From communication to burnout: Creating an inclusive environment for autistic learners with Joe Fautley
The SENDcast
Burnout isn't one big thing. It's lots of smaller things, building and building - until even the smallest demand tips you over the edge. Joe Fautley, project coordinator at the Council for Disabled Children and neurodiversity advocate, returns to the podcast to discuss burnout, communication, and what it takes to build inclusive environments for autistic learners. Joe speaks from lived experience. Non-verbal for much of his childhood, he lost hard-won communication skills when he moved to an unsupportive mainstream school, and spent years managing severe anxiety and extended absences....
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Late Diagnosis, Loud Music and Parenting Neurodivergent Kids with Terry Bolton
The SENDcast
Today, Dale is joined by Terry Bolton - known as Telboy - a UK-based music producer, independent hip-hop artist, and parent of neurodivergent children, diagnosed with Tourette's and ADHD in his mid-30s to discuss Late Diagnosis, Loud Music and Parenting Neurodivergent Kids. Terry brings an honest, funny, and at times deeply personal perspective to a conversation that covers late diagnosis, sensory overload, resilience, and what it really means to define success on your own terms. They explore why Tourette's without coprolalia leaves so many people undiagnosed for decades and how Terry...
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SEND Reforms - what does it mean for trusts with Simon Tanner & Helen Bray
The SENDcast
The SEND reforms have generated a lot of conversation - but one perspective has been missing from the debate. What does it mean for trusts? In this episode, Dale is joined by Helen Bray, Director of Inclusion at St Francis CMAT, and Simon Tanner, Director of School Improvement for SEND at Authentic Education, for a wide-ranging and at times refreshingly candid conversation about what the proposed reforms mean at trust level. Together, they explore: - Why accountability and capacity must move together - and why simply shifting responsibility away from local authorities without the right funding...
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Hyperfocus: From Survival to Superpower with Emma Muir
The SENDcast
In this episode, Dale is joined by Emma Muir, social media marketer, author, and education communication strategist, to discuss late diagnosis and whether being neurodivergent is a superpower. Emma received her ADHD diagnosis at 45, on a day when she was also told she had severely fractured her back and her mother was being rushed to hospital. Dale and Emma explore what it really means to receive a late diagnosis and why so many neurodivergent adults spend decades being offered depression medication or HRT before anyone suggests ADHD. They also have a fascinating conversation about whether...
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Beyond the Classroom: Sensory Support at Home with Natasha Grays
The SENDcast
Schools have sensory rooms, sensory audits, and sensory-informed environments – but what about home? For many neurodivergent children, the place they’re supposed to feel safest is quietly making things worse. Today, Dale is joined by Natasha Grays, founder of The Sensory Haven, to discuss sensory support at home and how it supports regulation, learning, and sleep. Natasha explains why so many families are unknowingly living in homes that are working against their child’s nervous system – through lighting, noise, materials, and clutter – and why the good news is that the most...
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Rethinking Wellbeing of Neurodivergent Children in School with Charlotte MacDougall
The SENDcast
Coping is not the same as wellbeing – and for too many neurodivergent children in our schools, the two are being confused. Charlotte MacDougall, a neurodivergent specialist, joins Dale to discuss how we need to rethink wellbeing for neurodivergent children in school. Charlotte argues that much of what schools offer as wellbeing support amounts to sticking plasters – well-meaning interventions that treat the symptom without addressing the cause. The cause, she suggests, is an education system that demands an enormous and largely invisible amount of energy from neurodivergent children,...
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The Power of Play Schemas with Ange Anderson
The SENDcast
Play is often the first thing to disappear as children move through school – but for many neurodivergent children, it may be the most powerful learning tool we have. Ange Anderson, Therapeutic SEND Advisor, joins Dale to discuss how play schemas can help adults better understand behaviour, communication, and wellbeing. Together, Dale and Ange explore: – Why play-based learning is so often misunderstood or abandoned too early. – What schemas are, and how recognising them can completely reframe what looks like challenging behaviour. – Why following a child’s lead – rather than...
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A Million Families Waiting: Can AI Help? with Ben Cosh
The SENDcast
AI is everywhere right now - but how useful is it really for families navigating the SEND system, and how do you know when to trust it? In this episode, Dale is joined by Ben Cosh, founder and CEO of Silva, to discuss AI in SEND: what it can do, what it can't, and why families shouldn't have to wait years for help. Ben built Silva after living through the reality of year-long NHS waiting lists, overwhelmed teachers, and private assessments that cost a fortune but came with no support afterwards. His own experience - three years to identify his daughter's unmet needs, and another three...
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Behind the Mask: Autistic Burnout and Eva's Story with Sarah Griffiths
The SENDcast
Autistic burnout is talked about on social media, but how many of us truly understand what it looks like - and what it takes to recover from it? Sarah Griffiths, children's author, meditation teacher, and parent advocate, joins Dale to discuss and the story of her daughter Eva. Sarah shares, with honesty and warmth, how Eva - autistic and ADHD, and a skilled masker for years - collapsed into severe burnout at the start of Year 6. Her executive functioning all but disappeared. She couldn't leave the sofa. The family slept downstairs for three months. And at every turn, the systems...
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What do we mean by trauma informed practice? with Dr Asha Patel
The SENDcast
Trauma-informed practice is one of those phrases everyone nods along to – but how many of us truly understand what it means, or what it actually looks like in practice? Dr. Asha Patel, founder and CEO of Innovating Minds, joins Dale to discuss what we really mean by trauma-informed practice. “Trauma-informed practice is a way of being. It’s not a switch that you can switch on and off.” — Dr. Asha Patel It starts with the adult being regulated, aware of how they are feeling, and able to offer that calmness to the young person in front of them. You cannot support a dysregulated child...
info_outlineThere are 1.3 million children in this country with developmental language disorder. Most of them are sitting quietly in classrooms going unnoticed.
Today, Dale is joined by Jane Harris, Chief Executive of Speech and Language UK, to discuss DLD, the SEND reforms, and what it really means to ensure no child is left behind. They discuss:
- Why children with DLD are six to ten times more likely to fall behind in core subjects, and twice as likely to be unemployed as adults.
- The deeply problematic link between unidentified speech and language challenges and mental health - and why referring these children to talking therapies without addressing the root cause simply doesn't work.
- Why children with DLD are often invisible in classrooms, quietly masking just as autistic children do - until suddenly they aren't.
- How behaviour policies are failing these children, and why over three-quarters of teachers themselves say children with speech and language challenges are being unfairly punished in schools.
- The government's new oracy framework and what it could mean for identification and support - if it goes far enough.
- Why augmentative and alternative communication technology is life-changing for some children, and why the current commissioning guidance is working against them.
About Jane Harris
Jane Harris is Chief Executive of Speech and Language UK, an experienced and energetic charity sector leader with 15 years' experience influencing public policy, building new audiences, and increasing income for third sector organisations including the National Autistic Society, Leonard Cheshire Disability and Rethink Mental Illness.
Throughout her career, Jane has focused on raising the profile of issues that impact people's lives - through influencing public policy, building new audiences and increasing income generation. She has helped to measurably change public perceptions of mental health and autism.
She recently launched Voices for DLD, has been central to the SEND reform consultation with the Department for Education and partners, and has helped guide two schools to Ofsted outstanding ratings.
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