AuSends Network

29/12/2025

Please don’t respond with ‘it applies to any person’ … this can feel completely invalidating to an autistic person who is constantly forced to mask or told that the bright light is fine, the itchy jumper is fine, the noise isn’t too loud.
Whilst the message might be the same for others, many autistic individuals battle this daily. It’s time to listen to autistic voices.

28/12/2025

23/12/2025

This!

What another person “sees” in an autitic person or their understanding is not reality.

Autistic adults still mask and have meltdowns/ shutdowns. We don't suddenly learn to manage our needs when we become an adult hood.
Age can give us more experience and time to understand our needs/ triggers but we can still be suddenly triggered.

If an autistic person feels safe enough with you to express their needs/ triggers and what is helpful to support them, listen!
Don't assume or make decisions based on what you think we need.

Moving Away from "Mild" and "Severe":

1. **Oversimplification:** Labels like "mild" or "severe" oversimplify a complex spectrum. They can obscure the nuanced needs and abilities of each autistic person, leading to misunderstandings.

2. **Dynamic Nature:** An autistic person's abilities and challenges can fluctuate based on context, such as the environment or specific situations, making static labels inadequate.

3. **Focus on Support:** Describing autism in terms of support needs rather than severity helps tailor interventions to each individual's circumstances, fostering more effective and respectful assistance.

4. **Avoiding Value Judgments:** Terms like "mild" and "severe" inherently suggest a value judgment, which can contribute to bias, either downplaying someone's needs or reinforcing negative stereotypes.

Overall, these shifts reflect a broader movement toward recognising autism as a rich, varied experience. The goal is to honour personal identities, enhance understanding, and ensure that support and communication are as meaningful and effective as possible.

22/12/2025

22/12/2025

Let us introduce ourselves, one-by-one 👋

My name is Kelly, I am a Registered Education Consultant and the founder of Live to Learn Integrated Assessments.

I may look familiar to some, as I am also the founder of Live to Learn Education!

My core passion is enabling young people to access suitable education pathways, whether that is through home education, EOTIS, alternative provisions, specialist settings, mainstream… There are so many amazing options to help your young person thrive 🥳

There has been a consistent pattern within my education consultations over the past year, and that is that children are:

❌ Not being offered suitable education placements
❌ Not being offered reasonable adjustments
❌ Not having their needs met due to lack of funding, adults, capacity, resources…
❌ Not being trusted or listened to within education settings
❌ Being forced to conform to draconian behaviour policies
❌ Being forced to mask their needs

This list could go on-and-on, but me being me, I felt determined to try and see if there was more I could do to help… So…

Live to Learn Integrated Assessments was born 🤩

We are a team of independent, professional, registered and regulated associates, including:

⭐️ Education Consultant
⭐️ Clinical Psychologist
⭐️ Occupational Therapist
⭐️ Speech and Language Therapist
⭐️ Dyslexia and SpLD Assessor
⭐️ Exam Access Arrangement Assessor
⭐️ ADOS-2 and ADI-R Trained Professionals

And we are all here on the same mission, in Exmouth, to help break down the walls and barriers to children accessing the right the support for them to thrive within their lives and education 💪🏻

If you have any questions, please feel free to email me at: kelly@livetolearnassessments.com

21/12/2025

NEW article: David Gray-Hammond and I have published the first in a series discussing the impact of neuronormativity on mental health services, and the great harm this can cause neurodivergent people.

We explore:
♾️ What neuronormativity is
♾️ The impact it has when accessing mental health services
♾️ Lived experience of this
♾️ How to access neuroaffirming support
♾️ What needs to happen to make services neuroinclusive
♾️ What has and hasn't changed in recent years
♾️ What professionals - and all of us - can do to make a difference

You can read it on my or Emergent Divergence: The neurodivergent ramblings of David Gray-Hammond's Substack.
🔗👇🏼

19/12/2025

18/12/2025

✅ Big progress for Devon’s children and families!

The Department for Education’s Commissioner has praised significant improvements in Devon’s children’s services – and confirmed that control should stay with Devon County Council.

Highlights from the report:
🌟 Children’s services are now the council’s top priority
👩‍💼 A strong and stable leadership team is in place
📚 Workforce development is improving through initiatives like the Social Work Academy
🏡 £156m investment over 10 years to provide more local homes for children in care
🤝 Stronger partnerships with Ofsted and safeguarding partners

The Commissioner says Devon now has the capacity and capability to improve itself – and warns that breaking up services as part of local government reorganisation would risk undoing this progress.

To read more click the link in our comments below 👇

17/12/2025

Torbay 19th February 2026

An audience with Michael Charles, CEO of Sinclairs Law – special education law

Supporting Better Futures Torbay is delighted to welcome Michael Charles, SEND Lawyer, to an in-person talk/Q&A. This session is especially for Torbay and Devon parent carers but welcomes service providers and professionals.
Due to high demand, spaces are limited, so purchase tickets early to avoid disappointment.

Online ticket bookings here:

Date:
Thursday 19th February 7:30 pm – 9:30 pm

Venue:
Palace Avenue Theatre, Palace Ave, Paignton TQ3 3HF
Phone:
01803 665800
Email:
info@palacetheatrepaignton.co.uk

Transport:
On-Street parking (Palace Avenue): Free after 6 pm Monday-Saturday and all day Sunday. Daytime charges apply (9 am - 6 pm, Mon-Sat).
Disabled Parking: Dedicated bays on Palace Avenue, directly opposite the theatre.
Nearby Car Parks: Crown & Anchor Way Pay & Display, 1-minute walk.
Great Western: Pay & Display, 8-minute walk
Paignton Station: Pay & Display, 10-minute walk
Parking Payment: Use the RingGo app, contactless, or cash at car parks
Walking: Just a 2-minute walk from Paignton town centre
Bus: Central bus station is a short walk away, with routes serving the wider Torbay area
Train: Paignton Train Station is about a 10-minute walk from the theatre
Drop-off: A drop-off point with a dropped kerb is available at the main entrance

If you would like to ask Michael Charles a specific question, please email Supporting Better Futures Torbay in advance. Due to the restricted time, unfortunately, we cannot guarantee that every question submitted will be covered:
sbftorbay@outlook.com

About Michael
Michael Charles specialises in Education Law and Human Rights. He has worked on several high-profile children's and education law cases, including the infamous ‘internet twins case’. He has worked successfully on cases such as S -v- YP School, which established the burden of proof required in child exclusion cases, and important cases that have defined the meaning of ‘suitable education’ in school transport and home tuition. He has defended schools, both independent and maintained, in a range of matters from re-organisation to registration. He has succeeded in some of the most prominent cases concerning post-16 learning, which have set the law in this field (R on the application of Alloway -v- Bromley County Council; R on the application of P -v- Windsor and Maidenhead.) He has also worked in some of the most important SEN cases, including X -v- Caerphilly County Council (acknowledging the importance of Occupational and Speech Therapy being regarded as educational needs). He succeeded on behalf of a student in a case against the Office of the Independent Adjudicator. The case of Gopikrishna -v- The OIA and the University of Leicester has become the leading authority in determining in what circumstances academic immunity may apply in student complaints.
Mike heads Sinclairlaw’s education law department, which has led to the firm’s acknowledgement as a leading practice in publications such as ‘The Legal 500’ and ‘Chambers Directory’ as well as the publication Legal Experts 2010. He is a member of The Education Law Association, and frequently lectures around the UK in relation to special educational needs and the law.
https://www.sinclairslaw.co.uk

If you have a query or if you would like more information, please email Supporting Better Futures Torbay:
sbftorbay@outlook.com

13/12/2025

HomeWeb Editor2025-09-04T19:17:16+01:00 Helping you secure the right SEN provision for your child SOS!SEN has been supporting families for more than 20 years to help them secure the right special educational provision for children and young people with SEND. How can we help?What's happening at schoo...