Case Studies

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Jamie was a pupil with complex needs, including FASD. He had coped well with tailored supports in lower primary, but when he reached primary 5, he began to show signs of increased dysregulation.

In school, this showed as ‘fixed thinking,’ being argumentative and stubborn. His sensory seeking behaviours such as chewing also increased, as did his stimming.

At home, he had begun to have daily post-school meltdowns and his need for control was becoming stressful. 

I worked with key staff, parents and Jamie himself to uncover the anxieties and overwhelm at the root of this change. The pace and abstract nature of learning had increased in upper primary. Jamie was finding this difficult because of his slow processing speed and issues with working memory. His meltdowns after school were due to cognitive fatigue and he no longer had the same opportunities for play and movement that he had in the earlier years of primary.

I suggested that school implement a reduced timetable, focusing on core skills and replacing some of the more abstract or cognitively complex subjects with life skills and outdoor work. At the same time, I worked with parents to revisit Jamie's sensory needs and to focus on meeting those with a regulating sensory diet before and after school, along with a visual list of preferred tasks he could do to satisfy his need for control and independence. I also delivered training focused on FASD, particularly on sensory regulation and cognitive overload, to staff working with Jamie.

Jamie’s self-esteem has improved, he is calmer in class and is starting to articulate what sensory input he needs at home.  Instances of after-school dysregulation are rare.  His level of self-awareness has developed and he is much more positive about school.

The head of Support for Learning at Ben’s school contacted me for help around behaviour which Ben’s teachers found both irritating and disruptive.  They were particularly concerned that he did not appear to learn from consequences.

Ben had a background of care experience and a diagnosis of ADHD. He already had some supports in place and had managed his junior school years without much trouble, but by S2, his impulsive behaviour, low-level disruptions to lessons and explosive episodes with peers at social times were beginning to cause concerns.

The school secured a block of 1:1 time for Ben with a staff member trained in nurture work. I felt that Ben was emotionally much younger than his peers and suggested that the teacher approach the work as she would with a younger child, focusing on recognising emotions by linking them to sensations in the body and working forward to regulation strategies that he could use in class and with peers.

Although Ben did not have a diagnosis of FASD, we felt it would be worthwhile for his teachers to have CPD on FASD and developmental trauma, which I delivered, along with a range of strategies to support him in class and during unstructured social times. Staff fed back that the training was engaging, practical and relevant. 

Ben’s behaviour is much more settled, his impulsivity and explosive outbursts have reduced and he was recently selected to represent his school at an international event.

 Niko had not attended school for over a year when one of his relatives contacted me. He had late diagnosis ASD and ADHD, had struggled to fit in or conform in school and recently, there had been significant concerns over his mental health.  

My official work with Niko was to help him to pass SQA exams so that he could leave school and pursue his chosen career path, but much of our work was exploring his idea that his brain and way of thinking were somehow ‘wrong’ and ‘broken.’ We talked about the tensions in the brain which come from co-occurring ASD and ADHD traits, which can be both exhausting and frustrating, as well as difficulties in the school environment for a neurodiverse pupil.

A lot of our time was spent on practical strategies to learn and study with disrupted sleep patterns, supporting sensory processing differences to help with focus, supporting executive function (planning and sequencing) differences, revising using strategies that suited his neurodiverse mind – essentially helping it to cope with an exam system geared to neurotypical brains.

Niko achieved the result he needed to leave the school system – in fact, he did extremely well. He is now studying an HNC, his mental health has significantly improved and he commented that the work we did together was key to  ‘helping [him] come to terms with [his] diagnosis.’