This
page lists resources for educators and professionals. They are a
nationwide organisation and a leading researcher so their resources are
vast.
Aspire Adoption
Aspire
is a Regional Adoption Agency covering Dorset. They provide support for
adopters and (at the moment) special guardians in Dorset. Currently,
the support for special guardians is in the process of being transferred
over to the relevant local authorities. They run monthly parent/carer
support groups as well as meet ups in the school holidays with children
and special events at Christmas and the summer. They also provide
training sessions both for parents/carers and for others. If funding is
required to access specialist assessments and therapy then an
application can be made through Aspire to the ASGSF (Adoption and
Special Guardianship Support Fund). Aspire will be able to give advice
on what kinds of assessment and therapy can be applied for. There is a
limit on how much you can have agreed but this renews every tax year.
FASD Hub (Fetal Alcohol Sprectrum Disorder)
This
is in conjunction with Adoption UK and mostly based in Scotland but the
online resources and webinars are open to all. This page links to
resources specifically for those in education. Current estimates say 76%
of care experienced children have FASD, higher than the number of
children with autism, although it is massively underdiagnosed due to a
lack of knowledge. FASD causes permanent brain
damage in utero and can cause a whole range of co-morbidities, current
count is 480 conditions, including ASD, ADHD, DCD (previously known as
dyspraxia), vision difficulties, heart problems, dyslexia and many more.
It’s a life-long condition but if FASD is present then the usual
adjustments for ASD or ADHD may not work or be suitable.
FASD Hub South West
The
South West Hub covers all across the south including BCP and Dorset.
It’s a peer-led support group. The website has lots of helpful links to
all sorts of information. Training is also available for school staff
through them.
Adopt South West
Although
Adopt South West do not cover Dorset, they do have a brilliant
recommended reading list on their page. It includes books for those
working in education settings and books for children (that include
adoption as part of the storyline) which might also be useful to
pastoral settings.
Centre of Excellence in Child Trauma
This
was set up by Sarah Naish, a leading expert in therapeutic parenting.
She has written a book called The A-Z of Trauma Informed Teaching (https://amzn.eu/d/bdxjYnB).
This book is written like a dictionary or encyclopaedia. You can dip
into it and look up a specific thing (eg lying, or toileting) and it
will give you more info and some strategies to deal with it. There is a
parenting version of this book which I’d also recommend as something for
any parents and carers.
Louise Michelle Bomber
She
is a leading expert in trauma and attachment. She has written many
brilliant books any of which would be a great resource. Many of the
books are written for schools and educators. She also founded Touchbase (https://touchbase.org.uk)
and there are free resources on her website too. She has some short
videos on her Youtube channel too which were recorded during Lockdown:
