April 2021 Magazine

Celebrating difference and
neurodivergence
We are different on the outside
This article is the first article in a series of six from Sensory Engagement and Inclusion Specialist,
Joanna Grace, the activities described in each article build up to form a toolkit for celebrating
difference and neurodivergence within your setting in a way that will benefit both the children and
the adults. Joanna runs online training courses focused on strategies for supporting differently-abled
children and promoting inclusive practice. Click here for more information.
The stories that people tell about us
have a powerful impact on our lives,
for better or for worse. The stories we
tell ourselves about ourselves affect our
mental health and productivity. In this
series of articles I am going to take you
through some simple activities you can
share in your settings that will help you,
and the children you support, construct
positive narratives around difference and
neurodivergence.
There will be a new activity each month.
I encourage you to start now, and to do
each one as it comes out. Over the course
of this series, they will build upon each
other giving you a framework to celebrate
difference and neurodivergence in a way
that is really meaningful to the children
you support.
Being in a place that has positive
narratives about difference is not only
good for those people who have an
identified difference, these could be the
children identified within your setting as
having additional educational needs,
it benefits everyone. We are all unique
individuals and in places where difference
is understood and celebrated we feel
freer to be our authentic selves. And
when we are free to be ourself, we are
happier and healthier, both physically and
mentally.
The activities may look simple but they
will be good for the wellbeing of the
children in your setting and for you! So
let’s get started.
The aim of this article is to provide you
with activities that get children talking
about the differences they see between
one another. How you do this doesn’t
matter so much. The central thing isn’t the
activity, it is the language we use around
it.
The important thing is to present
differences in a matter of fact way without
layering judgements on top of them. As
simple as that sounds, it can actually
be quite tricky to do. Be reflective as a
staff team as you attempt this, listen to
one another, do judgements slip in? For
example, when you describe your own
hair colour do you say something bad
about it, e.g. I’ve been known to say “Oo
you have ginger hair, I love ginger hair,
mine is just mousey brown.” You can see
where the judgement slips in.
There are differences for which you
might feel a judgement is appropriate,
perhaps you are struggling with your
weight and would label yourself as “too
fat”. Whilst of course it is important to
maintain a healthy weight, our aim for
these activities is to talk about differences
factually and in as unbiased a way as
possible and to support the children in
doing the same.
We are allowed to have preferences, I am
allowed to like ginger hair more than light
brown hair, but I am aiming to express
that as a preference not a judgement.
Now you are beginning to see where the
trickiness in this seemingly simple activity
lies! So I might say “I like ginger hair more
than I like light brown hair, but other
people like light brown hair more than
they like ginger hair.”
It is also important that we do not teach
children that some differences are not
allowed to be spoken of. For example a
child who says “You are fat” to an adult
might get told not to say such things. We
can teach the child a more sensitive way
of expressing themselves but we must not
teach them that differences are a taboo
topic.
Why on earth would we bother to faff
around and get ourselves tongue tied
talking in this super careful way? Well
as we carry out these simple activities
focused on external differences we are
laying the foundation stones on which
we will build a deeper understanding of
difference and neurodivergence. Take it as
a challenge and give it a go!
Here are some activities you could try to
get children talking about the physical
differences they see.
Mirror matching. Give each child a
hand mirror and have them look at their
own appearance and then look at the
appearance of their friends, can they find
similarities? If the children in your setting
know the game ‘snap’, you can get them
to shout “snap” when they see a similarity
and then identify it. So for example a child
might cry “Snap! My hair is the same
colour as her hair.”
Spectacle spot. Give children novelty
glasses to wear, tell them to look at each
other’s eyes. When you shout out “Same”
they must hold hands with someone who
has the same colour eyes as themselves.
When you shout out “Different” they must
hold hands with someone who has a
different eye colour to themselves. Make
sure you have mirrors around for people to
check their own eye colour in.
Aperture hunt. Print out photographs of
the children and glue them onto card. Cut
out one of their features. So you might cut
out someone’s hair, or someone’s eyes.
Have them hold up the aperture you have
created and hunt for the missing item on
someone else. So for example, a child
who has black hair who is given a photo of
themselves with their hair missing, holds
up their picture against the black hair of
another child. Then challenge the children
to use the aperture to find out what they
would look like if they had someone else’s
features. The child with black hair might
hold up their aperture picture against
the hair of a child with blonde hair to see
themselves as blonde.
Remember all of these activities are
intended to start conversations about
difference. Think about your own language
carefully and support the children as they
talk about difference to do it factually
without placing judgement on it. We
are entitled to our likes and dislikes
but we need to recognise them as just
that: personal preferences, not value
judgements. So no saying someone’s
hair colour is yucky! The narrative we
are promoting is “this is me, that is you, I
am like this, you are like that, I like these
things, you like those things, and all of
these simple differences are okay.”
This is just the start of our adventure!
Come back next month for the second
instalment. And meanwhile, if you do try
the activities above, or activities of your
own, I would love to know about it. Tweet
me at @Jo3Grace or tweet Parenta at
@TheParentaGroup and share your stories
with us!
Jo provides in-person and online training
to settings looking to enhance their
inclusive practice. For more information,
visit www.TheSensoryProjects.co.uk where
you can also find resources to help you
include children of all abilities. Jo is active
on social media and welcomes connection
requests from people curious about
inclusive practice.
Joanna Grace
Joanna Grace is an international
Sensory Engagement and Inclusion
Specialist, trainer, author, TEDx speaker
and founder of The Sensory Projects.
Consistently rated as “outstanding” by
Ofsted, Joanna has taught in
mainstream and special school settings,
connecting with pupils of all ages and
abilities. To inform her work, Joanna
draws on her own experience from her
private and professional life as well as
taking in all the information she can
from the research archives. Joanna’s
private life includes family members
with disabilities and neurodiverse
conditions and time spent as a
registered foster carer for children with
profound disabilities.
Joanna has published four practitioner
books: “Multiple Multisensory Rooms:
Myth Busting the Magic”, “Sensory
Stories for Children and Teens”,
“Sensory-Being for Sensory Beings”
and “Sharing Sensory Stories and
Conversations with People with
Dementia”, and two inclusive, sensory
story children’s books: “Voyage to
Arghan” and “Ernest and I”. There is
new book coming out soon called ‘”The
Subtle Spectrum” and her son has
recently become the UK’s youngest
published author with his book, “My
Mummy is Autistic”.
Joanna is a big fan of social media and
is always happy to connect with people
via Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn.
Website:
thesensoryprojects.co.uk
16 April 2021 | parenta.com
parenta.com | April 2021 17