Clare Kerr

Last month we interviewed @FrithUta for our new podcast, Let's Talk Neurosense: the psychology of neurodiversity. She touched on many of the themes in her @tes interview, in particular should we be dividing the autism spectrum into subgroups and how masking has affected the way that we understand autism. Here's our interview. @helenlewis @Docstockk @jon_severs Why we need to rethink the autism spectrum with Dame Uta Frith open.substack.com/pub/neurosense…

@naomicfisher The CBT offered probably didn’t take into consideration specific SALT needs. A lot of what a good SALT delivers for pupils in send with a recognised sp and lang need / autism could be seen as CBT

Today a parent told me that they’d been told that there was no suitable services for their autistic young person as they approached adulthood. And then the social worker said that they could have offered CBT, but she knew that this wasn’t appropriate for autistic people and so it wouldn’t be offered. This is a harmful narrative. I know that many autistic people have written about how CBT didn’t help them. I believe them. But I don’t think that their experiences should be generalised to every other autistic person (nor to every other CBT therapist). CBT is a massive umbrella term that covers many different types of therapies and interventions. Autism is a massive umbrella term that encompasses many different people. There is no research which shows that all CBT should be ruled out for all autistic people. This is discrimination by diagnosis, dressed up as good practice. CBT doesn’t help everyone all the time. It isn’t a universal panacea. It is sometimes life changing and sometimes not helpful at all - but you should never make that call in advance just because someone has an autism diagnosis. The most important factor is whether CBT works - as with any psychological therapy - is the relationship that you have with your therapist. A different therapist might be an entirely different experience. The idea that CBT doesn’t work for autistic people has been extraordinarily influential without any scientific scrutiny. You can find it all over the internet. It’s influential to the point where social workers are ruling out the most commonly available evidence-based therapies, just because the person has an autism diagnosis. This has serious implications, because there aren’t lots of other therapies available to use as alternatives. It can mean, as it did for this young person, that nothing is offered instead. And before anyone says that I’m saying this because I make my living out of CBT - I don’t. I’m primarily an EMDR trainer and therapist although I am also trained in CBT. I am well informed about CBT and well informed about autism, and I think we need to stop with the generalisations. The reason that I post about this is that I really care about autistic people getting access to therapies that might help them. We have to keep options open rather than shut them down. Every time that someone posts about how CBT doesn’t work for autistic people it may get lots of shares and likes, but it could also result in people being denied therapy that could make a difference to their lives. Sharing experiences is important - but generalising from those experiences to others with the same diagnosis should be done with care. It has the potential to harm as well as help. Shout it from the hilltops, no one should be denied evidence based treatment because of their autism diagnosis.

@DarrellWakelam Will be my son’s birthday! He made this bone recently, following your methods!

YOU COULD WIN . . . a signed copy of my bestselling book ArtShaped . . . and . . . this cute Snowman! 😮 Just 'like' and 'repost' to enter (UK entries only I'm afraid) I'll pick a random winner this Wednesday evening (Dec 10th) and post it out before Christmas. 👍 🎅🎅🎅

Cornish artist Kirsty Elson creates art with driftwood and other found material #WomensArt #December7th #ArtAdvent 🎄

Toon dogs. #NUFC #nufcparade

Hey Geordie! #NUFC #nufcparade

@anthonyshock Have never toasted the oats but yes to the water! Have had it daily with water, super gloopy, from the microwave every day for 25 years. Lately my additions are frozen berries (they defrost) kefir and yogurt, seeds and ground flax seed.

And a super tasty one: 🇮🇸 Icelandic ‘Karamellu Hafragrautur’, a porridge from Iceland enriched with tangy skyr and Nordic-style caramel sauce. (PAYWALL RECIPE: cooksinstinct.com/p/icelandic-ca…)

Let’s nail this down. A proper bowl of oatmeal/porridge. Let me show you how I make it, with tricks to make it the best oatmeal/porridge you’ve ever had. You might be shocked - shaken, even - but stick around until the end. Let’s go! 🥣

7/ Rethink Needed 🔍: The “velcro model” (TA constantly attached to one pupil) is counterproductive for fostering independence. Adopting a "helicopter approach" aligns with best practices for building student resilience.

Our special 70th birthday publication “Through Art, InSEA@70” is an open access free download at insea.org/insea-publicat… and is a fascinating visual history of this important global visual art education organisation. @UNESCO @CSEA_SCEA @NAEA @NSEAD1 @Andriazaf

@theartcriminal Lisa’s sister was my best friend as a child - her passion was theatre. Many happy memories putting on plays with her at her house! It certainly inspired me as a teacher.

Say it loud and clear. The EBacc is an anachronism. Progress 8 is an anachronism. So if Labour are “improving” life chances for all children, get rid of them.

Hopping on to say how amazing the latest @NSEAD1 AD magazine looks, around the subject of sustainability within art education, edited by Dr Esme Hall. Looking forward to reading and sharing with staff.

@RogersHistory @BBCNews Found it: 7:55 in. BBC has a new transparency policy which means NDAs can’t be used to silence. bbc.co.uk/sounds/play/p0…

@RogersHistory @BBCNews They interviewed Zelda Perkins who described a new transparency policy at the BBC. Not channel 4 though.

NDAs. There’s something very wrong about them. Esp in education. The covering up, the financials, the use of (fake) references as bargaining chips, the forcing of ppl into situations they never wanted to be in. Whole thing stinks. £££ shouldn’t be allowed into processes.

@AllisonChaseMFL @Framheadteacher @RachelReevesMP Some think this and also the prison crisis.

@Framheadteacher @RachelReevesMP Did Sunak call the election for July to dodge the urgent issue of public sector pay rises? I’m sure NHS rises were due in April and July/Aug key for education announcements. Teacher pay rises 😁 but Heads having to fund these rises from already-set budgets for 2024/25?

@drlucyfoulkes Smart phones just fuelled the ease of access to all this. I also feel that education initiatives and approaches can be an added issue in this mix.

@drlucyfoulkes What are your thoughts around the links between depression and “affluenza” as outlined by Oliver James in his book of the same name? Specifically visual media/ advertising etc and some of the case studies tracking rates of depression / eating disorders as these things increased?