Stuck inside for the hottest summer ever !

So September arrived after August as it usually does but I’d spent most of the summer inside working on establishing SENDCode . That said I have been overwhelmed by the offers of support and interest from parents and professionals, some of whom don’t usually work with young people with autism. This week we are filming some videos to support the travel training and pre-empt any sensory difficulties young people might experience in new environments. I’ve also decided to go down the more ethical route of refurbished computers rather than new for staff and learners, because I’m a firm believer that we need to be teaching young people to use what resources we have rather than wanting or’needing’ the next best thing and throwing out the old. Tech people need not worry because they are still high spec computers and faster than the one I am writing this blog on!

Over the years I’ve kept myself sane through mountain biking a lot over the summer and completed lots of events which provide you with a t-shirt at the end. It always struck me that after the event you could look round and see hundreds of people in the same t-shirt symbolising that they were part of something. As many autistic youngsters often have sensory difficulties that mean school uniforms can be a problem I wanted to create some form of identity for the team of young people who currently aren’t included in any form of education but will soon be working with SENDCode, so I managed to get some funding for t-shirts for young people to wear so that they feel part of something. I’d be interested to know what other people think about inclusion and t-shirts – because I’m a firm believer that you are part of something when you wear the t-shirt! Sometimes the simplest ideas are the most effective, but fingers crossed that any sensory issues don’t stretch to 100% cotton for our learners!