James did really well, in part because we had listened to him and recognised and respected his wishes. He felt heard. He felt cared for and loved. And he was filled with joy.
Tag: children
Impact of UK 2025 Budget on SEND Families: An Overview
In summary, the recent budget offered immediate, positive financial relief for low-income families through welfare changes (like scrapping the two-child limit), but introduced a complex, long-term change to SEND funding that brings hope for future systemic stability but offers no present solution to the immediate, ongoing crisis for children needing support.
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Was Apostle Paul Disabled? Insights from His Journey
Do you know someone, whether a child/young person or adult, who is blind or partially sighted? How could you help them to encounter Jesus, grow in their Christian faith and thrive in Christian community?
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Managing Caregiver Fatigue: A Self-Care Guide For Parents (Guest Post)
Here Jenny Wise guest posts on The Additional Needs Blogfather, with some great wisdom about carer fatigue and self-care...
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The Transformative Power of AI in Supporting Children with Additional Needs
Artificial Intelligence (AI) is rapidly evolving, and its applications are extending into diverse fields, offering innovative solutions to complex challenges. One area where AI holds immense promise is in supporting children with additional needs. From personalised learning experiences to enhanced communication and therapy, AI-powered tools are opening new avenues for development, independence, and inclusion for these children. Note: As this article is about AI, I used AI (Google Gemini) to help create it!
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A Creative Way To Use AI To Enhance Communication
I've been exploring how to use AI to reimagine some photos of James into cartoon style images, so that I can put them together into a communication booklet for him to use to share what he would like to do.
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Five lessons from when Jesus heals a Canaanite woman’s daughter
It is quite possible that this woman’s daughter also has Epilepsy, which without any treatment at the time would have been terrifying and for the child could lead to physical injury, mental disability, and possibly death.
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James’ Wonderfully Inclusive Rainbow Cookies
As we were making cookies today, I noticed something for the first time about the way that James added the colourful rainbow chocolate buttons on top of the pressed out cookie shapes... it got me thinking about how wonderfully inclusive he was being... Here's four things I noticed...
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How Road Trips Keep James Connected
These road-trips are important to keep James connected with the outside world. He would lose touch with so much that we all take for granted without them. As we approach the summer holidays and there is more time available, we hope to support James to increase the number of road-trips we can go on during the week. As his confidence grows, we hope to hear him saying that he is “Appy!” more and more!
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Was Isaac Disabled? Insights from the Old Testament
There are theories that suggest that the Biblical character Isaac, son of Abraham and Sarah, may have been disabled. That one of the most well-known characters of the Old Testament, through whom God delivered the great Abrahamic covenant (Genesis 15:4-5), and who was an ancestor of Jesus, might have had additional needs, is really significant.
The Additional Needs Blogfather 