Interview with a child: What has Now, Next & Then helped you with?

One of the children we have been lucky enough to support over the last school year is an 11 year old autistic superstar! Because of a complex school situation, he has been supported weekly by three of the team, Lizzie, Issy and Emma.

What have we helped you with this year?

“Lizzie has helped me with getting to know a lot of new people in the new school.  Lizzie’s got a book called My Brain is a Home and it’s got a silly dog in it, because he’s the dog that keeps barking for no reason, but it's his ‘fight or flight’ response. But actually, it’s a reference to my ‘fight or flight’ response.

Issy has taught me about the Zones [of Regulation] and what each colour means. Issy helped with activities that help me stay on green. She’s got good games too, not boring ones, but really good ones.

Emma has helped with a lot of school stuff: how to get there, how to get down the school drive. She’s helped with people if they’ve been too pushy. Helped with BIG issues. She’ll solve it instantly and she just keeps doing it till everything is sorted. Every time there's something, she just sorts it out.  And Emma can mind-read. Mind-reading is if I can’t say what I’m feeling on the inside, then Emma can mind-read, and she always gets it right! She’s taught me how to use wall press-ups and hard chewing too, to manage things I worry about… at school but even at the airport.”

What have you learnt about yourself this year?

“I can keep the dog quiet [reference the book above]. Give him a treat and he’ll get distracted, and then I can go anywhere. NNT was the treat giver.”

Emma Puttock
Children’s Occupational Therapist