Douglas Silas,
Specialist SEN Solicitor 25th October 2021
Although we start something sometimes, we do not always finish it, do we? Or we don’t even start something at all sometimes, just because we are afraid that we won’t finish it.
For example, we often think of something that we need to do and then try to do it, but ultimately find that we then run out of time and so therefore end up not finishing it. Alternatively, we sometimes do not even start the thing that we need to do, because we know that we are not going to be able to finish it within the timeframe that we have allocated for it, so we do not even start it at all! Unfortunately, human beings are not very good at estimating the time in which they have to do things. Realistically, you need to break a big task down into lots of small achievable component tasks because, if you just see it as one big task, you will probably feel overwhelmed and may not even start it, because you will know unconsciously that you cannot finish it there and then. We usually take this ‘all or nothing’ approach to things and then put unnecessary pressure onto ourselves by feeling that we have to do something completely, or not at all, rather than just accepting that we probably need to do things just a little bit at a time. As the famous Chinese philosopher, Confucius, once said: “Every journey of a thousand miles starts with the first step”! Instead of setting yourself only one big task on your list, break that one big task into lots of smaller sub-tasks that you can do one at a time and check them off. By doing this, you will also feel good that you are making progress and are on your way to completing the big task and also by doing this, you can see that task written down and ticked off, so you then feel good about what you are doing – it is circular. Progress is always a good thing, no matter how small it is. Sparing a small amount of time to do something often also does not feel like very much time and can usually be done quite quickly, so even doing just 10 minutes of an hour-long task is already 1/6th of that task done. Let me put it slightly differently, rather than just doing 15 minutes of a 30-minute task and then doing the other 15 minutes of it the next day (or later), you may not even do those first 15 minutes, because you know that the whole task is going to take you 30 minutes to do and you cannot do it all there and then, so you end up not doing anything. We also need to realise that we cannot do everything at once. It is probably better anyway to do things only a bit at a time over a few days, as you then have thinking time between doing things and can therefore reflect on what you have already done and what you still need to do. In this way you can also adapt the way that you do things as you go along. So, rather than doing everything at once and then knowing you may have to do everything again because you have only later realised you have not done everything right the first time, you end up not having to do that whole thing again, but only that small part again. So, this week, try to look at things that you need to do as smaller component tasks of a big task that you can break down in your mind. If you do this, you will probably find that you can actually find the time to do those big tasks that you have been putting off, or thought that you could not do, by just doing them a little bit at a time.
In this week's SEN Update, you will find sections entitled:
I know how busy everyone always is, so please feel free just to read the sections that are of interest to you or read everything; the choice is always yours.
SEN NEWS
Although I overlooked telling you about 'Dyslexia Week' a couple of weeks ago, I am pleased to say that I have not overlooked this issue completely, as October is also seen as 'Dyslexia Awareness Month'. I have been helped this week by looking at the website of The British Dyslexia Association (BDA). The BDA says that it is "... the voice of dyslexic people. We aim to influence government and other institutions to promote a dyslexia friendly society that enables dyslexic people of all ages to reach their full potential." But my understanding was also helped by a very good article I saw on SEN Magazine's website entitled: ' Dyslexia and prejudice', which you may also find interesting to read.
NEWS ONLINE
In terms of news, here are the other articles that I found of interest this week: Schools should stay open as greatest risk of Covid transmission is in households, research finds Social mobility tsar wants campaign against toddlers having mobile phones 'Years to get children back on track after Covid'
USEFUL INFORMATION
Again, aside from clicking on the relevant links for more information, I would also remind you of the very useful resources and information provided on the following websites: - IPSEA - Council for Disabled Children - Special Needs Jungle I would also highlight again the magazines: SEN Magazine and Autism Eye which are both very helpful to any parents or professionals involved with children/young people with SEN. Keep safe until next week. With best wishes Douglas
P.S. Don’t forget, to ensure that you never miss one, you can get my SEN Updates personally by completing your email details above, or by following me on one of the social media platforms I use (i.e. Twitter/Facebook).
P.P.S. You can also share this SEN Update with others (please only do so if it may be relevant to them) by using one of the icons, usually to the right or at the bottom of this page.
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Douglas Silas,
Specialist SEN Solicitor 18th October 2021.
We never leave ourselves enough time to do things, do we…
Today, I want to talk to you about being as realistic as possible when thinking about how long a task or project is going to take you. This comes from my own continuing personal experiences, as I am often guilty of not being realistic about time estimates for doing things (although I promise that I have been trying to improve on this day by day and week by week for many years!) We often very carefully plan out things that we want to do time-wise, but we still then find that things overrun on us a lot of the time and then also impact upon each other, so that eventually we run out of time to do everything that we had planned to do? People also call this ‘The Domino Effect’, as it is similar to a game of dominoes, where one domino impacts on another as it goes down, which then impacts on the next one and so on. In fact, 'The Domino Effect' also works between one person and another person doing consecutive tasks in a project. For example, if the first person does not leave themselves enough time to do their task, which needs doing before the second person can do what they have to do, when the first person is not realistic about how long their task is going to take them and then overruns, they will end up impacting upon the second person doing their task. So, even if the second person has actually left themselves enough time to do their task theoretically, they then are put under pressure and the whole project may run out of time practically, because the time that the second person had set to do their task has now been shortened because of the first person’s unrealistic time estimation about doing their own task. I am a big believer in ‘Time Blocking’, where you first specifically (as best that you can) determine the task that you need to do and then put corresponding time in your diary to do it. I usually try to be as realistic as possible, by not only estimating and allocating the time that I think that something is going to take me, but then double it! (Some people say that you should also double that again!!) The other thing to do is to always have or even write a plan. Be careful though, as you should not only write a plan, but you should then stick to that plan! And remember, things do not always go to the way that you planned them to go, so you always need to be prepared to expect and then adapt to new obstacles that present themselves as you go along. I heard someone once say that: “Plans are essential, but planning is useless!”, which I think is a wonderful way of putting it. But you at least need to have a plan from the start of any task or project. Curiously also, when you feel that you are running out of time, you will feel more stressed and probably will then not do as good a job, whereas when you leave yourself more than enough time to do a task and finish it earlier than you had planned to do, not only do you then have time left over, you then feel less stressed and often do a better job too! So this week, if you find yourself running out of time to do things, even though you thought that you had planned for them to be done in a certain space of time, step back and think about what I have said. You may also be surprised at how much more you can actually do when you are genuinely realistic about your time estimates.
In this week's SEN Update, you will find sections entitled:
I know how busy everyone always is, so please feel free just to read the sections that are of interest to you or read everything; the choice is always yours.
SEN NEWS
A few days ago it was Developmental Language Disorder (DLD) Awareness Day. As the Department for Education (DfE) puts it, Developmental Language Disorder is diagnosed when a child fails to acquire their own language for no obvious reason. Children with DLD often find it difficult to understand others and struggle to articulate their ideas and feelings. DLD affects on average 2 students in every class of 30 and it is s therefore crucial that schools are able to meet the needs of these pupils. In an email I received later that day from the DfE, it also said: "This year’s DLD Awareness Day campaign is asking teachers to #ThinkLanguage #ThinkDLD. The organisation 'Raising Awareness of Developmental Language Disorder' has produced a set of resources to support teachers to understand, identify and support those with DLD. These resources can be accessed at: https://radld.org/dld-awareness-day/resources-media-ideas/teacher-kit" (It is on a website called: RADLD.ORG, which was created to Raise Awareness of DLD, where you can learn more about DLD, access resources and find out how to raise awareness.) I have also seen many other bits of information/resources on the web this week, so please do an internet search if you want to find out more.
NEWS ONLINE
In terms of news, here are the articles that I found of interest this week:
USEFUL INFORMATION
Again, aside from clicking on the relevant links for more information, I would also remind you of the very useful resources and information provided on the following websites: - IPSEA - Council for Disabled Children - Special Needs Jungle I would also highlight again the magazines: SEN Magazine and Autism Eye which are both very helpful to any parents or professionals involved with children/young people with SEN. Keep safe until next week. With best wishes Douglas
P.S. Don’t forget, to ensure that you never miss one, you can get my SEN Updates personally by completing your email details above, or by following me on one of the social media platforms I use (i.e. Twitter/Facebook).
P.P.S. You can also share this SEN Update with others (please only do so if it may be relevant to them) by using one of the icons, usually to the right or at the bottom of this page.
How useful do you find my SEN Updates?
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Douglas Silas,
Specialist SEN Solicitor 11th October 2021.
We all have a silent todo list that always screams at us, don’t we…
Things that we see around us that we have to deal with are constantly sending us silent messages and reminders, aren’t they? Like ‘fix me’, ‘do this or that with me’, or even ‘just decide whether to keep me or get rid of me’. It can be really very emotionally draining! Seeing something constantly around you that you know you have to deal with really increases your stress levels, even if you are not consciously aware of it. In fact, most of the things that we have around us are actually just bits of clutter that, if we are being honest with ourselves, we know unconsciously that we really don’t need or will never get around to doing. The irony of this of course is that, if you cannot see something, you cannot really deal with it – ‘out of sight, out of mind’ as people say. But that is exactly my point! It is really better to say: ‘in sight, in mind’! In fact, just reading this and thinking about what I am saying and knowing that the concept of a silent todo list exists and knowing that it weighs on us in the back of our minds, sometimes lets you give yourself permission to let go of these things, or put them away somewhere where you cannot see them, but know that you can take them out when you need to. Or just get rid of them! Also, practically, it is often easier to see what you need to do as a full task written down, rather than just seeing something physically. So, I find that when I see something that I need to do, I have to be very clear about what I need to do when I look at it, which I find easier if I see a task as something written down, rather than just seeing the thing itself. This is because I then know what I have to do immediately, rather than first interpret in my head what I need to do when I see it, which is really quite stressful. Remember, it is always easier to separate identifying what you need to do from actually doing it, as there is usually time in between when you can think about how to do a task that you have to do, before you actually have to do it. However, let me warn you, there is always a bit of pain to be experienced when you try to organise new or different systems from how you did things before and you cannot do everything at once. If you try to, you may succeed in the short term, but may probably fail in the long run. So, this week, please look around you -and, if you see things that are sending you silent messages that you need to deal with, but which you then realise are just things you may never get around to do, or don’t really need to do (and are, in fact, just cluttering your life), please give yourself permission to get rid of them, or at least move them to somewhere out of your sight. You will be amazed at how much lighter you will suddenly feel in yourself when looking around you again and no longer consciously or unconsciously seeing an overwhelming list of task for you to deal with anymore!
In this week's SEN Update, you will find sections entitled:
I know how busy everyone always is, so please feel free just to read the sections that are of interest to you or read everything; the choice is always yours.
SEN NEWS
Lots of Covid-19 news this week (see below), but very little SEN news for me to report, I'm afraid. The thing that did catch my eye though was an article on the BBC website about Foetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorder (FASD) entitled: 'Better diagnosis of FASD in children needed, adoptive mum says'. FASD is the name for all the various problems that can affect children if their mother drinks alcohol in pregnancy, which can result in mental and physical problems in the baby, called foetal alcohol syndrome. This is because alcohol in the mother's blood passes to her baby through the placenta and, as a baby cannot process alcohol as well as an adult can, it can damage cells in their brain, spinal cord and other parts of their body, and disrupt their development in the womb. This can result in the loss of the pregnancy and babies that survive may be left with lifelong problems. More common than people think I'm also afraid...
NEWS ONLINE
In terms of news, here are the articles that I found of interest this week: School Covid absences rise two-thirds in fortnight 1 in 14 pupils at English secondary schools have Covid, ONS data shows Covid: Are schools back to normal yet? Not quite
USEFUL INFORMATION
Again, aside from clicking on the relevant links for more information, I would also remind you of the very useful resources and information provided on the following websites: - IPSEA - Council for Disabled Children - Special Needs Jungle I would also highlight again the magazines: SEN Magazine and Autism Eye which are both very helpful to any parents or professionals involved with children/young people with SEN. Keep safe until next week. With best wishes Douglas
P.S. Don’t forget, to ensure that you never miss one, you can get my SEN Updates personally by completing your email details above, or by following me on one of the social media platforms I use (i.e. Twitter/Facebook).
P.P.S. You can also share this SEN Update with others (please only do so if it may be relevant to them) by using one of the icons, usually to the right or at the bottom of this page.
How useful do you find my SEN Updates?
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Douglas Silas,
Specialist SEN Solicitor 4th October 2021.
You can’t please everyone can you…
People often say that you shouldn’t try to please everyone, as you are just destined for failure if you try. For example, you will hear people say things like: “You can’t please all of the people all of the time” or: “You can please some of the people some of the time, but not all of the people all of the time”. I do realise the inherent logic of this principle and, most of the time, I honestly tend to agree with it from my own experiences. However, personally, I actually still think that, even if this is so, you should still try your best to please as many people as you can, as much of the time that you can! So, whenever I try to do something, I genuinely try to accommodate as many people as I can, by actively trying to consider their potential needs, even if those needs may be very different to mine. I also always try and make what I say or do as palatable as possible, to as many people as I can. Also, if there is something that you are going to say or do that could be misinterpreted, no matter how clear you think that is, then it is usually best not to do or say it. You can think it, but don’t say it, as I like to tell people. And, even though people may seem receptive outwardly to what you say or do at the time, remember that they may think of it differently inwardly, but will just not tell you what they really think. In fact, it may actually come as a bit of a shock to you if you only find out later that you have upset them. The irony of this is that other people may have been careful not to say anything to you, so as to try not to upset your feelings, whereas you were not so careful before this, to try to not upset their feelings! And just a final thought, actions always speak louder than words. So, don’t only think of yourself when you say or do something, think of other people, especially children, who may hear or see you. If they hear you say something that they see you then do not try to do genuinely, they may unconsciously take this on board and then may do the same to you in the future.
In this week's SEN Update, you will find sections entitled:
I know how busy everyone always is, so please feel free just to read the sections that are of interest to you or read everything; the choice is always yours.
SEN NEWS
Not much to report this week, although I noticed on the Council for Disabled Children's website a page entitled: "Minister for Children and Families, Will Quince MP, gives keynote speech at nasen Live 2021 addressing the SEND Review" which you may find of interest.
NEWS ONLINE
In terms of news, here are the articles that I found of interest this week: Air pollution likely cause of up to 6m premature births, study finds Failing social care system reflected in relentless rise in Ombudsman’s upheld complaints 12% of English pupils report continuing Covid symptoms weeks after infection
USEFUL INFORMATION
Again, aside from clicking on the relevant links for more information, I would also remind you of the very useful resources and information provided on the following websites: - IPSEA - Council for Disabled Children - Special Needs Jungle I would also highlight again the magazines: SEN Magazine and Autism Eye which are both very helpful to any parents or professionals involved with children/young people with SEN. And this week I also want to highlight that 1st - 31st Oct 2021 is ADHD Awareness Month and draw attention to the Changing Perceptions: Virtual Conference 2021 taking place virtually between 6th to the 9th of October, collaboratively run by The ADHD Foundation: Neurodiversity Charity and ADHD Ireland, which they say will facilitate the largest ADHD conference in Europe. Keep safe until next week. With best wishes Douglas
P.S. Don’t forget, to ensure that you never miss one, you can get my SEN Updates personally by completing your email details above, or by following me on one of the social media platforms I use (i.e. Twitter/Facebook).
P.P.S. You can also share this SEN Update with others (please only do so if it may be relevant to them) by using one of the icons, usually to the right or at the bottom of this page.
How useful do you find my SEN Updates?
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