AUTISM INCLUSION TEACHER

I hope the start of the year is going smoothly for you all and your children have settled into the new school year. Below is a link to a short clip about me, my background and the things that I’m passionate about (please excuse the ‘5 minute get myself showered and dressed look’ that I’m sporting – some mornings run better than others in our house)

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1uXP4fp1R18Drchd5G-Vg8iDlvIlAZCnQ/view 

Last week I was privileged to coteach a lesson in a Year 5/6 class around neurodiversity. This lesson was focussed around the stunning ‘The Brain Forest’ book, written by Sandhya Menon and explores various neurotypes. The young people then worked through a process to draw what they imagined their own brain to look like. The insight they each had into their own brain is absolutely outstanding, and the pride that many of the students have into their own neurodivergent identity is to be commended. There was a lot of sharing of ideas, experiences and thoughts which helps to not only gain understanding of one another, but also assists in normalising the diversity of our brains… there is no correct, nor incorrect type of brain, just different. 

We are also focussing on building our positive neurodiversity vocabulary. 

Our focus words this term are:

Neurotype- noun. A type of brain- in terms of how a person interprets and responds to social cues etc (dictionary.com)

Neurodiversity – is a term used to ‘describe differences in the way people’s brains work. The idea is that there’s no ‘correct’ way for the brain to work. Instead, there is a wide range of ways that people perceive and respond to the world, and these differences are to be embraced and encouraged.’ (childmind.org)

Neurodivergent- someone whose neurology and brain chemistry diverge or different from what is expected in society or what is classified as ‘typical’ (ie. Autism, ADHD, dyslexia, PDA, Tourette's etc etc) (clevland.org)

Neurotypical – someone who thinks and processes information in ways that are ‘typical’ within their culture. (medicalnews.com)

In other news: 

Save the Date: 20th March 9-10am Let’s talk Neurodivergence with me. A parent session – guest speaker tba

School holiday activities and supports: I know we’ve only just started the 2024 school year but I wanted to share some information about this amazing space/ business. They run various sessions for our Autistic young people and host parent groups and networks – it’s well worth checking out their web page- https://werockthespectrumadelaide.com.au  . Whilst they currently only have one location at Kilkenny, there is one starting up in Christies Beach this April. (the below activities are run at the Kilkenny location)

A worthwhile watch: Chloe Hayden, a proud Autistic actress (amongst many other things) on Heartbreak High, has a mini doco of sorts which aired on Compass on the ABC. This gives great insight into her life, her outstanding achievements, the barriers her and her family have had to overcome and the pressures of this on her mental health – I highly recommend spending 15 minutes watching this. 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kMk2BQ6ncUU 

And please let me know if you’d like to catch up for a chat…

Cass Humphrey

HEPS Autism Inclusion Teacher

Cassie.Humphrey574@schools.sa.edu.au