SEND Parenting Podcast
EP 83: Empowering Technology - Bitesize Summaries
Episode 83
We are back this week with another (not so) bitesize episode, which means that we are joined once more by our fantastic bitesize co-host Tamsyn. This week we are throwing all the way back to episode 8 with Sally Greenhalgh, academic and digital lead of the Unicorn School, with whom we discussed how schools can better embrace technology to empower neurodiverse children in education.
Tamsyn and Olivia cover all the incredible information from that episode, like the tech that is out there to support our neurodiverse children like Microsoft Word's dictation and Immersive Reader features, and how they can unlock creativity and story writing in dyslexic and dyspraxic children. We also discuss how these technologies can help children with ADHD and autism as well.
We also discuss why schools are reticent to adopt such transformative technology when it empowers neurodiverse students to showcase their abilities and achieve independence in their learning, meaning for lower-cost SEND support long term. The necessity for schools to embrace technology in the same way society does is emphasized, including the potential of using pupil premium funds to make technology accessible.
Tune in to discover how technology can revolutionize education and make a lasting impact on neurodiverse children's lives.
www.sendparenting.com
Episode 83
We are back this week with another (not so) bitesize episode, which means that we are joined once more by our fantastic bitesize co-host Tamsyn. This week we are throwing all the way back to episode 8 with Sally Greenhalgh, academic and digital lead of the Unicorn School, with whom we discussed how schools can better embrace technology to empower neurodiverse children in education.
Tamsyn and Olivia cover all the incredible information from that episode, like the tech that is out there to support our neurodiverse children like Microsoft Word's dictation and Immersive Reader features, and how they can unlock creativity and story writing in dyslexic and dyspraxic children. We also discuss how these technologies can help children with ADHD and autism as well.
We also discuss why schools are reticent to adopt such transformative technology when it empowers neurodiverse students to showcase their abilities and achieve independence in their learning, meaning for lower-cost SEND support long term. The necessity for schools to embrace technology in the same way society does is emphasized, including the potential of using pupil premium funds to make technology accessible.
Tune in to discover how technology can revolutionize education and make a lasting impact on neurodiverse children's lives.
www.sendparenting.com
Welcome to the Send Parenting Podcast. I'm your neurodiverse host, dr Olivia Kessel, and, more importantly, I'm mother to my wonderfully neurodivergent daughter, alexandra, who really inspired this podcast. As a veteran in navigating the world of neurodiversity in a UK education system, I've uncovered a wealth of misinformation, alongside many answers and solutions that were never taught to me in medical school or in any of the parenting handbooks. Each week on this podcast, I will be bringing the experts to your ears to empower you on your parenting crusade. In this episode, as many of us are already in the time constraints of summer holidays, I thought a bite-sized podcast would be appreciated. So today we're going to explore the intersection of technology and education in a small, easily to digest segment. I'll be joined by Tamsyn, my co-host, and we'll dive into an inspiring and essential topic how can we harness technology like Microsoft to support our neurodiverse children in their reading and writing challenges, both at school and out of school?
Speaker 1:With summer holidays gearing up to go into full swing and with many of our children enjoying a break from the usual school pressures, this time kind of offers a unique opportunity to explore and enjoy technology tools in a more relaxed and creative environment. For instance, my own daughter uses Microsoft Word's dictation feature to bring her creative stories to life during the holidays in a way she never could before. She loves to dictate her stories and then print it out and see her ideas and imagination come to life. In this episode we're going to look at Microsoft's innovative tools that can really empower our children and make reading and writing not just accessible but also enjoyable and engaging, whether it's through voice dictation, immersive reader or some of the other incredible features Will will discuss today. These tools can transform how our children express themselves and how they can process that information. Join us in this episode as we uncover tips, share some personal stories and discuss practical ways to integrate these technologies into daily life. Let's embrace the summer as a time to explore and learn beyond the traditional classroom setting, tune in and discover how these tools can turn challenges into triumphs.
Speaker 1:So welcome Tamsen, back to co-host the Bite Size Summary looking at harnessing technology, and this was an episode that we did really early on. It was episode eight, so there's potential that a lot of listeners didn't actually hear all the great advice that Sally Greenhalgh got to give us about Microsoft and how they incorporate technology into the school and I have to say you know it resonated so much with me and I get so frustrated that there are so many schools out there that don't use technology as an enabler for people with neurodiversity. I've been ridiculed at school in my university because of my spelling and grammar due to my dyslexia, and got it, you know, equated to my intelligence, which is not true. It's something I have difficulty and challenges with, but using technology as an adult, my spelling is taken care of, my grammar is taken care of, I'm able to come across in quote, unquote intelligent manner.
Speaker 1:So I really would love for there to be more knowledge and more acceptance and more use of technologies in schools and I think that Sally did a great job of describing to our listeners. I think it'd be great if we kind of went through what some of those technologies were and then I'd recommend people listening. What was it from your perspective?
Speaker 2:Oh, I found it so exciting. So I'm also a governor at my son's school and I listened to her thinking. Well, the first thing I did was email it to everybody in the governing body and the head teacher and said you know, we have to do this. And again, when we talk about what's the solution, this has to be right up there with what our solutions are. And I think what hugely came across to me was technology creates an equal platform for all of our children to be able to show their ability. So, whether they're in a mainstream school and having support, whether in a special school, it it does create that equal platform because they can.
Speaker 2:There is so much available and and I think it's we've talked on lots of different podcasts and I've heard lots of your your speakers talk about technology. Is it our nemesis or is it our friend? And what she really? She took a completely different spin on it for me and said you know, if we want them to be prepared for life, we've got to start now. We've got to start really teaching them not just having the technology, but teaching staff how to use it effectively and properly.
Speaker 1:And how children use it, because it's like learning a language you have to learn to use it, but once you get proficient in it there's no going back from it. And what's really interesting with neurodiversities is it's not just dyslexia that needs technology ADHD, a large proportion of children with ADHD have fine motor issues so they can't write or draw, and that goes on into adulthood With autism as well. Getting those thoughts out, into being able to verbalize, into a dictation type setting can be so important. So it's not just for spelling, it's for being able to capture, for processing skill disorders. There's just such a wealth of information that can then get accessed through technology. But it's not like you can, it's not like a leg splint, so you just put it on and it works. You have to integrate it into education for kids to become proficient at it.
Speaker 1:And then I look at my daughter, who cannot write, still can't write, still writes terribly, still draws terribly, and she is writing stories. Now. She loves writing stories, she uses dictation even on holiday, wakes up and starts. You know writing a story about the pig and you know her imagination is phenomenal. Her stories make me laugh. She wouldn't be able to do that because the act of writing is so frustrating. There's no way she would.
Speaker 2:Yeah, absolutely. And my son, he's a terrible procrastinator Terrible. So we'll spend two hours where he's saying I've got to write this story about the Cold War and we'll talk about it and he's got all the ideas. But again it's down to handwriting. He's got a Chromebook and I said, just do it on the Chromebook and then he'll write three pages. So I think you know, funny enough, in my work, often people will send me handwritten messages and I'll say I'm so sorry, I can't read it. Can you type it for me? So I can't read it, can you type it for me? Um, so I can I get it right.
Speaker 2:And I think we're so focused on handwriting and handwriting is a really important skill. But what's? We've talked about this as well what's the primary function? So if the primary function is to write a story, when the learning goal is, that is, to share your thoughts and ideas and to tell a narrative in sequence, then actually the handwriting part of that is not the primary goal of that activity. And also, I think it really encourages, you know, things like reader pens. It stops the need for a reader, you know, particularly in exams. It also, and also with headphones, you can have headphones and a reader pen and that child can be independent in their learning. So there's going to be a big outlay, a big financial cost at the beginning, but actually the long term saving, particularly in all schools, but particularly in smaller specialist schools where they're running into a deficit all the time. If the government had a grant available for this technology in the long term it has to be part of the solution with deficit models in schools no-transcript.
Speaker 1:I mean I don't have to do the outlay of 1400 pounds for a Surface Go. It's 20 pounds a month while she's there. If it breaks they give her a loaner when they fix it. So it's not unattainable. But I've tried with a local school to us to help them. You know, bring technology on board for their children. That are really struggling. And you know what. The school put up so many barriers that I eventually pulled out. Oh, the wifi doesn't work. Oh, we can't possibly give in logins for students. Oh, you know, there was just why they couldn't do it over and over. And then the piece de la resistance was well, after this pilot, we're going to take the technology away and wipe all the computers down. And I'm like that's not fair to the children. I'm like I'm not going to go in and give the child the keys to the car and then take it away from them. I said I'm going to do more harm than good. So I pulled out.
Speaker 2:Yeah, I was talking to a parent recently and, um, and and I'm not saying this, I don't want this to be negative because actually the, the it was very uplifting. I think her podcast was really uplifting um, but I've worked with a parent whose child's got type 1 diabetes. She's got a port into her arm or her, I don't know where it is actually an Apple watch and it speaks to her mum so her mum can monitor. And then she's got at lunch. She's got lots of different food labels and her mum can just send her a message and say you need to leave and you need to have snack A, you know, so it allows that child autonomy and she's still got a lot of embarrassment around her condition.
Speaker 2:Do you know what the school has said? Our access, our Wi-Fi, is. We can't share our Wi-Fi. So I think we've got a long, long way to go, and I was thinking about this because when I forwarded it onto my son's school, I was saying what we need to do, what leadership needs to do, is go into Microsoft. Microsoft are clearly, or any of those companies clearly want to share what they've developed and it's beyond, I think, what any of us know.
Speaker 1:They develop it with disabled people. So it's actually people who are struggling that develop and test their software, Because I've gone through Chrome, I've gone through Dragonfly and I've landed in Microsoft and the ease is so much more and I think it's because it's designed and tested by the people who are going to be using it and that's really powerful. But even Sally you know she's volunteered, She'll come to your school, Tamsin, I mean she will, yeah.
Speaker 2:I think what's most successful is those schools. You know we've talked before about it being from the top down.
Speaker 2:Yeah, it has to be it has to be from the top down and the schools that have employed people. So there's a school near me called Moon Hall which is really specializes in dyslexia as a primary need. Lots of other things going on, but primarily, primarily, dyslexia. And they've got an it. Uh, they've got a permanent department so they are making sure that the reader pens are being used properly. They're used to record progress. It's part of their whole plan. Do review cycle. It's not just here's a reader pen and then we don't have to read for you, it's, it's, yeah, it's fully integrated into how they assess children's development.
Speaker 1:And for those who don't understand what a reader pen does. So I mean, obviously it's self-evident that it reads for you, but it also will say is it the reader pen? No, the one that when you read it, sees what your progression is on reading. It is the reader pen. Yeah, it is the reader pen. Yes, so that, as you're saying, tamsyn. So basically, if I'm making a lot of mistakes or you know I'm, I'm missing words or I'm not, phonetically it will. It will tally that all up and give you a report on it. So then you know what to work with on that child. So, integrating that into their, their reporting and what they need to work on with that child, versus it's just a pen, so we don't need to worry about you having to read with you is a really key point.
Speaker 2:And also just things that are available now for the children. So, for example, andrew will come home and they'll say what's your homework? I don't remember Where's your book. I've left it at school. Where's your's your chromebook? I didn't charge it so you can't access what the homework is. But actually what she said was so simple the one thing he doesn't lose is his phone, funnily enough. So actually, if the teacher recorded a voice note that they can listen to over and over again to remind them what the homework is or what the steps are or what the instructions are, again, it allows autonomy and as they get older, that's much more appropriate to have that autonomy.
Speaker 1:Well, alexandra, she can never bring home a handout. It never makes it home. You know it's gone, but now she goes. Mommy, look, I just opened up this. I go into Teams. I mean, she knows how to use Teams better than I know how to use Teams. And then she goes oh, I've just uploaded it to my teacher now, and I've done this. Her PowerPoints are more advanced than my PowerPoint. She's taught her teacher Once you let them into technology, they'll exceed you in no time. And then she's transferred those skills that she's had in Microsoft to like Google to everything. She uses voice activation to search for things on the internet. She knows how to navigate not needing to write and not needing to spell and not needing to do these things, and all of the technologies have that within them, so it just it opens the world.
Speaker 2:It's a passage of time, because I do think like I don't know about you. I was 18 when I had my first mobile phone, when it was even a thing. So think, as as the as this generation moves through education, I do think it will naturally happen. I think it's really difficult to get a whole school approach for people that and professionals that it hasn't been part of their careers. So I think people are worried about change, whereas actually if we said okay, if the government said right, one inset day, at least one inset day a year has to be dedicated to exploration of technology within your school and just getting, getting wi-fi.
Speaker 2:Why isn't wi-fi free in every educational setting and functioning, just wi-fi yeah, and I I was thinking, um, I was actually wandering around my daughter's school the other day. So she's, she's a neurotypical, she's in a mainstream school and I walked it's a, it's a state school and I walked into their music department and it's full of Apple, absolutely you name it Beautiful, amazing equipment. And I thought I don't. I wonder if this has been gifted, because now all the children are coming home and saying I want an Apple, I need, I need a Mac, that's what I need. And I thought that's really clever. So you know you never, you just don't know what's out there until you ask. You know, you don't know, you don't know what these companies can do for you, what grants are available for you. So I think it was, it was, I think it was really uplifting to think actually there is, there are uplifting but frustrating these. This technology has been developed, it's ready to go. Why? What's the why behind? Why we aren't using it?
Speaker 1:and I don't know there's so many reasons for how did it go at your school. I'm curious to know when, when you've introduced this to them, have they? Have they been excited about it? Have there been barriers? Has you know um?
Speaker 2:uh, well, yeah, we've got some reader pens. Okay, what we do with them? Are we recording with them? Are we using them for assessment? What are we doing with them? You know, because I have this really huge pet hate.
Speaker 2:Um, and it's so and so is working towards this. You know they're working towards year one. They're working towards year two. I'm working towards being a. You know they're working towards year one. They're working towards year two. I'm working towards being a millionaire, but it's not. We're a long way off. You know what does working towards mean? And parents? It's really hard for parents to have a point of reference because they're not teachers, they don't know the curriculum. So if somebody said to me they're working towards year, my child's in year six and they're working towards year, my child's in year six and they're working towards year one, that's very different, which might be the reality, but you can still honestly say they're working towards year six because they are, whereas actually this kind of recording of information from technology gives a really concrete understanding of where your child's at, what the problems problems are, and it's much less time consuming for the teachers, which means that they can spend more time looking at that information and deciding how to plan next.
Speaker 1:Yeah, you know. And to your earlier point about being able to use it on exams and having that independence, I was really shocked recently to learn that if you know as a dyslexic on your GCSEs you get given extra time or you're read to, you actually get points deducted for that.
Speaker 2:No way, I didn't know that.
Speaker 1:I would you know. So that needs to change too. So using enabling technology shouldn't mean that you get deducted points. That means that you're just then at this.
Speaker 2:I mean, it just makes me want to throw up my hands when I hear something like that and I know this is controversial because not everyone can afford to do that, and I understand that but actually even allowing parents to understand that that's available if they chose to invest in it, because I may choose to go without something else, yeah, no, exactly, I mean £20 a month.
Speaker 1:You can find a way to come up with £20 a month, You've got disability living allowance.
Speaker 2:There's a family fund that you can access for those kind of things. You've got pupil premium within schools, you know. So if you really couldn't afford to do that, the pupil premium contribution to the school could be used to cover that.
Speaker 1:And I mean you know Sally's such a wonderful person is, so we're so enthused within the podcast and she is within life. I mean with the school I was like we could even lend them computers. We could find computers and you know what I mean. So you know to her, and I think this is something that parents and educators is. There's always a way, you know there is always a way, but I think it's mental barriers regarding the technology that needs to be broken down.
Speaker 2:You have to want to and you have to understand the why. With anything in life.
Speaker 1:And then when you see the magic and you see the independence and you know, I experience it personally I feel confident writing something. I can use words that I wouldn't use because I can't spell them, because I know that I can automatically use it to spell it for me. We use Alexa. My daughter asked me how to spell something. I don't know how to spell it. I'm like ask Alexa, alexa, how do you spell? And then she spells it out for us. You know, um so it's all about these.
Speaker 2:It's about these toolboxes, and I think when they're little, when they're young, your toolboxes include things like putting them in a shower, you know, for 20 minutes to calm them down, having, um, a muzzy allowing them to take all their clothes off. We've all got a toolbox. But as they get older, that toolbox has to become much more sophisticated because it needs to be age appropriate. And so we've talked about lots of alternative uh solutions. You know, tapping, mindfulness, talking, therapy, whatever it might be. Technology has to be there and I know I've got lots of friends who, who are maybe single parents, can't go out so much and technology is their lifeline to have conversations with people. You know my son doesn't game, but I've got a lot of friends whose boys game and actually I don't want to take it away from them because they communicate and socialize in that way. It's come on so much um and I I have.
Speaker 2:I really feel frustrated that it's not being embraced in the same way it's being embraced in society. And it's like I say to schools you know, if I ask them, I don't know, I might say this is not about my son's current school, because they're really good, but previously I might have said. You know he struggles in the food hall, you know it's too much, it's too busy. Can he have an alternative space to eat? No, well, actually this is a mainstream school with a coin provision. I can go to Disneyland and they will provide me with that. Why can I go to Disneyland, why can I go to Gatwick Airport? But I can't come to a school with a coin provision and have his needs met. So it is that kind of breaking down those barriers and saying we're all embracing it in the outside world. We need to embrace it fully within schools. And saying we're all embracing it in the outside world, we need to embrace it fully within schools.
Speaker 1:And we can do it safely, because the whole like, oh, you know, safeguarding and children, there are so many ways to protect for that and there's so many ways to utilize technology. You know, for someone with you know who has difficulty, you know, forgetting stuff, losing stuff, executive functioning problems, using technology can be a great way to, you know, write lists, have reminders. I go upstairs and get ready in the morning and I have Alexa remind my daughter to eat. You know, and Alexa, which actually goes over much better than me reminding her to eat, you know, and Alexa can remind her what to put in her bag, you know, and it's much better coming from Alexa than it is coming from me.
Speaker 2:The skill that is. You know, I often think. I was talking to a friend the other day about what's useful. So, as a mother, what do you do that could be replaced? Because if what you do could be replaced, then replace it.
Speaker 1:Yeah, that's a good point.
Speaker 2:Lots that you do that can't be replaced. You know, laying in bed with her and teaching her to tap priceless. But actually reminding her over and over again what to put in her school bag when actually you cannot remember, is not helpful. And actually it allows them that autonomy, gives them those skills and beds them that they can take into life and be independent. And those life skills are what has to be the end game for all of us. It's not just being school ready, it is that being life ready and finding things that work for them.
Speaker 1:Yeah, and I just think I need to give an excuse my words here. But give a big kick up the ass of education to start enabling our children with technology. That would be my new year's wish for this year.
Speaker 2:Yeah, exactly Like if you look at years ago, they don't do it anymore. But so 15 years ago, when my son was born, he was given a sum of money that went into an account. They stopped it two years later. But how much money must that have cost? That must have cost huge amounts of money, whereas actually if every child, when they're born, was given a technology budget, some may need it, some may not, um, but actually when you look at you know travel.
Speaker 2:So how much money is being spent on travel for young people that are neurodiverse, getting to the colleges or their schools? The local authority funds lots of travel, but actually half the problem is anxiety about reading timetables if things go wrong. But now with their phones, you know there's loads of apps that are being developed that they're saying. I think it's now called also the there's I saw this morning on the news uber trains. You know you can ask it where can I, I need to get here, and it finds your location and it will tell you where you need to go and what train you need to get on, you know. So there's so much out there got to, got to, got to be brought into schools and we've got to address it with leadership. So, just like every school has to have a SENCO, I think every school should have an IT department.
Speaker 1:That functions, because let me tell you, there are them with IT functions that are just you know, or IT expert.
Speaker 2:You know that actually not only gets these, this equipment, into the school, but ensures it's used properly.
Speaker 1:And I'm thinking, you know, internships from Microsoft, whatever. Come and work in a school for semester, you know, and people would love to do that, you know. So, um, microsoft, if you're listening out there, you know it's, it's time you take hold. Or Apple, whoever, or Google, whoever there's enough room for all the technologies, but they need to get into schools, because if they roll, out in schools and they put a support system in schools, I would buy whichever device is being used in schools.
Speaker 2:I would spread it over however long I needed to to be able to afford it. But if I had a, a tool base that could not only allow myself to speak into it but also to assess his development as part of that incredible not and also not to replace teachers. You know I'm not saying that and I think that's really important. Like I said to you, what can you do that? What do you do for you, alexandra, that could be replaceable? Then replace it and do the bits that can't be replaced. Same with teachers. You know, if they weren't so stretched, they would have the time to inspire, and there's many inspiring teachers that are overworked. So technology can help, it helps us in. You know, in our own homes it used to be that whoever stayed at home, their whole day was washing, ironing, cooking. You know, and actually now I don't know about you. Well, I haven't ironed since 2005, but actually you know you can put the slow cooker on you can put the tumble dryer on.
Speaker 1:You can all these this technology. I just got a robot vacuum mopping machine and it mops and vacuums and sweeps and it knows what to do.
Speaker 1:It knows what to do where, so it'll wash the floor and then it'll jump up onto the rug and hoover. I mean it is brilliant, absolutely brilliant for dogs and children and I think you know it'll be another episode but AI as well, and using AI to facilitate children's ability to communicate and to extrapolate. I have someone coming on the show, actually in January of next year. He's a dyslexia tutor in the US and he actually works with universities so that neurodiverse kids can use AI with an agreement with professors, so that they can actually harness what's in their head and have it come out.
Speaker 1:And it's just it's blowing. It's blowing the professor's minds, because these ideas that these neurodiverse kids have are just amazing.
Speaker 2:I was working with a little boy last year, so he was from a trauma background within the care system. Within the care system cerebral palsy, non-verbal and the speech and language therapist secured him an ACC device for speaking and he had the driest, funniest sense of humour ever and you just wouldn't have known. You just wouldn't have known, you would have thought he was cheeky and um and funny, but but actually really advanced quite sophisticated sense of humor and I just thought, wow, that has been trapped, you know. So what had been misinterpreted as um, perhaps PDA type behaviors, of avoidant behaviors, actually when he was able to talk to us he was just like, ask me nicely and I'll do it, tell me what to do and I won't. He wasn't being PDA, it was part of his, it was part of his charm. So yeah, there's so much to it, so much work to do on that, but that took about three years to secure, shouldn't be that difficult, yeah.
Speaker 1:And you know what? It's not just our neurodiverse kids. Neurotypical kids will benefit too from this, because it's what society expects of us. You know what I mean? It's a big missing part. Unless you're in a really high-end school private school then technology is part of it. But if you're in mainstream school, you're at a definite disadvantage from kids that go to a private school. In my opinion, yeah, definitely. So what do you think? Her takeaways were what did you think her main?
Speaker 2:points were that go to a private school? In my opinion, yeah, definitely so, anyway, we-. What do you think her takeaways were? What did you think her main points were?
Speaker 1:I think one of her main points was that utilizing technology for the whole school, so making sure that everything you do is technology-based and it's an integral part of the school. So from teachers to students to homework assignments, you're using technology, um, that you know their homework it's, it's multi digital, you know it's not just, it doesn't have to be written, it doesn't have to be, it could be video, it could be, you know, using that multimedia approach, Um, and that I think she went through really clearly the different technologies and how they support people and kids and you just listen to her and you're just like why wouldn't you use this, Do you?
Speaker 2:know what I mean.
Speaker 1:That's what came across so strongly. It's giving kids independence. It's giving them that bridge that they need. I just don't understand why we don't.
Speaker 2:No, and I think I have a horrible that feeling that you always have that, like with most things, it comes down to money, but actually we have to look at the bigger picture to see that it's money saving. I think what she made really clear was download the Microsoft suite, see what's going on, see what's available, because it will blow your mind and it definitely can never be the whole solution, but it's got to be significant, really significant.
Speaker 1:Well, if you told me, like you know, four years ago, that my daughter would be writing stories on her own, I would have laughed at you. Do you know what I mean? And she takes her laptop. She does it by herself, you know that is. That's incredible, yeah, you know. So I think that we're, I feel like we're handicapping our children by not having this, and I think actually the cost is something that people are hiding behind, because actually all of us in our homes manage to afford Wi-Fi and a computer, okay. So why isn't it part of the fricking school budget?
Speaker 2:And it's also. Most of our children have phones. So if we take away from the fact what's right, what's wrong, what should or shouldn't happen, the reality is, if we don't teach them to use it now, we are doing them a disservice.
Speaker 1:Yeah, so it's something for the government to think about. You know what I mean, because it's got to almost come from that government level that we are going to support you with this amount of money. We want to see what you're going to do. Wi-fi should be available throughout schools. People should be using technology and teachers can get upskilled, and teachers know how to use technology at home, so I'm sure it's not going to be that hard.
Speaker 2:Yeah, I think in any situation, if you look at a family situation, any relationships or any situation in life the problem is not the things that you argue about. The problems are the things that nobody talks about, and this is not being talked about.
Speaker 1:No, it's not, it's not on the forum, it's not on the agenda and it should be it absolutely should be, and all of the questions of oh, I've got 30% of my class that has neurodiversity, we don't have enough TAA support, we don't have enough this, we cannot support them. How much of it would be alleviated. Just like your description of the household how easy it is now that we have a washing machine, a vacuum cleaner that does everything for us. The of a washing machine, a vacuum cleaner that does everything for us. The same thing in schools, putting yes, it's a little bit of a, you know, to get over that hump of getting it implemented but once it's implemented it will make life easier.
Speaker 2:Yeah, and what I would like to do is look at those statistics, because I know many teachers in their NQT year that are walking out. They can't do it, are going into reception. They haven't been diagnosed. You might have three children behavioral problems, three with english additional language, three with the hcps, three that should have hcps, and have three with trauma. You haven't got. Gone are the days of one neurodiverse child in a class of 29 other neurotypical children. That's not what you're looking at. You're looking at a really complex landscape within a classroom and it's too much for any one person to do. But it is absolutely possible if you can do that in conjunction with technology.
Speaker 1:Yeah, I agree. So I think that can be something we need to see how we can petition next year, something to think about, to noodle over how we can cause a revolution in schools. You know it should be part of the agenda for the political fights that's going to be happening next year. You know this should be part of it. So for all of you out there, go to your schools. Complain about the technology. No, complain is not the right word. Download your. Microsoft Suites do a presentation. No, complain is not the right word.
Speaker 2:Don't learn your lines of sweets. Do a presentation.
Speaker 1:Yeah, and educate yourself. Do you know how easy it is to write an email while using Dictate? I mean, it's incredibly easy. You will find your life change. So learn how to use it and then encourage your schools to use it, because revolutions take one step at a time, and I think there needs to be a technology revolution.
Speaker 2:There really does.
Speaker 1:All right, well, thank you, tamsen. We've run a little bit over, so it's not really bite-sized, but you know what? I think we really hit some really important points. So this is our bigger bite. It's like after maybe, a Sunday lunch. All right, take care, tamsen, take care Bye. Thank you for listening to Send Parenting Tribe. Please subscribe if you haven't already, and if you have time to rate us in your preferred podcast platform, please do, wishing you and your family a good start to summer holidays. Thank you, you.