Meet Alfie – our blog post author
I think it would be helpful if I told parents and teachers about my three magic resources so, if they know someone who faces the same challenges as me, they can help them too.
My first magic resource is my sit on Wedge Cushion. I have one at school and my occupational therapist has lent me one for home to try out. This really helps because my body is quite floppy. My cushion helps me to sit up straight with the right posture. My occupational therapist is worried that I might get a bad back when I am older. Using my cushion will help to stop this. My cushion means that I am comfortable and less wriggly because I am not in any pain. The knobbly bits also feel nice which helps my sensory side. I use my cushion at home and my mum has noticed that I sit straighter at the dinner table and make a lot less mess. This means that she nags less so that is a good thing too!
My second magic resource is my Writing Slope. Again, I have one at school and my occupational therapist has lent me one to try at home. The angle of the writing slope really helps me sit up much straighter and feel more comfortable when I write at school and when I do my homework or play on my iPad at home. TTS have made the slope slippy on purpose. This is so that I have to use my non-writing hand to keep my paper still. This encourages me to write correctly.
I have a special Pencil Grip which has solved all of the pain that I was having in my hands when I was writing. It forces me to use the right pen and pencil grip. This means that I can write more as I am more comfortable. I have lots of good ideas for writing, so having the right resources means that I can get all of my good ideas out of my head and onto the page.
I hope that this has helped you to see that if children have the right resources they will be more comfortable when they do their school work. Without my resources I am in pain and cannot concentrate fully on my work. My three magic resources might only be small but they make a massive difference to me!
With thanks to Alfie and Beccie (Alfie’s mum).
This article has been written by Beccie Hawes
Beccie has worked in all aspects of Special Educational Needs including mainstream, additionally resourced provision and specialist settings. She has extensive experience as a SENCo, Inclusion Manager, Lead Local Authority SEND Advisory Teacher and has set up and led an inclusion advisory service.
Beccie is currently proud to be the Head of Service with Cadmus Inclusive, part of Cadmus Services, which is based in Walsall. This service has a national reach and actively supports schools with all aspects of providing a high quality education for vulnerable learners. Beccie is the author of ‘The Complete Dyslexia Toolkit’ and co-author of ‘Getting it Right for SEND’ and ‘How to Create the Perfect Partnership with Parents’. Beccie also writes the national Ebriefing: SEND Bitesize. She has developed a number of educational resources to support learners which schools across the UK have purchased and use. Beccie remains very ‘hands on’ in the classroom and is passionate about being at the chalk face to support teachers and children to think differently for a brighter tomorrow. She is also the mum to four boys and a dog.
