Coordinated Care Support

25/06/2025

Credit to the author Ellie Middleton, this is from her book Unmasked

20/04/2025

Wishing you a safe, gentle, and meaningful Easter
Whether you’re celebrating, resting, or simply getting through the day, I hope this Easter brings you a sense of peace, connection, and kindness.

I’m especially thinking of those who may be feeling a little isolated or overwhelmed right now. Please know you’re not alone.

Take good care of yourself and those around you. And yes, I fully support chocolate for breakfast if that’s your vibe.

With warmth,
Vicky from Coordinated Care Support

Image description:
A cheerful Easter-themed graphic featuring a cool-looking rabbit wearing black sunglasses, surrounded by bright yellow flowers. On the left side, the text “Happy Easter” is written in a stylish handwritten font. In the top right corner, the Coordinated Care Support logo is displayed.

12/12/2024

A lot of changes are taking place in the NDIS space after the legislation changes on October 3.

Art and Music Therapy to be taken out of allowable NDIS therapies as it is not "evidence-based therapy" according to them. It's really disheartening

https://www.ndis.gov.au/news/10522-statement-ndis-funded-music-and-art-therapy?fbclid=IwY2xjawGyKVxleHRuA2FlbQIxMQABHVvoPWI4sljEP4ggoujlrerZ_juI7dFuANxRLA5e4MYCJ39PpDoMj9gIdg_aem_IiqVimm3ppG66qleeFdm_Q

NDIS participants will continue to have access to music and art therapy. From 1 February 2025 how participants access music and art therapy will change. Participants and providers can continue with current arrangements until 1 February when the changes to the price guide come into effect.

17/09/2024

While it may look like you go from 0-100 instantaneously, what is misunderstood is that you were never at 0. There is no 0. You're running beyond 100 and trying to keep it all under control.

So are you 'over reacting' to something innocuous? Something small? Something seemingly insignificant?
No. You are running far beyond capacity. You are reacting to everything. All at once. And most of it is neither insignificant, innocuous nor trivial. Those are the bits no one sees, because you hide them so well.

24/07/2024

Inclusion! Well done Barbie!

26/03/2024

Well said: “The term neurodivergent applies to much more than Autism and ADHD. Neurodivergence is not always a disability. Disability depends on degree/extent and context. Disability fluctuates.” Yâel Clark, Developmental Psychologist

I usually focus on Autism, ADHD and OCD, but I want to use this week to highlight that neurodivergent refers to all brain-based differences-to be more accurate- central nervous system differences. The differences might be in perceiving, processing, or expressing and they may be visible or invisible. The variation may be innate (from birth, genetic) or acquired (illness, injury) and may always express itself or might be expressed episodically.

You'd be correct if you concluded that there's no such thing as a 'typical' brain!

What we have is a society built on expectations, demands of some mythical typical human. The Law of Averages means that when we measure humankind, there *are* traits that show up most often (the middle of the bell curve), so we conclude that this is how a typical (i.e. correctly developing) human should be.

But these measurements occur at a point in time and measure one or a few variables; not all variables over a whole lifetime, and not in all demographics! In actuality, all humans diverge from this average at some point in their life and in one or more ways.

I suspect that 'typical' is whatever serves those in power. If you can contribute to their wealth then you are functioning well. If your neurology allows you to be efficient and productive and keep the wheels of society turning, then you are the benchmark from which others should not diverge. See how the definition is not a medical thing at all? It's about fitting in, conforming and being able to meet society's KPIs in education, employment, and in relationships.

So why the focus on neurodivergence and disability?

Because some of these variations cope with the demands of society better than others and because some divergences make it harder to participate in our society than others. Not being able to access education, employment, healthcare, community, well-being is to be disabled. Not being considered a valuable member of society (by those powers that be discussed above), is disabling.

To conclude for today: the term neurodivergent applies to much more than Autism and ADHD. Neurodivergence is not always a disability. Disability depends on degree/extent and context. Disability fluctuates.

Hot tip: please don't use the term neurodivergent as a synonym for Autistic! So many people do this and it is just incorrect. (If an individual doesn't want to disclose that they are Autistic then they may choose to say "ND" and that is perfectly understandable.)

Check out Sonny's graphic explainer below. Lived Experience Educator :)

20/01/2024

💜

12/12/2023

🎄✨ Happy Holidays from Coordinated Care Support! 🎉 Please note that our office will be closed for the holidays from December 23rd, 2023, and will reopen on January 8th, 2024. 🗓️ During this time, our team will be taking a well-deserved break to spend time with family and friends.

Wishing you joy and laughter this festive season. For urgent matters, reach out before our break. Merry Christmas and Happy New Year! 🌟🎁🎅

26/11/2023

🙌🏼

When a child is in the middle of a meltdown, the focus should only be on co-regulation, not on anything else at that moment. This may look like:

Making sure the child is safe (you may need to move them)
Sitting next to the child and breathing slowly and deeply
Offering a hug (if accepted)
Focusing on your own heart and breath rate
Comforting the child
Rocking or walking with the child
Using few words
Using some music to help them co-regulate
Or other strategies that work for your child

During a meltdown is NOT the time to explain why the child is upset, or even lecture or punish the child for behavior. Why? Because during a meltdown their brain blood flow changes, and during fight/flight they have little access to their frontal lobe or “thinking” parts of the brain. They also have decreased access to their memory center as well. So spending time lecturing, teaching, explaining, or even arguing can simply prolong the meltdown process and leave both of you frustrated. Safety is always the most important, so focus on that first and then co-regulation.

Once the child has completely calmed down you can go back to discussing what happened (if they are old enough) and working through how to deal with the situation.

This ALSO goes for any child who may be in the “freeze” mode with anxiety. Often we forget that this behavior is very similar neurologically to a meltdown. They will also not be able to process information as they normally would, so focusing on co-regulation first will help them the most during that time.

If you want to learn more about dysregulation and how to improve regulation related behaviors at home including focus, attention, hyperactivity, sensory integration, social skills, and more follow .

24/11/2023

24/11/2023

The goal is not to create rule followers, the goal is not to make children quiet. The goal is to have A Regulated Classroom. A classroom full of children who experience felt safety, therefore making learning, creating, and connecting easy.

You have many tools at your disposal to help you achieve this, but the most important tool is yourself. It all starts with your nervous system. When you, as the educator, feel safe and regulated, it sets the tone with your students. That's why our training focuses on helping educators honor their nervous system, as the impact it has in the classroom is unmatched.

17/11/2023

Forcing autistics into social situations can be counterproductive and overwhelming. It's crucial to respect comfort zones, allowing engagement at their own pace. Understanding and accommodating autistics unique social needs fosters a more inclusive and supportive environment.