In this episode, speech therapist, Karen Massey, explores autism and apraxia of speech, as well as discussing ways to support children with Down Syndrome. She also talks about her upcoming book, her plans for a specialist centre, and her new online programme.
Karen is CEO and Director at All About Speech Therapy Ltd. She empowers parents and educators to help childrenfind their voice. She specialises in complex speech, including apraxia of speech, and leads therapy sessions, where she provides face-to-face support locally. As a writer, trainer and speaker, Karen has also co-authored a book, entitled “Total Speech’, which is available to pre-order and is due for release later on this year.
You can find Karen at All About Speech Therapy and on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter.
Karen recommends her book, Autism and Childhood Apraxia of Speech, as well as Overcoming Apraxia by Laura Baskall Smith.
She also shares three tips during the episode:
The My Family Coach podcast covers every aspect of children’s behaviour, all in handy 15-minute (ish) bite-sized chunks. Each episode features a new guest chatting about a different aspect of behaviour and leaves you with three handy tips to use at home.
In this episode, Jack Pattinson talks to Clare about understanding and supporting anger. He discusses the importance of separating the behaviour from the emotion, and looks at ways to respond, rather than react, when your child feels angry.
Jack is a Senior Team Teach trainer and developmentconsultant to a variety of education and care settings across the UK. He is passionate about the importance of inclusion and the impact it has on the experiences we have and hold onto growing up.
As Managing Director at Codevelo Training and Consultancy, Jack delivers a variety of training courses and workshops, helping staff to reflect on and further improve their practice around inclusion.
You can find Jack on the Codevelo website and on LinkedIn.
He also shares three tips during the episode:
The My Family Coach podcast covers every aspect of children’s behaviour, all in handy 15-minute (ish) bite-sized chunks. Each episode features a new guest chatting about a different aspect of behaviour and leaves you with three handy tips to use at home.
In this episode, Clare talks to expert guest, Allegra McEvedy MBE, about using food and cooking to help build connection and positive family relationships.
Allegra reflects on her own experience of cooking during childhood and how this shaped her approach to cookery as an adult. They also talk about helping children and young people become ‘kitchen-comfortable’ and the benefits of families spending time cooking together.
Allegra McEvedy MBE is a chef, writer, broadcaster, consultant, mum, and co-founder of LEON restaurants. She is also patron of the Fairtrade Foundation and has an honorary doctorate from Oxford Brookes University.
You can find out more about LEON restaurants here. Allegra has also written a book called, ‘Chefs Wanted!’.
Allegra shares three tips in the episode:
The My Family Coach podcast covers every aspect of children’s behaviour, all in handy 15-minute (ish) bite-sized chunks. Each episode features a new guest chatting about a different aspect of behaviour and leaves you with three handy tips to use at home.
In this episode, Clare talks to expert guest, Dr Sheila Redfern about parenting teenagers and taking a relational approach to emotional regulation support.
They talk about the concepts of ‘reflective parenting’ and ‘mentalisation’, and how these help us to regulate effectively and connect with other people. Sheila shares the analogy of parenting being ‘like a lighthouse’ and the challenges that parents and carers can face when trying to balance separation and connection with their teenager.
Dr Sheila Redfern PhD is Director of Redfern Psychology Ltd and Head of Family Trauma at Anna Freud, the world-leading mental health charity for children and families. She is a consultant clinical child and adolescent psychologist and the author of two books: 'Reflective Parenting' and 'How Do You Hug A Cactus?'
She has been in practice for over 30 years, and previously worked in the NHS as a consultant in CAMHS services, supporting children, young people and their families with various mental health difficulties.
You can find out more about Dr Redfern’s work at Redfern Psychology.
She also shares three tips in the episode:
A little more about Dr Redfern:
Dr Redfern works within an evidence-based framework of assessment and intervention. She has extensive experience of supporting the mental health needs of children and young people from a wide range of backgrounds and with different abilities. She has a specialist interest and expertise in the diagnosis and treatment of autistic children and young people, and in working with attachment difficulties.
Her work includes supporting parents and carers in bringing about a closer connection with their child where there are difficulties in the attachment relationship. She specialises in working with fostering and adoptive families and has developed a model of mentalisation-based parenting (reflective parenting) and mentalisation-based fostering (reflective fostering), both of which she delivers as interventions, as well as training other professionals and teams to deliver.
The My Family Coach podcast covers every aspect of children’s behaviour, all in handy 15-minute (ish) bite-sized chunks. Each episode features a new guest chatting about a different aspect of behaviour and leaves you with three handy tips to use at home.
In this episode, Clare talks to expert guest, Dr Dean Burnett, about some of the challenges that parents and carers face around teenagers and mobile phones.
They discuss the impact of mobile phone use on young people’s mental, physical and emotional health, and the problem with the catch-all term, ‘screen time’. Dean shares some simple strategies to reduce friction when agreeing and implementing healthy boundaries.
Dr Dean Burnett is a doctor of neuroscience, former psychiatry lecturer, honorary research fellow at Cardiff Psychology School, occasional comedian, well-known science pundit/commenter, and, to most people, a best-selling author of books about the brain and mind.
As a father of two, he has turned his brain-based expertise to the problems experienced by parents and their older children/teens, and written two books for younger readers, to help them understand these dynamics: the international bestseller ‘Why Your Parents Are Driving You Up The Wall And What To Do About It’, and the newly-released sequel, ‘Why Your Parents Are Hung Up On Your Phone And What To Do About It’. This latest book takes a look at the science behind how modern technology affects us, and why there is often conflict between parents and teens.
You can follow Dean on X (formerly Twitter), Instagram and TikTok, or take a look at his website to find out more.
Dean shares three tips in the episode:
The My Family Coach podcast covers every aspect of children’s behaviour, all in handy 15-minute (ish) bite-sized chunks. Each episode features a new guest chatting about a different aspect of behaviour and leaves you with three handy tips to use at home.
Listen in as Stefanie, an occupational therapist, talks to Clare about sensory support for children who don’t seem to feel the cold, pain, or hunger, or who seem unaware of where their body is in space, and may seek out sensory input by crashing into things.
Stefanie is the owner of Sensationally Thriving Children Therapy. She has been an occupational therapist for twelve years and has worked in a variety of paediatric specialities including home care, schools, private practice, sensory integration, and outpatient rehabilitation.
She has certifications in Therapeutic Listening, Astronaut Training, the SOS Approach to Feeding, and is an Advanced Mentored Clinician at the STAR Institute for Sensory Processing. Most recently, she has offered parental consultations to help parents better understand the complexities of sensory processing, so they can best support their child.
Stefanie’s new course, Understanding Your Child’s Sensory Cues, will be launching in summer this year, and she is also in the process of writing a children’s book about sensory processing. You can find Stefanie at Sensationally Thriving Children Therapy, and on Facebook and Instagram.
Stefanie recommends the book, Sensational Kids, by Lucy Jane Miller.
She also shares three tips during the episode:
The My Family Coach podcast covers every aspect of children’s behaviour, all in handy 15-minute (ish) bite-sized chunks. Each episode features a new guest chatting about a different aspect of behaviour and leaves you with three handy tips to use at home.
In this episode, Dr Tina Rae joins Clare to talk about how to support children and young people experiencing grief and loss. The topic relates not just to the loss of family members, but to family pets or even an important belonging. Tina shares practical tips to help process grief in an emotionally safe way.
Dr Tina Rae has 40 years’ experience working with children, adults, and families in clinical and educational contexts within local authorities and specialist services. She is currently working as a Consultant Educational and Child Psychologist in a range of specialist and mainstream contexts. She also supports fostering agencies as a Consultant Psychologist working with foster carers, social workers and looked after children.
Tina is a prolific author and has over 100 publications to date. These reflect her ongoing passion for developing practical resources for schools which have an evidence base and enable practitioners to ethically deliver effective preventative mental health interventions in schools.
Tina recommends her book The Bereavement Book
You can find more about Tina and her work on Twitter
Tina also shares three tips during the episode:
The My Family Coach podcasts covers every aspect of children’s behaviour, all in handy 15 minute (ish) bite-sized chunks. Each episode features a new guest chatting about a different aspect of behaviour and leaves you with three handy tips to use at home.
Jamie Douglas joins Clare in this episode to share the benefits of the 5 Ways to Wellbeing. It’s an easy model designed to help people frame how to look after ourselves. It includes ideas about connecting with people, incorporating physical activity, taking notice of the world around you, learning new skills, and giving something back to society. Jamie describes the importance of wellbeing in the teenage years when young people are experiencing huge changes. Through Jamie’s book recommendation, he describes how brain development affects the way young people behave. Acknowledging this can help parents and carers to better understand what their children are going through.
Jamie is Quality Improvement and Operations Manager in the Children, Young People and Families team at Response which is a mental health and complex needs charity that works across the Thames Valley. He manages a range of projects from supporting young people who have been hospitalised for their mental health, through to preventative community work. Prior to working for Response, Jamie was a secondary school English teacher and pastoral lead in a range of schools.
You can find out more about Jamie’s work via the Response website.
Jamie recommends the book Inventing Ourselves by Sarah-Jayne Blakemore.
He also shares three tips during the episode:
1. Use the basis of the 5 Ways to Wellbeing to think of supportive activities to do with your child.
2. Consider the role of brain development and why young people behave the way they do.
3. Work with your child to develop a wellbeing kit to support them when things are tough.
The My Family Coach podcasts covers every aspect of children’s behaviour, all in handy 15 minute (ish) bite-sized chunks. Each episode features a new guest chatting about a different aspect of behaviour and leaves you with three handy tips to use at home.
In this episode, Georgina Durrant joins Clare to discuss the importance of play in helping children with emotional regulation. Georgina explains the different types of play and how we can find opportunities to use ‘play to learn’ to develop a range of skills.
Georgina Durrant is a former teacher, Special Educational Needs Coordinator and Director of Cheshire SEN Tutor ltd. She founded the award-winning SEN Resources Blog senresourcesblog to share activities, advice and recommendations for parents and teachers of children with Special Educational Needs and disabilities.
Georgina hosts Twinkl Resources' Special Educational Needs Podcast 'SEND in the experts with Georgina Durrant'. Her parenting and education advice has been featured in the Independent, Guardian, and Telegraph. Her first book, 100 Ways Your Child Can Learn Through Play was published in 2021. Her second book, ‘How to Boost Reading and Writing Through Play’ was published November 2022.
You can find Georgina on Twitter, Facebook, Instagram and on Youtube
Georgina recommends her first book 100 Ways Your Child Can Learn Through Play
She also shares three tips during the episode:
The My Family Coach podcasts covers every aspect of children’s behaviour, all in handy 15 minute (ish) bite-sized chunks. Each episode features a new guest chatting about a different aspect of behaviour and leaves you with three handy tips to use at home.
In this second part of a two-part special, expert guest, Lauren Seager-Smith, discusses bullying related to gender, gender identity and sexuality. Lauren discusses creating safe spaces for conversations, bullying in gaming sites and chat groups, and how to help your child celebrate their differences.
Lauren is CEO of bullying prevention charity Kidscape. She has worked with children and families for over twenty years and is a passionate campaigner for children's rights.
You can find Lauren via the website www.kidscape.org.uk and on LinkedIn
Lauren recommends the book You Are Awesome by Michael Syed.
Lauren shares three tips during this double episode:
The My Family Coach podcasts covers every aspect of children’s behaviour, all in handy 15 minute (ish) bite-sized chunks. Each episode features a new guest chatting about a different aspect of behaviour and leaves you with three handy tips to use at home.
In this two-part special, expert guest, Lauren Seager-Smith, discusses bullying related to gender, gender identity and sexuality. Lauren explores current issues around gender stereotyping and offers advice on how to challenge harmful perceptions about what is ‘normal.’
Lauren is CEO of bullying prevention charity Kidscape. She has worked with children and families for over twenty years and is a passionate campaigner for children's rights.
You can find Lauren via the website www.kidscape.org.uk and on LinkedIn
Lauren recommends the book You Are Awesome by Michael Syed.
Lauren shares three tips during the episode:
Support young people to be confident in themselves as individuals.
Celebrate difference and see it as a positive.
Be advocates of healthy relationships by having a diverse network of lots of friends.
The My Family Coach podcasts covers every aspect of children’s behaviour, all in handy 15 minute (ish) bite-sized chunks. Each episode features a new guest chatting about a different aspect of behaviour and leaves you with three handy tips to use at home.
In this episode, Helly Douglas joins Clare to talk about children’s behaviour being a means of communication. Helly shares how you can use the My Family Journal App to track and record patterns in behaviours to better understand the thoughts and feelings driving those behaviours.
Helly creates the content you can see on the My Family Coach website. She’s a former teacher, working for 16 years across all primary age groups, particularly focused on supporting children with additional needs. Before coming to My Family Coach, Helly set up a specialist class for Y7 and Y8 students who found it hard to make the transition to secondary school. Helly is now a Team Teach trainer and loves writing about all things behaviour, but she would say her most important job is being mum to her two wonderful children.
You can find Helly via the My Family Coach website, on Twitter, and LinkedIn
Helly recommends the book, Helping Your Child with Fears and Worries by Cathy Creswell and Lucy Willetts.
Helly shares three tips during the episode:
1: Think of behaviour as communication - we can work out what they’re trying to tell us through their behaviour.
2: Look for patterns in your child’s behaviour – the My Family Journal is really helpful for this
3: Change takes time – don’t get downhearted when you don’t see immediate success. This is a long game!
The My Family Coach podcasts covers every aspect of children’s behaviour, all in handy 15 minute (ish) bite-sized chunks. Each episode features a new guest chatting about a different aspect of behaviour and leaves you with three handy tips to use at home.
Ian Timbrell joins Clare to discuss how to support LGBT+ young people who are questioning their sexuality. Ian explains the importance of language and the constantly changing terminology around gender and sexuality.
Ian has been a teacher for 15 years and a Deputy Head Teacher for 5 years, in which time he has worked as an advisor and supported schools across South Wales. Ian recently set up an Education Consultancy, where he shares his passion for equality and support schools with RSE, diversity, and LGBT+ equality.
Ian recommends the book Queer-Up by Alexis Caught.
You can find Ian on LinkedIn, Twitter, Instagram, Facebook, and via his website.
Ian shares three tips during the episode:
The My Family Coach podcasts covers every aspect of children’s behaviour, all in handy 15 minute (ish) bite-sized chunks. Each episode features a new guest chatting about a different aspect of behaviour and leaves you with three handy tips to use at home.
In this second episode of a 2-part special, expert guest, Dr Pooky Knightsmith, talks more about the importance of self-care and looking after yourself when you’re supporting a distressed child at home.
Pooky is autistic; a late diagnosis has helped her to thrive following many years of anorexia, depression, and anxiety. She has a PhD in child mental health from the Institute of Psychiatry, King’s College London. She is the author of several books and is a former chair of the Children and Young People’s Mental Health Coalition. Pooky is also a Director at Creative Education Limited and at Pooky Knightsmith Associates.
You can find Pooky on Instagram: @pookyh, via the Patreon website: https://www.patreon.com/pookyh, and on YouTube: pookyknightsmith
Pooky recommends the book Thrive by Arianna Huffington.
Pooky also shares three tips during this, and her last episode:
1. Focus on sleep; both the quantity and the quality of sleep.
2. Find someone or something to offload to and share how you’re feeling.
3. Give yourself permission to laugh, both with your child and independently.
The My Family Coach podcasts covers every aspect of children’s behaviour, all in handy 15 minute (ish) bite-sized chunks. Each episode features a new guest chatting about a different aspect of behaviour and leaves you with three handy tips to use at home.
Join our guest, Dr Pooky Knightsmith, as she discusses the importance of self-care and looking after yourself when you’re supporting a distressed child at home. Pooky explains the ‘window of tolerance’ and what you can do to manage when things feel hard to stay emotionally regulated all day, every day.
Pooky is autistic; a late diagnosis has helped her to thrive following many years of anorexia, depression, and anxiety. She has a PhD in child mental health from the Institute of Psychiatry, King’s College London. She is the author of several books and is a former chair of the Children and Young People’s Mental Health Coalition. Pooky is also a Director at Creative Education Limited and at Pooky Knightsmith Associates.
You can find Pooky on Instagram: @pookyh, via the Patreon website: https://www.patreon.com/pookyh, and on YouTube: pookyknightsmith
Pooky recommends the book Thrive by Arianna Huffington.
Pooky also shares three tips during the episode:
1. Focus on sleep; both the quantity and the quality of sleep.
2. Find someone or something to offload to and share how you’re feeling.
3. Give yourself permission to laugh, both with your child and independently.
The My Family Coach podcasts covers every aspect of children’s behaviour, all in handy 15 minute (ish) bite-sized chunks. Each episode features a new guest chatting about a different aspect of behaviour and leaves you with three handy tips to use at home.
This week, guest Carl Abery discusses ways you can help your child build healthier habits and become more active.
Carl is a personal trainer and fitness professional working with individuals of all ages. As a child, he was fostered and is now passionate about working with young people leaving the care system to help them create healthier habits and learn stronger coping mechanisms.
You can find Carl on Instagram @c.j.s.a_fitness1.
In a break with tradition, Carl has recommended a poem rather than a book to read. He’s chosen If by Rudyard Kipling for its inspiring message about overcoming adversity.
Carl shares three tips during the episode:
1: Find an exercise your child enjoys - don’t try to force them to play a sport you played as a child.
2: Encourage them to keep trying, even when it is tough for both you and them.
3: Encourage your child to make healthy food choices and have a balanced diet.
The My Family Coach podcasts covers every aspect of children’s behaviour, all in handy 15 minute (ish) bite-sized chunks. Each episode features a new guest chatting about a different aspect of behaviour and leaves you with three handy tips to use at home.
Nina Jackson is the expert guest on this week's episode. She's discussing how music can affect your child's emotions and the impact this can have on their behaviour. Find out how you can create a playlist to calm or energise your child - perfect for difficult mornings before school!
Nina is an international education consultant specialising in the areas of mental and emotional health and special educational needs. She has worked globally with thousands of educators, parents and communities of learning to support children and young people so that their diverse needs can be met. Working in the education sector for over 41 years, her vast knowledge of what makes classrooms and learners 'tick' is astonishing. She's an author, speaker and trainer, and is Welsh. She's a lover of laughter and always finds to good in people.
Nina is the author of The Little Book of Music for the Classroom which is a great book to share with your child's school to help them think about how music can improve every area of school life. It's also a great read for parents and carers - not just for the classroom!
You can find Nina on Twitter: @musicmind and on Instagram: @itlninja
Nina also shares three tips during the episode:
1. Learn to know what music can help your child to be calm....see Nina's book for ideas.
2. Use music to energise your children when they are feeling lethargic or unwell.
3. Music is great for memory and revision.
The My Family Coach podcasts covers every aspect of children’s behaviour, all in handy 15 minute (ish) bite-sized chunks. Each episode features a new guest chatting about a different aspect of behaviour and leaves you with three handy tips to use at home.
In this episode, expert guest, Lisa Cherry, discusses childhood adversities and how to improve connections at home. Lisa explains the difference between adversity and trauma and what young people can do to help them recover. Lisa describes the importance of relationships, making connections and having a sense of belonging.
Lisa Cherry is an author, researcher and leading international trainer and consultant, specialising in assisting schools, services, and systems to create change that supports working with the legacy of trauma. Lisa has been working in Education and Children’s Services for over 30 years and combines academic knowledge and research with professional skills and personal experience. Lisa's MA research looked at the impact on education and employment for care experienced adults who experienced school exclusion as children in the 1970's and 1980's. Currently, Lisa is undertaking DPhil research at The University of Oxford in the Department of Education, asking the research question "How do care-experienced adults who have been excluded from school understand those experiences of being in care and school exclusion in relation to belonging?"
Lisa is the author of two hugely successful books, Conversations that make a difference for Children and Young People and The Brightness of Stars
You can find Lisa on Twitter: @_LisaCherry and via her website www.lisacherry.co.uk
Lisa also shares three tips during the episode:
1. The importance of building relational networks.
2. To build self-compassion into our lives.
3. To teach children how to be compassionate to themselves.
The My Family Coach podcasts covers every aspect of children’s behaviour, all in handy 15 minute (ish) bite-sized chunks. Each episode features a new guest chatting about a different aspect of behaviour and leaves you with three handy tips to use at home.
We all know about the 5 senses we have - seeing, hearing, smelling, touch and taste. But did you know we have other senses too?
Guest Jo Grace is talking to Clare this week about the impact these different senses can have on children’s behaviour. Jo shares examples of what sensory needs might look like at home and how it's important to distinguish between behaviour choices and neuro differences. Jo explains the meaning of "proprioceptive awareness" and how important it is to make an individual feel safe.
Jo Grace is a Sensory Engagement and Inclusion Specialist. She's a doctoral researcher, author, and trainer, and a TEDx speaker. Jo is also the Founder of The Sensory Projects.
Jo recommends the book My Mummy is Autistic by Heath Grace.
You can find Jo at The Sensory Projects, Twitter @jo3grace and on Facebook.
Jo also shares three tips during the episode:
The My Family Coach podcasts covers every aspect of children’s behaviour, all in handy 15 minute (ish) bite-sized chunks. Each episode features a new guest chatting about a different aspect of behaviour and leaves you with three handy tips to use at home.
In this episode, Dr Emma Kell and Clemmie Stewart discuss how parents/carers can build successful relationships with schools. Emma and Clemmie also share their practical tips for breaking down barriers between home and school and ways you can work together by using effective communication.
Dr Emma Kell has almost 25 years of experience as a teacher and leader in UK secondary schools and she currently teaches in Alternative Provision. She is a qualified Performance Coach and speaks and writes regularly on teacher wellbeing and engaging parents with schools. She has completed a doctorate on teacher well-being and parenting at Middlesex University and is the author of How to Survive in Teaching, A Little Guide For Teachers: Wellbeing and Self-Care and A Little Guide for Teachers: Engaging Parents and Carers with School.
Clemmie currently holds the role of leading learning and teaching across a group of 14 schools. She is an experienced school leader, having been a headteacher for seven years, recently overseeing two schools. Further to this, she has also been an Education Partner for a Multi-Academy Trust, supporting Primary Academies on the South Coast.
Emma and Clemmie recommend the book You are Awesome: Find Your Confidence and Dare to be Brilliant at (Almost) Anything by Matthew Syed. Alongside this, they also suggest The Happy Self Journal.
You can find out more about Emma on Twitter @thosethatcan and Clemmie @CStewart_CS
Emma and Clemmie share three tips during the episode:
1. The importance of training staff on how to build effective relationships with parents.
2. As a parent or carer, go into schools with a positive open mind.
3. Do your research by going into schools, meeting people, and asking probing questions.
The My Family Coach podcasts covers every aspect of children’s behaviour, all in handy 15 minute (ish) bite-sized chunks. Each episode features a new guest chatting about a different aspect of behaviour and leaves you with three handy tips to use at home.
