All Posts

Over the past few years, I have completed my MSc in Psychology. My research explored school disruption, stress, and coping in adolescents from parents’ perspectives. What it confirmed was that school disruption is rarely just about education. It unsettles safety, identity, and wellbeing, and families often carry the emotional labour when systems don’t quite fit their child. This understanding continues to shape how I support parents with calm, thoughtful, non-judgmental guida

Anxiety is something we all experience — before a big meeting, an exam result, or a difficult conversation. But when anxiety lingers, shapes how a young person sees themselves, and begins to influence identity, it can become more complex. Research shows that a stable sense of self protects against anxiety, while identity confusion increases vulnerability. Supporting resilience means strengthening both coping skills and identity safety.

By Kelly Hutton Children learn in so many ways, it's time to widen the pathway to make it accessible to all. For decades, our education systems have largely been operating within what is described by some as a deficit model of learning. Within this model, when a child struggles to access the curriculum, the difficulty has been located within the child; their attention, behaviour, cognition, or motivation is viewed as the "problem" that needs correcting. Neurodiversity scholar

Before we reach for strategies to “fix” behaviour, we must first understand the child in front of us. Neurodiversity does not look the same in every child, and without understanding attention, cognition, sensory processing, and emotional regulation, even well-intentioned support can miss the mark. When we pause to understand how a child experiences the world, strategies become more effective, ethical, and genuinely supportive.

For too many neurodivergent children, education becomes something to survive rather than a place to thrive. When we focus only on coping, managing, or getting through the day, we miss the deeper work of understanding children as whole people. Thriving requires adults to understand children’s needs, advocate alongside them, and shape environments, routines, and expectations that support regulation, safety, and genuine participation, not just survival.

School disruption is often framed as a child who “can’t cope”. In reality, it is frequently the result of systems that fail to identify, understand, and meet additional needs. Research shows that delayed support and poorly organised provision increase anxiety, depression, and long-term harm, not because children are fragile, but because they are repeatedly placed in environments that exceed their capacity to cope. Read the blog to find out how the legislation is meant to work

Neurodivergent is often treated as a label, something to diagnose, explain, or fix. But behind the word are real people with rich inner worlds, strengths, sensitivities, and ways of experiencing the world that don’t fit neatly into boxes. When we move beyond labels, we start to see neurodivergence not as a deficit, but a difference that is shaped by environment, relationships, and understanding. Support begins not with categorising, but with listening.

Discover how the Calmer Parenting Approach, grounded in research and everyday reality, can reduce conflict, support emotional regulation, and create a more connected family environment. Learn about the calming cycle, co-regulation, and practical routines, and download this week’s tool, My Calming Circle, to help bring calm into your home.

Friendship shapes our wellbeing across a lifetime, grounding us through sleepless nights, big feelings and life’s transitions. In this week’s blog, I explore how we build friendships, why boys need extra support to form deeper connections, and how every child can grow their own village, just as I found mine eighteen years ago in the most unexpected place.