2 DIET ISSUES

Many of our children have a restricted diet and this can affect our social life as mealtimes can be an important time for socialisation. Here are some of the issues we may face:

  • Obsessions with certain foods
  • Comfort eating
  • Sensory issues - Super sensitive to texture - preferring bland tastes
  • Preferring strong tastes - under sensitive /over sensitive - smell
  • Rumination
  • Pica
  • Anxiety - Stomach aches etc

Parents shared some of their successful strategies to overcome these challenges

We discussed how to encourage our children to handle and prepare food, the benefit of food books, social stories relating to food, how to take small steps towards exposing new foods to our children, rewards and getting help from dieticians.

This information is still available, so if you would like to know more, please do ask.

Finally, if you would like further information about anything that was discussed or if you missed the event, then please get in touch and we'll be happy to pass the information on to you.

FINANCIAL UPDATE

FUNDRAISING

This March we applied for a grant for our Therapeutic Clubs of £9800 from BBC Children In Need. We had an interview about this on March 26th and they will then talk to those who will provide references. We hope to hear from them in May

We rely on the generosity of many so thank you for your help

We now have 4 people who give us gifts each month by standing order

We received £100 a month from Solihull Christian Fellowship

In the first term of 2015 we have had the following:

  • £600 from voluntary contributions
  • £136 from the sponsored bike ride to Paris which was completed by Laura Bates
  • £44 cash from the sale of unwanted mobile phones
  • £200 from Asda Supermarket in Shirley
  • £90 from Cundall which arose from a work charity event via Peter Hazzard

Many thanks for your support

Family Equip, A Company Limited by Guarantee, Telephone: 0121 711 8220; Charity Registration No 1112769; Company Registration No 5596057,

David Wort, Manager, 2 Rollswood Drive, Solihull B91 1NL

FAMILY EQUIP NEWSLETTER

APRIL 2015

SUPPORT FOR FAMILIES

It is a great joy to now have 7 volunteer parent befrienders for our team and we welcome them on board. They have been recruited and trained so that David can gradually take a step back from his work commitments. When you ring our helpline 0121 711 8220 you may speak to some of them. They are getting to grips with some of the challenges our families face, so if you are an existing client family, please feel free to share your experience with them. They will continue to consult with David

We have had two parent meetings this spring; one about EHC Plans and one about diet issues, more details are included further on in this newsletter.

From January to March 2015 we have supported 14 families who are new to us as well as 10 existing client families who are facing new issues.

We have had 3 other requests for help connected with loss involving 4 children of junior school age

SUPPORT FOR YOUNG PEOPLE

BEING SUCCESSFUL

This was the theme in our groups during the spring-- All of our volunteers have been impressed with the way the youngsters have responded to discussions about success. We are happy to report that, in their mind, success is not just about fame or wealth 'It's not just a smart yacht that defines you as being successful' but simple things like starting a good friendship, or the fact that simply making it through another day with friends is a success too.

Over the series, the groups had great fun. Here a just a few of the things they did:

  • We asked the youngsters a series of questions where the answers were other people in the room, such as: 'Who has the biggest feet?', 'How many brown eyed boys are in the room?'
  • We played a game on PowerPoint where we had to look at an object close up and then try to guess what the object was, with highest points being scored the less times you had to zoom out!
  • They designed their own golf-course by cutting holes in paper plates, turning them upside down and taping them to the floor - this showed Commitment and Perseverance
  • They built a bridge between two tables using items from the 'shop' and the strongest bridge won - one of the Mums volunteered to judge the sturdy structures! This showed practice, teamwork and the skill of getting back up despite adversity
  • They created an egg box that needed to be able to protect their eggs when dropped from the top of the stairs!

There was also an opportunity for the youngsters to say what their desires and dreams are, what their goals are and how they think they might achieve them. Here are a few of the answers:

'My goal is...'

- to be a TV Presenter

- to visit all 92 Football League grounds for a game

- to do well at school

- to be a snooker player

- to do something in the area of cosmology or global health

- to be an author

- to build a new friendship

'How will I achieve this...?'

- go to University

- practice and take risks

- get the necessary qualifications and decide exactly what I want to do

- learn good revision techniques

- with support from my family

The girls group and the Siblings groups also had lots of fun making kaleidoscopes as well as delicate dough models which they also painted.

This all culminated in a trip during the February half-term to the Space Museum. From comments it seems that this was a huge success. One pair of boys even went so far as to call it 'AWESOME!'

Two lads who went were given tasks to do to be 'helpful' - one had to check for Dummies & Mannequins as another lad might get upset if he saw it, this sort of teamwork and thoughtfulness is to be commended. Being able to 'jump on the moon' in zero gravity was a huge amount of fun, along with the 3D cinema. There was even a 'Toilet Museum' next door which created an amusing time for some of the lads. The opportunities for the children who are on a day out without parents and in the 'unknown' are pretty amazing; the staff at the Space Centre were very understanding and kindly allowed our group a room to eat lunch in too so that we could all meet back up and share food.

PARENT MEETINGS

As mentioned earlier, we have had two parent meetings this spring; one about EHC Plans and one about diet issues.

1EHC PLANS

A new guide is based on the Children’s and Families Act introduced in September 2014. We discussed the change it brought about from Statements of Educational needs to EHC Plans

Edward Timpson who is the Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Children and Families said "The most important people in any child or young person's life are their parents. You know your children best of all. What you as parents think, feel and say is important. You should be listened to and you need to be fully involved in decisions that affect your children. That's what the new system is all about. "

We are very happy that this is what the Government are saying but is it isn’t always true in our own experience

We looked at how children and young people with SEN may need extra help because of a range of needs:

  • Communicating and interacting
  • Cognition and learning
  • Social, emotional and mental health difficulties
  • Sensory and/or physical needs

We discussed the Disability Equality Act, the need for Mediation and also how to appeal to the SEN Tribunal.