Differently-wired, Deeply-heard

I am aware of the unravelling of special needs provision in the UK and of the fears that many of us hold in our hearts for our children and grandchildren, both now and into the future.

I am deeply troubled, both by the immediate losses for children and young people, when they are overlooked and excluded, and by the echoes and ripples into the future, diminishing the contributions they could have made to our communities and harming their future well-being.

Many of us feel isolated or unheard in our efforts to get our differently-wired children's needs met or in the aftermath of not having our own needs met in education and beyond.

So, I am creating some spaces where we can share our stories, start to heal our trauma, and rediscover our confidence in ourselves as parents and individuals, to understand and do what makes sense for our children, for ourselves and for future generations.

Differently-wired, Deeply-heard Story Circles

🌷 My Invitation:

I invite you to come and sit with me and to share some of your story or just to sit and see what emerges through our time together. 🌷

This is not about seeking or providing advice, answers or information but about sitting together in community and listening to each other without judgement or expectation.

This is an introvert-friendly space where your listening and presence are as valued as your voice.

This is for parents and carers of ‘differently-wired' children as well as other advocates for them, including differently-wired adults with their own challenging experiences in education, to share our stories and connect with each other, and to help to dream up a better way, in a private, safe and supportive space where every voice truly matters.

There are twelve places available in the circle. We will meet on Zoom.

I will be very happy to see you there. 🙏🏻

Why am I concerned about this?

I am Davina, a mother and a grandmother, a teacher and a psychotherapist in private practice. I have struggled for decades to support children who are ‘differently-wired’ through education systems that have been unable to sufficiently meet their needs. I also understand myself to be neurodivergent.

Many years ago, my own, highly gifted and neurodivergent, son took his own life when he was nineteen and I cannot see this tragic loss as unconnected to the fact that he was repeatedly excluded and rejected as a child.

Today I hear so many stories of how children find the expectations and environment of schools challenging, and sometimes impossible, to negotiate and this is, quite simply, not OK. We have legislation that is designed to ensure that children are included and that their needs are met so that they have the opportunities both to learn and to connect with other children that they need in order to thrive. However, for so many children the solutions they need are not on offer or are ineffective.

This is about a longstanding need for a transformation in the education system, and I know how hard it is to push for change with the necessary fierce compassion, at the same time as dealing with a daily struggle to support our own children and young people.

It takes a village to raise a child, and yet so many parents struggle alone and find themselves to be in opposition to the teachers, the schools and the local authorities rather than standing together for the benefit of their children.

So I am designing and creating spaces for parents, for others who advocate for neurodiverse children, and for adults who were let down by their own experiences in education. The spaces are designed to offer healing and connection at the same time as allowing us, together, to help to dream up a new system to replace this current one that simply doesn’t work for too many children.

I am doing this for the children of the future, so that they might be offered the necessary conditions to learn, thrive and know themselves to be valued for being exactly who they are.

As a first step, I am offering story circles where we can share our, often deeply challenging, sometimes harrowing and sometimes joyful experiences around neurodiversity and education.