How spending so much time out of an education setting can have a devastating impact on a young person

Hello everyone! How are we in September already?! I feel like this year is coming & going too fast.

Anyway, I have began a new job on Monday (1st of September) in a nearby college, and as the above title states, I want to share something very important that I have seen for myself whilst I was working there. This is all in the hope that other people reading this will find this post as insightful as it was for me having to witness it. Plus, this will give me something to do whilst I'm off work ill today as well.

On my 1st day working at a nearby college, I was working in a class where there was a boy who would not come into class, and had spent the whole day standing outside. This was all because he had been out of education for a WHOLE year. With that said, just spending 1 whole day in an education setting was enough for him to be overwhelmed, as he has unfortunately been so used to not being in one for this long. 

Now, you'll be asking yourself: "Why was this boy out of education for an entire year?" The answer was (according to my colleague) the school was having problems with him, so they couldn't cope with him anymore. This, in my eyes, is nothing other than totally unacceptable for any young person. Let alone for anyone who has special educational needs, like this boy does.

There is proven evidence that being out of any educational setting for a prolonged period of time can have a really devastating impact on young people, as they fills their head with so much uncertainty, and not having any learning in an actual learning environment makes young people feel anxious, because they will be behind everyone else, regardless whether they are neurotypical & non-neurotypical people.

Although it is valid there are loads of educational settings that are struggling to accommodate SEN kids due to a sky high new cases for ASD, ADHD or any other condition, it is NOT valid for young people with SEN to be out of education just because the education system cannot find a way to cater for their needs. This is why so many SEN kids are falling behand in life due to a lack of education. I know things are getting done to improve the statistics, but this simply cannot continue for the foreseeable...

Luckily, Challengers (the part-time organisation I work for) have 2 specialist settings in Guildford & Farnham that run during the weekday where they support people from the ages of 2 - 18 who are currently out of education. Although they are not education settings in any shape or form, they do, however, provide these young people with activities that will become really beneficial for their social & emotional development. They know what it's like when a young person with SEN feels insecure by having their education placement broken down, as well as knowing the ripple effects it has on their families.

To gain a more visualised insight, I have attached a video:

Even celebrities are just human beings (Anxiety Awareness post)

In a bid for anyone trying to gain a further recognition on how anxiety works on people, I am going to start making posts relating to anxiety. For this one, I have attached pictures of celebrities giving out their own perspectives on how anxiety makes them vision the world.

What's their purpose? This is because they want to shed some light on everybody around them going through similarly to what they're going through, in terms of anxiety. Anxiety doesn't necessarily have to effect us ordinary human beings, it can happily choose to have an effect on a celebrity lifestyle as well. In fact, anxiety doesn't give a damn weather you're the nicest person in the world or even the smartest person in the world. It likes to bring a difference to people's everyday lives, (including celebrities) so it makes them vision the world of mental health through their eyes. Also the world in general, goes by without saying.

As a friendly reminder for you all, my outcome of these posts is to spread awareness by making everyone reading not feel alone when they try to open up about their anxiety.  

Let's talk about #ADHD

I think I can safely say that I've been keeping my productive self busy during the recent weeks. The variations include work, finishing off the remainder of my coursework & keeping up with my self-care. (Going out walking)

Although, with that said, I have become rather interested in researching the overall subject of #ADHD. But why? Mainly there is a ton of psychology which plays a part in how ADHD operates inside one self's mind. This also includes how they manage their wellbeing.

Not only that, but I am also aware of the amount of misconception there is about having ADHD, as some people tend to view having ADHD as a negative. But let me tell you, that really isn't all about having ADHD. The condition goes way deeper than what some people think. This is why I can gladly say that I've done enough thorough research to be able to piece together enough evidence that I need to make this post. (I'll link my evidences below)

Like I said before, I want to use this post (as well as evidences) to highlight all of the positive aspects of how ADHD works, so it helps everyone to gain a better, as well as a wider picture understanding.

Myths VS Facts:

As mentioned before, some people tend to view ADHD as a means of little - no focus whatsoever. Coming from an aspiring psychologist's view who is keen on the subject, I personally think it is rubbish to be viewing ADHD in that trend, as it's undermining their hidden capabilities in terms of what oneself with ADHD is actually good at. What people should bare in mind in relations to the mentioned myth above, is to understand that oneself with ADHD have a different brain structure. Moreover on that, people with ADHD have a uniquely good level of hyperfocus, which means they're interested on focusing on things that interest them. And if necessary, we could be talking crazy interested in something which makes ADHD individuals want to be active in day in, day out.

Another thing which may annoy those who have got ADHD, is if you was to say to them: "You will need to outgrow it eventually". They would feel offended, as there is no such thing as needing to outgrow ADHD. Instead, there is such a possibility of managing one self's ADHD, as it could be beneficial to help them to work on themselves. This also includes managing their mental health.

https://www.understood.org/en/articles/common-myths-about-adhd  

It's not just the behavioural side:  

What I mean by that, is there is evidence which shows people with ADHD tend to have a creative mind. This evidence has proven people with ADHD to be able to express themselves in a creative manner, as it helps them to unleash their happiness by wanting everyone around them to acknowledge their feelings. Particularly, in a way which makes them feel appreciated to show off their unique talents. Allowing an ADHD individual to show off their hidden creativity, allows them to be open minded in life by thinking that there is nothing which can hold them back in any shape of form. Meaning, they dislike the idea of having barriers to achieving whatever they want to achieve.

https://www.additudemag.com/adhd-creativity-brain-health/  

The ADHD Iceberg:

In case if anyone is interested, I have attached the iconic ADHD Iceberg picture below. Purposely because you can feel free to do your own research on ADHD by looking at its actual factors.

*I actually began working on this post last weekend, but I ended up getting distracted with other stuff going on*

Why does eating a variety of different foods give you different thoughts?

Hello one and all! It's good to be back blogging once again.

Only because I've been keeping extra priotized with revision for my course this academic year lately, which can be quite full on at times.

Anyway, hope you're all doing well and enjoying the autumn so far.

This is a topic I've been looking into this week, so I thought about distributing it out to you guys, as you may find it interesting, as well as being able to take away some learned information too.

Now, you're probably thinking to yourself: "Why this picture?! It looks crazy!"😂

But... I can only assure you, this is a pictured definition of what foods THAT person is thinking about, when THEY'RE in a calm mood.

As for myself, I like to think about egg when I'm in a calm mood, as the taste of it makes me feel healthy and nutritious. It's also good for you in general.😊

What thoughts go through your mind when eating different foods?

Let's say, you like to crave on pizza, therefore meaning, eating pizza gives you these good thoughts that you never want to let go, such as: "Ahh, this is the life. I hope it never ends"

The problem is, if that inner message keeps on repeating itself over and over, it will eventually tell your mind, that pizza is the only thing keeping your happiness sane. It then becomes an addiction. You can choose to do this with any type of food.

In contrast, try another piece of food which make you experience a more positive emotion, such as nostalgia. You may like to have something, you haven't had since you were a kid, and it happens to be something you liked to eat a lot back then. I also like to do to this from time to time, and it feels so refreshing to your mind!

Or, you might want to feel energized, by eating a banana, cereal or even a protein bar. (Grenade) These foods will tell your mind to find a way to be active for a long period of time, so your mind will therefore tell you to use that fueled energy, by running it all out. I guess you can refer this as to hyperactivity.

Final conclusion: It is always a good thing to experience a variety of thoughts and emotions, when having different foods, as they keep a steady line on your health and wellbeing.

Just in case if you're not familiar of the saying: "Eat well for less" This is the definition displayed on the iconic food plate.

I've pretty much covered everything now.

Thank you so much for taking your time to read through my extensive post. Please do feel free to comment down below or talk to me in person.

Have a great weekend!

My helpful research source: Food and Mood