and therapy tips.
Especially as our world deals with the covid-19 Pandemic and mental health is spiking as we try to work out the “new normal”, there has never been a more pertinent time to bring education, support and awareness to conditions such as ADHD. So it is with the most enormous pleasure and massive honour that I have gladly accepted to be part of this very valuable,powerful and special event.
My own workshops will be live on Tuesday 27th October 10-11am and Wednesday 28th October 3.30-4.30pm.
Webinar One will discuss the neurotransmitter dopamine and how our children with conditions such as ADHD,ADD,PDA & EFD simply don’t produce enough of it. I will also discuss the naturally higher levels of cortisone, the stress hormone which is the enemy of the body compared to neurotypical children. I will be addressing the language and neuroscientific ignorance surrounding ADHD from government level downwards. Additional mental health issues will be explored with some hard hitting proven statistics …. and then lots and lots about where WE can all come in and play our part in quite literally rewiring those neurological pathways inside the brain …..!
I’ll be sharing gentle but powerful massage techniques along with self massage that will lead to more dopamine, less cortisone, more melatonin and serotonin and why this is key to reducing challenges, managing behaviour and boosting focus and attention.
Self massage leads to self awareness, self regulation and eventually self management! And therefore inclusion in the learning environment along with the collective benefits to the whole classroom and for teachers.
Webinar Two will be all about sharing other therapies,tools,techniques and positive growth mindset activities which are also proven to reset those neurological pathways and grow the child to their full potential. Therapies such as yoga, mindfulness, meditation, sensory and immersive meditations, guided journeys, gratitude games and activities exploring a whole range of feelings and how to manage them will be shared.You will be BUZZING with ideas!!! I’m just so excited to share all I possibly can to grow the child, help bond families and siblings , get through those feelings of isolation that so many families with a child with an additional need feel and to share ideas that could simply and at little or no cost be incorporated into the classroom too !
I’m going to talking ten to the dozen to fit it all in !! Plenty of resources and ideas will be demonstrated. We are going to have so much fun !! I’ll put some games,massages and activities together on links so that you have it all to hand once you have recovered from my joy !
The whole event will take place over the course of that half term week and all the details can be found on their website at poalearning.org.uk
Anna Kennedy OBE and Katherine Ellison Pulitzer Prize-Winning author are two of the other speakers who will both be holding sessions. How amazing !!
This event has been organised by the incredible Beverley Nolker and Alison Manion of POA Learning . Beverley also heads up an ADHD support group on the Isle of Sheppey. She holds a conference each year which focuses on those with ADHD ,their families and the support surrounding this different ability/condition.
Some people just inspire me to keep doing more, learning more and never stopping until we achieve that true understanding, education and inclusion of those who are neurodiverse.
