Nurtured Minds Psychology

31/03/2023

No single test defines your child ✨

I don’t know what parent/guardian needs to hear this, but in 4th grade I took ~The Test~ to see if I could join the accelerated classes (aka “the smart kid classes”).

I failed.

One of the questions I missed -> I didn’t know the difference between a microscope and a telescope.

I remember crying in that test room because I felt so nervous and embarrassed.

I never did test into the smart kid classes. I had a teacher even suggest I wouldn’t be a good fit for Honors Science in high school.

Anyway, I ended up earning a Masters of Science in Aeronautics and Astronautics from MIT.

No single test defines your child. I kept trying and I kept pushing because I had parents who believed in me. They weren’t scientists or engineers themselves but they believed I could do whatever I set my mind to.

Love your child - make them know that YOU believe they are smart and capable (even when a silly test suggests otherwise). Everything else will fall into place. ❤️

19/03/2023

Out of curiosity,
who else here discovered their own neurodivergence after their kid was diagnosed?

And if you look at your extended family, do you see those same neurodivergent traits all over the place?

Em ☺️✌️🌈
AuDHD SLP

23/02/2023

Autism in girls (by Helen)

Research has shown that autism can look quite different in girls compared to boys, which can lead to late or misdiagnosis of autism in girls.

Let’s have a look at some of these differences in autistic girls:

• Girls can become great mimics, watching their peers and copying them well, but perhaps missing the subtleties of social cues, humour, sarcasm etc.

• Girls can mask or hide external symptoms, but this can take a lot of effort and may present as big emotional meltdowns when she is in a safe place, like at home.

• Girls tend to be more likely to want social connections but may be rigid with the rules and regularities of social interaction. This could look like friends complaining that ‘it always has to be her way’.

• A common trait of autism is restricted interests, however for girls this might look like increased intensity in interests. As highlighted by Jennifer O’Toole, an author and Autistic woman, says autistic girls are often described by others with the adverb ‘too’: ‘too sensitive’, ‘too much’.

Thorough assessment and ruling out other conditions is an important part of diagnosis, as is supporting girls to build the skills they need in a safe and understanding environment.

Ongoing psychological therapy can also be beneficial to support your daughter and your family.

17/10/2022

About 50-70% of autistics are also adhd. There are overlaps, similarities and differences. Here’s just a few of the differences- but all are interchangeable! 🙂

08/10/2022

Great reflections about the new ADHD Guidelines from Onwards and Upwards Psychology

20/08/2022

A great article about neurodiversity by Yael Clark, Psychologist: SupportingParents

“👉Neurodiversity is the idea that there’s natural variation in how people’s brains work.

👉When we embrace neurodiversity, we accept and celebrate neurodivergent children.

👉Embracing neurodiversity is good for neurodivergent children and good for society.

👉There are many ways for families, communities and schools to embrace neurodiversity.”

Neurodiversity is the idea that there’s natural variation in how brains work. Embracing neurodiversity is good for neurodivergent children and society too.

19/07/2022

Are you getting bored of the same old ‘good job/ well done’ - and perhaps even finding that it’s not really resulting in an increase of the desirable behaviour that you’re trying to praise?

You could try one of these statements instead, OR simply state what you see, specifically, to help GROW that behaviour - increase the likelihood of it happening more and more frequently and your little continuing to put in more and more effort.

Sometimes we call this DESCRIPTIVE PRAISE and it’s pretty magic for building a growth mindset, intervening in problematic behaviours and emotions, and building a sense of self agency rather than an inflated sense of self esteem (that can come from lots and lots of non descriptive praise).

12/07/2022

Pokémon themed yoga !

Is yoga even worth doing if it's not Pokémon themed? 🧘🏽‍♀️🧘🏿‍♂️🧘🏼‍♀️ Because coping and regulation strategies have to rely on intrinsic motivation, too!
To complete this strategy, students choose 4 yoga poses to complete, placing them in each box on the file folder as they go. When all 4 boxes are filled, the task is finished ✅
Lots of my students have been big fans of this strategy. I hope your students will be, too! You can download this resource for free by visiting bit.ly/pokemon-yoga
[ID: A yellow laminated file folder is open on a multicolored carpet. Cards are scattered on and around the folder with different yoga poses named after Pokémon characters, like "Meditite (butterfly) Pose." There is a white piece of paper with four numbered rectangles on the inside of the folder. The rectangles are the same size as the loose cards. A laminated envelope is also attached inside the folder, and a few more cards are poking out from inside the envelope.]

08/07/2022

Always more than what we see

14/06/2022

One of the most dangerous phrases in history is ‘but we’ve always done it this way’.

11/06/2022

Interoception: Emma Goodall from today's conference: "When we mask, what we're doing is we're saying we're not good enough and we need to look like other people, we're damaging our own mental health and we know that interoceptive awareness and accuracy decreases as mental health gets worse. So we know that when we improve our interoception our mental health improves and I think that when we're in touch with our authentic selves and we let ourselves be our authentic selves when it's safe to do so, and when the people around us are supportive and loving and caring and say that you as you is great. You are perfectly fine just as you are, then we can live and respond to those interoceptive awareness signals. But every time we hear or perceive that we're less than we're not good enough, then we we mask and we try and fit in and we try and be we try and have that sense of belonging and I think that's where organizations like Yellow Ladybugs that teach autistic pride and that we are OK as we are. We are not broken, we are different. And with the right support, we can live the most amazing lives but we do need support. We need adjustments from other people. We need to learn some new skills for ourselves, like everybody does. And that's the thing. I think sometimes you get the label autism and everything is pathologised, but interoception is, is develops like that over time. But if you experience trauma, it goes and stops or goes back. And so being autistic in a in an environment that doesn't support us can be very traumatic. So that is also going to decrease your interoceptive awareness, interoceptive accuracy. .