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Holly the obstreperous OT 🌈 Profile picture
Holly the obstreperous OT 🌈
@HollytheOT
Children & Young People’s Occupational Therapist. Professional Marmite. #AuDHD. #SEND parent. MSc student. Neurodivergent realist.
Aug 26 • 4 tweets • 3 min read
Occupational therapy and ableism. A thread 🧵


UK Occupational Therapist working with autistic children and young people? What do you think it means to be a "neurodiversity affirming" OT? Let's take a closer look...
Here are two ways to approach neurodiversity affirming practice in OT - theory & reasoning and practical strategies
Understanding the language of the neurodiversity movement Neurodiversity * Neurodivergence * Neurotypical terminology is crucial, nuanced and constantly evolving as neurodivergent communities develop Respect neurodivergent people by learning the language that ND communities have developed to describe ourselves Educate yourself. Get a copy of Helen Edgar's text https://amzn.eu/d/dO15zrt
Being neurodivergent affirming means challenging your values and bias as an OT. The image is of Kerry Murphy’s Neurodiversity Affirming Zones of Growth.


We say "neuro-affirming" but what we really need to think "neuroinclusive" An image of Raelene Dundon’s model of Neurodiversity Affirming Practice is pictured with an infinity symbol and text surrounding it. -Competence is judged by other's values & assumptions. -ND folk may have fluctuating needs. Learn about these. -Presume Competence -Promote Autonomy -Independence is not the ultimate goal in life - don't set us up for things non-disabled people can't even do! - Respect All Communication Styles - Understand & value ND communication - Tailor Supports to Individual Ne...
Educate yourself about autistic & neurodivergent occupational experiences... WHY? It is easier to understand the actions of others if you know their motivations, interests, sensitivities, likes & dislikes - it's called empathy! Autistic people get accused of not having empathy all the time but mostly we can find other people don't even try to understand our experiences.
Let's take a closer look at children's occupations • playing • learning & education • looking after your body, washing & dressing • friendships & family relationships • eating & drinking • learning to look after your body health and mental health Sometimes it is easy to forget but the job of childhood is not to be a small adult or a work in progress. Children are developmentally exactly where they are supposed to be at any time.
Childhood occupations are shaped by our world, our culture, sociopolitical, economic & environmental factors. A stepped graphic with arrows indicating “how society says I should grow up” as highest rated, “my family views” as next rated and “my views” as lowest rated. An image of a man with a thought bubble with “If children without disabilities don't get much of a voice then what hope do children with disabilities have?” My family views
Mar 2 • 11 tweets • 2 min read
I attended a SEND parent carer forum “refresh” event yesterday. It broke my heart.
Here’s why 🧵
There was a rousing presentation about the power of working together.
There was the message of how we need to pull together to get our voices heard and be represented. There was talk about putting on a “parent/ carer resilience workshop” to help improve our ability to co-produce effectively.
Nope. This is where I could not stay silent.
I stated: performative co-production is rife. Parents/ carers are exhausted. We are suffering real trauma
Nov 19, 2023 • 6 tweets • 1 min read
I spin a lot of plates outside of my "official" NHS role.
One of these is lobbying for better autistic services in the area I live. I co-run a voluntary project for autistic/ ADHD CYPF. I attend a lot of co-produced & community involvement meetings with commissioning bodies 1/🧵 The work that a tiny number of volunteers put into helping the SEND families in my town is staggering. The same volunteers respond to calls for public engagement, support commissioned third sector services AND continue to support their own SEND families without any recognition 2/
Jan 27, 2023 • 10 tweets • 5 min read
Let’s talk about mental health services and #autistic children shall we? A 🧵1/9 Fact: #Autistic children are human, they have emotions, they experience pain, love, joy, anger, fear. HUMAN EMOTIONS. 2/9
Oct 22, 2022 • 7 tweets • 5 min read
If a #parent of an #SEN child (esp autistic) presents as #anxious, high maintenance, needy, rude, full on or any of the other awful terminology used to describe them, what do you think might be *really* going on. Let’s unpack it 🧵

#Teachers #SENCO #Inclusion leads #SENtwitter This is not a new topic. Parents have been talking about the difficulties of being labelled as overly anxious for many years.
So why does this keep happening?
2/🧵 #Teachers #SENCO #Inclusion leads #SENtwitter