February 4, 2025 • 30 mins
Welcome to the third episode of the School Can't Experience Podcast by School Can't Australia. Hosted by Leisa Reichelt and featuring Tiffany Westphal and Louise Rogers. This episode explores:
- strategies for working with schools to obtain supports and accommodations for children struggling with school attendance,
- personal stories and practical advice,
- discuss legislative protections to empower parents in advocating effectively for their children's needs,
- the necessity of ongoing reassessment of accommodations, and
- alternative educational pathways
Useful resources:
- Disability Standards for Education Act (Australia) - https://www.legislation.gov.au/F2005L00767/latest/text
- NCCD - Nationally Consistent Collection of Data (Australia) - https://www.nccd.edu.au/
- Lives in the Balance (Dr Ross Greene’s Collaborative and Proactive Solutions) - https://livesinthebalance.org/
- School Can’t Australia Facebook Community - https://www.facebook.com/groups/schoolphobiaschoolrefusalaustralia
- Make a donation to School Can’t Australia - https://www.schoolcantaustralia.com.au/get-involved
If you are a parent of carer in Australia and experiencing distress, please call Lifeline on 13 11 14 or contact the Parent Help Line. - https://kidshelpline.com.au/parents/issues/how-parentline-can-help-you
You can contact us to volunteer to share your School Can't story or some feedback via email on schoolcantpodcast@gmail.com
Disclaimer
The content of this podcast is based on personal lived experiences and is shared for informational and storytelling purposes only. It should not be treated as medical, psychological, or professional advice under any circumstances. If you have concerns about your health or well-being, please seek guidance from a doctor, therapist, or other qualified professional.
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Leisa Reichelt (00:05):
Hello and welcome to the School Can't
Experience Podcast.
I'm Leisa Reichelt, and thispodcast is brought to you by the
School Can't Australiacommunity.
Caring for a young person who isstruggling to attend school can
be a stressful and isolatingexperience, but you are not
alone.
Thousands of parents acrossAustralia and many more around
the world face similarchallenges and experiences every
(00:26):
day.
We hope this podcast gives yousome new insight into what
others are experiencing and somenew ways of thinking about how
to understand and support theyoung people in your life.
This is our third episode, and Iam joined again by Tiffany
Westphal and Louise Rogers, whoare directors at School Can't
Australia, and a regular andcalming presence on the School
(00:46):
Can't Australia Facebookcommunity, where they volunteer
many hours of their time helpingto support over 14,000 members,
and no doubt getting a littlebit of support of their own as
well.
In today's episode, we're goingto get into the nitty gritty of
understanding how we can workwith schools to get supports and
accommodations for our youngpeople.
I wonder, whether we can startby maybe sharing a little bit of
(01:10):
our experiences of how we'veengaged with school.
We don't have to go into toomuch detail, but just to give a
little bit of a colour of howthe engagement and the
accommodations at school maybehave changed during your
experience of supporting youryoung people through this?
Tiffany Westphal (01:26):
Look early on, I think the response from school
was very much,'You need to getthem back.
You need to apply more pressure.
You need to make sure that youknow they're here on time.
And, do everything you can as aparent to set things up for
success in the morning so theycan get out the door.' There was
a lot more pressure, and thatwas really hard and, and very
(01:46):
unproductive, and led toincreased distress.
Leisa Reichelt (01:50):
You can have the opposite of that as well.
I know when my son was in yearfive and year six, we spent a
lot of time parked out the frontof school by ourselves.
Like no no one came, no one gotin touch.
There was just nothing from theschool at all.
Tiffany Westphal (02:06):
There can often be no way to communicate
distress to a school.
The distress is invisible forthe school, because it's
happening in the car, in the carpark or at home.
Schools often see a kid who isregulated and is fine when they
get there, and so it can be hardfor them to, to notice or to be
aware.
So parents really need to bequite proactive in informing the
(02:30):
school and having conversationswith the school about distress,
about the nature of thatdistress and advocating for
attention
Leisa Reichelt (02:38):
And that can be pretty scary though, right?
Because you can
Tiffany Westphal (02:40):
yeah.
Leisa Reichelt (02:41):
like you are failing as a parent by not being
able to get your child toschool.
To ring up a school as a parentand go, look, I'm just really
struggling getting my kid to gothere.
I know certainly for us atfirst, that was...
it would never cross my mind.
I'm just like, I know what Ineed to do.
I need to get my kid to school.
And it wasn't until, much laterthat it became much more of a
(03:02):
back and forth between us andthe school.
Tiffany Westphal (03:04):
Yeah, it's really scary because you don't
know how you're going to beresponded to.
You might be up for a barrageof,'well, you need to do this
and you need to do that.' And Iusually find that by time
parents are reaching out to aschool for help, they've got to
the bottom of the barrel of thethings they can do at home.
Leisa Reichelt (03:23):
Lou, tell us a little bit about your
experiences.
Louise Roger (03:26):
we certainly spent a lot of time in the car park at
school.
I gotta say
Leisa Reichelt (03:30):
I.
Louise Roger (03:31):
Um, yeah, it's really hard to revisit.
Leisa Reichelt (03:35):
yeah.
Louise Roger (03:35):
it's, it does bring up all those, all those
emotions again, um, you know,we, we home educate now.
It took us a while to get therebecause my young person still
wanted to be in school.
Towards the end of grade two,uh, he agreed and I just
(03:56):
remember being so happy, that wewere going to leave and try
something different.
I was ready to home educatebefore he was.
I mean, he had a story about,what he should be doing as a
young person going to school andbeing at school.
And I think it was difficult forhim and it's still difficult for
(04:19):
him to understand what it is tohome educate and what home
educating might look like.
And I think it's because sooften we call it homeschooling.
And really we should be talkingabout home education.
The distinction is importantbecause when you educate at a
home, it looks nothing like itdoes at school.
(04:42):
And of course it brings its ownchallenges because you have to
learn how to...
let go of some of those ideasabout what education looks like,
but you also have to learn howto connect with people in the
home education community, andsort of start to find your feet.
Its a learning journey all ofits own.
Leisa Reichelt (05:02):
It's another learning curve, isn't it?
My son has had difficulties withschool for a number of years and
I've had homeschooling or homeeducating on the table for quite
a while.
Not that I particularly wanna doit, but I just think, you know,
there, there were points whereI'm just like, there's just no
alternative here.
My son, despite the fact that hehas enormous difficulty
(05:24):
attending school, has never beenexcited about the idea of home
education.
He would much prefer to be ableto go to school, be with his
peers.
He really likes teachers.
He doesn't want me to teach him,he wants teachers to teach him.
Conscious that me teaching himis also not what home education
is.
Louise Roger (05:42):
It is the road less traveled, and we don't know
what that looks like.
Most of us have been educatedourselves in schools.
It's what we expect.
So, to do something different,It takes a lot of courage.
Um, but I think sometimes thejourney of trying to keep doing
(06:02):
school is going to be reallytraumatizing, and I think that's
going to cause more damage thanleaving the school path and
trying home education.
Leisa Reichelt (06:13):
That makes a lot of sense.
So we've, kind of establishedthat there are alternatives to
traditional school experienceand home education is, just one
of them.
But, uh, you know, for mostpeople, most of the time, plan A
is to stay in school and makethe school experience work.
Tiff, can you talk us throughsome of the things that we
(06:34):
should be thinking about whenwe're trying to get that
flexibility and support andaccommodation in the school
environment?
Tiffany Westphal (06:41):
Yeah.
This is important becauseaccommodations and supports help
reduce student stress.
They are used to remove barriersthat impede a student to
accessing the curriculum ordemonstrating their learning.
They can be used to help astudent feel safe and capable.
They have a role to play inrestoring capacity for school
(07:03):
attendance.
The first step in providingaccommodations and supports is
being sure that you understandwhat the stressors and barriers
were...
that the student isexperiencing.
And it's okay to have just ahypothesis about this if the
child can't tell you.
You can still request anadjustment or a, an
accommodation on the basis ofsuspecting that something might
(07:25):
help and then reassess, down thetrack and see whether it did
help or not.
I usually start by brainstormingwith the child or listening to
the child's description of thedifficulties that they've
experienced, making a list anduh, thinking about, well, what
sorts of accommodations andsupports might make it easier
(07:46):
for the young person.
I think it's important.
that families understand thatthere is legislation that
protects your right to be ableto ask for, uh, supports and
accommodations on the grounds ofa child's disability or mental
health needs.
The 2005 Disability Standardsfor Education Act is the act
(08:07):
that covers this.
It's not a very long document.
You can print it out, you cantake it with you to meetings.
The only justifiable reason notto provide an accommodation or
support is if doing so wouldcause the school undue hardship.
Often I hear schools say theydon't want to provide a support
because the child will get usedto having that support and then
(08:28):
they won't be able to have it inyear 10 or year 11 And so we're
not going to give it to themnow.
And I say, well, we need to dealwith the child we have in front
of us now, and that child'sneeds now because we might not
have that child still in schoolif we withhold those
accommodations and supports now.
You should also visit NCCDwebsite.
(08:50):
You can request that your childbe included in the school's NCCD
registration.
Most of the students who areexperiencing School Can't are
eligible.
You don't need a diagnosis to beincluded in the NCCD, all you
need is documentation from theschool that they have provided
supports and accommodations.
(09:12):
So once you've collectedinformation about your child's
experience, about the stressorsand barriers and about your
ideas, for support, things thatwould reduce the stress, I would
say, well, let's request adiscussion, request a meeting
with the child's school todiscuss supports and
accommodations.
(09:32):
If you have any treatingclinicians, if you have a, a
psychologist or an OT or speechtherapist, or even if you have
a, a tutor that's been workingwith your child who can give
some advice about supports andaccommodations that would be
beneficial for your child.
Provide that documentation tothe school.
I email, before meetings,communication to a school about
(09:55):
stressors and barriers and aboutwhat we think might work.
Schools are usually reallyreceptive to suggestions about
what might work, makes their jobeasier, if they don't have to
come up with these things.
You can ask other parents insupport groups what, what have
they done to reduce thestressors and barriers, There
are lots of places to get ideas.
Leisa Reichelt (10:16):
It does seem Tiffany as though it's very much
on the parent to advocate
Tiffany Westphal (10:22):
It is
Leisa Reichelt (10:23):
I think for the early years of my son, when we
would sit down and do theindividualized education plan,
it would be very teacher led andit would end up being'needs to
concentrate on handwriting' Thatwas kind of it, right?
Over the years as I learned moreI could go back and go, oh, what
about this?
Well, yeah, we could do that.
And it's like the things thatthey were able to do once you
asked for it was, to me,extraordinary.
(10:46):
But if I didn't ask for it, itwould never be volunteered to
me.
Tiffany Westphal (10:50):
Yeah, most schools have learned about
making behavior support plans.
So plans are very focused onwhat the child's going to do
differently or what the child'sgoing to learn, and they're not
nervous system focused.
Parents know lots of stuff abouttheir kids and we have the
opportunities at home to haveconversations with our children.
(11:12):
Sometimes there's relationshipwork that needs to happen.
Sometimes we need to wait untilour kid's stress levels have
reduced before we can have thoseconversations with them.
But it's really helpful if ourkids see us as their allies, as
their bridge people, who cansupport them in that space, to
negotiate, to try and, helpcommunicate what their needs
(11:33):
are.
Leisa Reichelt (11:35):
And to say no to the school sometimes.
Tiffany Westphal (11:38):
yeah.
Yeah.
Leisa Reichelt (11:39):
We had a few situations where we would have
an agreement with the school.
I, I started going in with a,here's our term three plan.
And they'd be like, okay, wellwe can do that for the first
three weeks and we'll see whathappens then.
And I'm like, no, no, no.
This is all of term three.
If we can do this for all ofterm three, we are golden.
Tiffany Westphal (11:54):
And that we need to be responsive to signs
of distress.
Louise Roger (11:58):
We need to be responsive to our young people.
And so, putting timelines onwhen they're going to be doing
things that's not responsive,that's, that's expecting them to
conform.
It's easier if all the kidsfollow the processes and do all
the things.
And, and if you don't actuallyhave to make modifications for
(12:20):
individual students, but we havea student population that is
varied.
Different kids are going to beat different stages of learning.
They're going to need differentthings to help them with their
learning.
There are teaching methods whichallow for that variation in the
classroom.
And part of that is also havingthose individual plans, but the
(12:43):
purpose of them is to meet theneed of the student.
Leisa Reichelt (12:47):
They also have to be acted on, don't they?
I have no idea how a teacherwith 30 kids in the class is
able to keep in their mind allof those individual
accommodations that's, thatcan't be an easy thing to do.
And I think part of your role asa parent is to make sure that,
that that's not being put on theback burner and forgotten about.
Louise Roger (13:05):
Yeah, it is.
Tiffany Westphal (13:06):
Can I just go back and say, you know, what you
were saying before aboutresponsive.
Provision of supports andaccommodations needs to be
responsive.
We need to be aware of signs ofdistress and use those as
indicators that we're not yetgot things right for that
student.
So I was constantly monitoringmy daughter for signs of
(13:29):
distress and those are red flagssaying, hello, hang on, maybe
there's something not quiteright here, or some stress that
we haven't quite identified., Soyes, your question about
different of supports andaccommodations.
So often we think about supportsand accommodations in terms of
things that enable a person toaccess the curriculum or things
(13:51):
that enable a person todemonstrate learning.
I think we also need to thinkabout being able to, feel safe
at school as well.
So we need to think about thenervous system needs.
So supports and accommodationsneed to target nervous system
needs of a student.
(14:11):
How about I give a few examplesof, um, difficulties and how we
accommodated them.
So one of the difficulties mydaughter experienced was
difficulty managing the workloadbecause she has dyslexia and
dysgraphia.
and she developed lots ofanxiety about completing work.
And so one of the supports weput in place was that she would
(14:33):
only ever be graded on the workthat she completed.
So she wouldn't lose marks forthe things that she didn't
complete.
That was a really simpleaccommodation that didn't cost
the school anything And becauseshe wasn't in year 11 or 12,
there was no externalassessments.
It was possible.
Lots of people don't realizethey can ask for that sort of a
(14:54):
simple accommodation.
Leisa Reichelt (14:56):
For us, that was a game changer, absolute game
changer to realize that notevery single assessment had to
be done.
That there were other ways toassess a child other than them
ticking off the list of all ofthe assessments that that had to
be done.
And, that made a huge differenceto my child as well.
But like, gee, the first time ateacher said to me, well, which
(15:17):
assessments would he like to do?
I'm like, oh, there's a choice.
It was, yeah, it was a gamechanger.
Tiffany Westphal (15:24):
Difficulty completing work in the same
amount of time as peers, due toattention difficulties or
executive function difficultiesor anxiety.
The solution is reduced workloadSo it's simple.
Instead of doing 10 mathsquestions and they're expecting
the student to do the firstfive.
Leisa Reichelt (15:42):
Or you've got the alternative.
Right, which is give them moretime.
Tiffany Westphal (15:46):
Yeah.
Or more time.
Yeah, that's right.
Um, that one can becomedifficult.
Because it can mean that theyend up doing more work than
other people.
So we need to make sure that thestudent still has enough time to
rest and relax.
We need to make sure thatthey're not using lunchtime or
recess to finish work becausethat time's important for
nervous system regulation andfor social, connection and, uh,
(16:11):
belonging.
And, and that's really importanttime too.
We shouldn't be robbing studentsof time from other things that
are important for theirwellbeing in order to complete
work.
Leisa Reichelt (16:22):
My son was able to get more time to do a maths
exam.
And being good at maths is kindof a big part of his sense of
self, but he was getting likenot good scores in maths and so
they just let him have more timeto do his maths exam.
And with that more time, he wasable to actually demonstrate his
learning and do really well.
I think we get brought up withthis idea that everyone's gotta
(16:44):
do this amount of work in thisamount of time and that's how we
compare everybody.
But actually that's not a fairway to compare all kids who have
got these different needs andand disabilities.
Tiffany Westphal (16:55):
My daughter has also is really good at maths
and we discovered that, one ofthe difficulties she has is that
when she knows she's got afinite, a fixed time to do
something in her nervous systembecomes so escalated that she
starts to not be able tofunction.
And she's quite good at math,but what we have to do is say to
her, look, you can have as longas you like to do this math
(17:17):
test, so if you don't finish ittoday, you can take it home and
finish it.
And guaranteed she'll be able tofinish that math test before
anybody else.
But if she doesn't have thataccommodation, she becomes so
stressed she can't do the work.
And so just this simple, going'look, it's okay.
You can have as long as youlike', enables her nervous
(17:38):
system to calm- and she knowsthat this is what's happening.
she needs this reassurance.
It's a simple accommodation forher.
It doesn't cost anybodyanything.
It doesn't require any extratime from a teacher.
It's just the use of some wordsand reassurance.
You know, for a student who hasdifficulty with reading, or
(18:01):
difficulty getting theirthoughts out of their head onto
paper, being able to accessassistive technology and use,
make use of speech to text ortext to speech, and having
someone teach them how to makeuse of those things.
Now that's that is a, support oraccommodation that's going to
cost the school some money toprovide that support.
but there are ways that thatsort of support can get funded
(18:22):
through a school and they make ahuge difference to the stress
levels of a student.
Sensory difficulties relating toschool uniform is something that
came up over the years again andagain for my daughter.
Um, you know, at one point wehad, she could wear another
piece of clothing that wascomfortable, long as it was the
same colour as the schooluniform.
(18:42):
In primary school.
high school, we negotiated theability to wear the sports
uniform instead of the academicuniform because that was more
comfortable.
She used to come home fromschool and the first thing she'd
do was race down to her bedroomand strip off this horrible
uniform that she couldn't standwearing.
She was using up so much energyduring the day just managing the
way this thing felt against herskin, that it, it was robbing
(19:05):
her of energy capacity do otherthings.
Leisa Reichelt (19:09):
These are really good examples and I think it
just really illustrates that ifwe take the time and, and we are
able to get into that regulatedstate where we can, understand,
what our, what our young peopleare experiencing, and then go
and have conversations aboutthat with the school.
The, the flexibility often isthere to put things in place
(19:32):
that might make it easier.
There's no guarantee that it'sgoing to necessarily work, but
like that there is that abilityto have that conversation with
most schools that you might notrealize is there.
Louise Roger (19:45):
I think it's important to be able to revisit
supports if they're not working.
We can't make a plan and assumethat it's going to work, even if
it's something a young personhas suggested.
You know?
We can't just think that, okay,the plan's there now it's done
and dusted.
It needs to be something werevisit.
We need to also recognize that,you know, we as children
(20:07):
develop, they'll come across newchallenges and then we'll need
to, to put in new plans in placefor the, for the new things that
they need support with.
So it needs to be an ongoingdiscussion that progresses with
them through school.
Tiffany Westphal (20:26):
Yeah, sands are constantly shifting.
Louise Roger (20:28):
Yeah.
Leisa Reichelt (20:30):
One of the things that made a big
difference for us was, makingsure that instructions were
written.
I think teachers often give alot of verbal instructions.
If you don't have a great verbalprocessing capability, you can
just be completely lost.
Tiffany Westphal (20:42):
Yeah.
For some kids they have a lotsof difficulty copying things
down from a whiteboard So havingthe, the teacher provide printed
notes that a child can annotateinstead of having to copy down
work.
Um, so many, uh, difficulties.
I think, you know, another onethat my child had was, We, we
had an accommodation about herbeing able to carry her phone in
(21:04):
her pocket because she wouldbecome overwhelmed and, and
really highly distressed and beunable to talk to staff, uh, or
unable to speak to a teacherwhen she was in this state.
We negotiated that she should beable to have her phone in her
pocket so that she could send atext to mum, or call mum who
could then provide support tocalm to over the phone or assist
(21:25):
staff to locate her, so that shecould be repatriated back home
if she needed to.
If it the point where she justneeded to get out to, to come
back home, because she was toooverwhelmed.
Another one that's unusual is mydaughter has lots of difficulty
with distraction in class.
And, she uses music to eliminatedistraction from voices in
(21:49):
class, from peers talking.
And it also helps with hernervous system management she
has uh, playlists she'sdeveloped with her music
therapist that help her feelcalm and relaxed while she's
doing schoolwork.
So she, she has a permission touse noise canceling earbuds to
(22:09):
listen to music while the theclass is completing work.
Leisa Reichelt (22:12):
So I think what we're taking away from this is
that there, it can actually bequite a lot of flexibility in
all different aspects of howkids are experiencing school and
how they're undertaking theacademic aspects of school.
Um, but we as the, the adult inour young people's lives really
(22:34):
kind of need to take it onourselves to be very proactive
in thinking about what mighthelp learning from our young
people, what might help, andthen going in and advocating on
their behalf with the school.
Um, and I like what you said aswell, Louise and Tiff, I think
as well about like how it'salmost, we need to take an
experimental mindset to this,don't we?
(22:55):
Like there's no guarantees thatany of this will work.
It's not a failure if it doesn'twork.
It tells us something new.
But we, we, we try differentthings and, um, we have to keep
monitoring and seeing what'sworking and what's not and
what's happening and what's nothappening.
Tiffany Westphal (23:12):
Yeah, I think it's important to remember that
we can make lots of supports andaccommodations.
So sometimes I've gone in with afamily to a school meeting and
the school's agreed to a wholelot of supports and
accommodations, but we stillcan't get the child to go to
school And so the supports andaccommodations sometimes they
come too late in the piece.
(23:33):
And so there's trauma we need tofind ways of building trust and
safety again.
Um, sometimes it's not possiblefor a child to return to a
school where the experience hasbeen so, profoundly distressing,
that they, they, they just, thatthe nervous system has triggered
(23:55):
so much by having to go backinto that space.
that no amount of provision ofsupports and accommodations is
going to meet their needs forfeeling safe.
Leisa Reichelt (24:06):
So what do we do then?
We, we've, we've tried all ofthese accommodations.
School's still not happening.
What next?
What do we do?
Tiffany Westphal (24:15):
I think we need permission sometimes to,
um.
To take a break.
Sometimes we need to spend timemaking sense of what's happened
for our child to help, know, todo some sense making of what,
what's happened to me, Um, whyis this so hard for me to be
there?
Leisa Reichelt (24:34):
When you say we should, we need permission to
take a break.
Who do we get permission from?
Tiffany Westphal (24:42):
well.
Louise Roger (24:42):
It's a hard one, It really is.
I, I think we need to giveourselves permission for a
start.
Um, we, we've got to acknowledgethat this is really, really,
really hard.
We had a parent in our SenateInquiry submission research tell
us that school attendancedifficulties was more stressful
(25:03):
to her than her cancerdiagnosis.
I think that's huge.
That's incredibly huge.
Families are going through a lotof stress.
We've gotta give ourselvespermission.
Tiffany Westphal (25:16):
Permission is only one part of that story too.
You know, having the c thecapacity to be able to manage
financially or to be able to, towrangle all of the other stuff
in our lives as well is, is a,just as much a challenge.
Um, so I think, you know,sometimes we have to let go of
(25:36):
fear that if our child's not atschool, then they're going to be
doomed in the future.
We need to remember thatactually there's an awful lot
more at stake here that isprotective of a child's future
and their capacity to, to learnand to, to become a, know, a
(25:58):
member of society that's makinga contribution, that's earning
some money, that's able to liveconnected in to the community.
so yeah.
Leisa Reichelt (26:10):
So allowing yourself and your child to take
a break from trying to get toschool every day, be it for a
few weeks, be it for a term thatcan help to alleviate stress in
the child.
It can help parents gain alittle bit of sanity back.
Tiffany Westphal (26:27):
yep.
And it can give you time to dothe sense making, to have those
conversations about what'shappened, um, to, to connect to
build a stronger relationshipwith your child so they trust
you.
Uh.
That you've got them.
Louise Roger (26:44):
I, I think it's also important though, to
acknowledge the enormouspressure on us not to do that
and to get our kids back toschool anyway.
From the schools, from,authority, there are rules in
place.
Uh, and in some states aroundAustralia, there are potential
fines and court appearances ifyou don't take your, young
(27:07):
person to school.
so you might be able to go to aGP or pediatrician or
psychologist and get arecommendation, a medical
recommendation, that your youngperson has a break from school
to recover.
Tiffany Westphal (27:25):
Yeah, it's really important to, to have
yourself covered by medicaladvice, um, medical
recommendations, having medicalcertificates, for not being at
school.
Leisa Reichelt (27:36):
So it's going and talking to the GP and making
sure the GP is across thesituation.
'cause that might not be thefirst thing that people are
thinking about doing eitherbecause child's not sick, not
physically sick, but.
Louise Roger (27:47):
Mm.
Leisa Reichelt (27:48):
Having that GP can help then if you find
yourself in a difficultsituation with the education
system, perhaps.
Tiffany Westphal (27:55):
Stress is a legitimate and, and stress and,
and difficulty coping withstress it's, it's signs of, of
mental health distress.
Yeah.
So it is an illness.
being so mentally distressedthat you can't function, that's
an illness.
Louise Roger (28:11):
And, and it's also a reason why some of our
families go into to homeeducation Because they need that
break from the constant pressureto attend school.
And those families may look atsome other time about going back
to school, but for right now,they need a break.
Leisa Reichelt (28:28):
Yeah.
And there are a range ofdifferent things that you can
consider as alternatives, right?
Like you've got home education,distance education, potentially
alternative schools.
Louise Roger (28:38):
Mm-hmm
Leisa Reichelt (28:38):
Okay Then let's wrap it up.
I think we've covered a lot ofterritory today and a lot of
important insights for folk whoare probably, if they're
listening to this, it's probably'cause they're going through a
pretty stressful time right now.
So I really couldn't appreciatemore you sharing your experience
and expertise.
Tiffany and Louise, thank you somuch for, for taking the time.
Tiffany Westphal (29:00):
You're welcome
Louise Roger (29:00):
Thank you.
Leisa Reichelt (29:02):
Well, I really hope there was something in that
discussion that you foundhelpful or reassuring.
There is no one right waythrough this school current
journey, but in partnership withother School Can't parents and
with experts in the field, weare able to make a big
difference in reducing stressand trauma for our young people
and for our families.
If you're a parent or carerwho's feeling distressed and
you're in Australia, rememberthat you can call the Parent
(29:24):
Helpline in your state.
We've put a link with the numberto call in the show notes.
We've also added links to theSchool Can't community, the
Disabilities Act, and the NCCDthat Tiffany mentioned in the
podcast, and there's a place foryou to share your feedback on
our podcast or maybe evenvolunteer to share your very own
School Can't experience on afuture podcast episode.
We would love to hear from you.
(29:45):
And finally, please considerdonating to School Can't
Australia, your tax deductibledonations assist us to raise
community awareness to, partnerwith researchers, to produce
resources like webinars and thisvery podcast which assist people
who are supporting children andyoung people experiencing School
Can't.
Thanks again for listening, andwe'll talk again soon.
(30:07):
Take care.
Hello and welcome to the School Can't
Experience Podcast.
I'm Leisa Reichelt, and thispodcast is brought to you by the
School Can't Australiacommunity.
Caring for a young person who isstruggling to attend school can
be a stressful and isolatingexperience, but you are not
alone.
Thousands of parents acrossAustralia and many more around
the world face similarchallenges and experiences every
(00:26):
day.
We hope this podcast gives yousome new insight into what
others are experiencing and somenew ways of thinking about how
to understand and support theyoung people in your life.
This is our third episode, and Iam joined again by Tiffany
Westphal and Louise Rogers, whoare directors at School Can't
Australia, and a regular andcalming presence on the School
(00:46):
Can't Australia Facebookcommunity, where they volunteer
many hours of their time helpingto support over 14,000 members,
and no doubt getting a littlebit of support of their own as
well.
In today's episode, we're goingto get into the nitty gritty of
understanding how we can workwith schools to get supports and
accommodations for our youngpeople.
I wonder, whether we can startby maybe sharing a little bit of
(01:10):
our experiences of how we'veengaged with school.
We don't have to go into toomuch detail, but just to give a
little bit of a colour of howthe engagement and the
accommodations at school maybehave changed during your
experience of supporting youryoung people through this?
Tiffany Westphal (01:26):
Look early on, I think the response from school
was very much,'You need to getthem back.
You need to apply more pressure.
You need to make sure that youknow they're here on time.
And, do everything you can as aparent to set things up for
success in the morning so theycan get out the door.' There was
a lot more pressure, and thatwas really hard and, and very
(01:46):
unproductive, and led toincreased distress.
Leisa Reichelt (01:50):
You can have the opposite of that as well.
I know when my son was in yearfive and year six, we spent a
lot of time parked out the frontof school by ourselves.
Like no no one came, no one gotin touch.
There was just nothing from theschool at all.
Tiffany Westphal (02:06):
There can often be no way to communicate
distress to a school.
The distress is invisible forthe school, because it's
happening in the car, in the carpark or at home.
Schools often see a kid who isregulated and is fine when they
get there, and so it can be hardfor them to, to notice or to be
aware.
So parents really need to bequite proactive in informing the
(02:30):
school and having conversationswith the school about distress,
about the nature of thatdistress and advocating for
attention
Leisa Reichelt (02:38):
And that can be pretty scary though, right?
Because you can
Tiffany Westphal (02:40):
yeah.
Leisa Reichelt (02:41):
like you are failing as a parent by not being
able to get your child toschool.
To ring up a school as a parentand go, look, I'm just really
struggling getting my kid to gothere.
I know certainly for us atfirst, that was...
it would never cross my mind.
I'm just like, I know what Ineed to do.
I need to get my kid to school.
And it wasn't until, much laterthat it became much more of a
(03:02):
back and forth between us andthe school.
Tiffany Westphal (03:04):
Yeah, it's really scary because you don't
know how you're going to beresponded to.
You might be up for a barrageof,'well, you need to do this
and you need to do that.' And Iusually find that by time
parents are reaching out to aschool for help, they've got to
the bottom of the barrel of thethings they can do at home.
Leisa Reichelt (03:23):
Lou, tell us a little bit about your
experiences.
Louise Roger (03:26):
we certainly spent a lot of time in the car park at
school.
I gotta say
Leisa Reichelt (03:30):
I.
Louise Roger (03:31):
Um, yeah, it's really hard to revisit.
Leisa Reichelt (03:35):
yeah.
Louise Roger (03:35):
it's, it does bring up all those, all those
emotions again, um, you know,we, we home educate now.
It took us a while to get therebecause my young person still
wanted to be in school.
Towards the end of grade two,uh, he agreed and I just
(03:56):
remember being so happy, that wewere going to leave and try
something different.
I was ready to home educatebefore he was.
I mean, he had a story about,what he should be doing as a
young person going to school andbeing at school.
And I think it was difficult forhim and it's still difficult for
(04:19):
him to understand what it is tohome educate and what home
educating might look like.
And I think it's because sooften we call it homeschooling.
And really we should be talkingabout home education.
The distinction is importantbecause when you educate at a
home, it looks nothing like itdoes at school.
(04:42):
And of course it brings its ownchallenges because you have to
learn how to...
let go of some of those ideasabout what education looks like,
but you also have to learn howto connect with people in the
home education community, andsort of start to find your feet.
Its a learning journey all ofits own.
Leisa Reichelt (05:02):
It's another learning curve, isn't it?
My son has had difficulties withschool for a number of years and
I've had homeschooling or homeeducating on the table for quite
a while.
Not that I particularly wanna doit, but I just think, you know,
there, there were points whereI'm just like, there's just no
alternative here.
My son, despite the fact that hehas enormous difficulty
(05:24):
attending school, has never beenexcited about the idea of home
education.
He would much prefer to be ableto go to school, be with his
peers.
He really likes teachers.
He doesn't want me to teach him,he wants teachers to teach him.
Conscious that me teaching himis also not what home education
is.
Louise Roger (05:42):
It is the road less traveled, and we don't know
what that looks like.
Most of us have been educatedourselves in schools.
It's what we expect.
So, to do something different,It takes a lot of courage.
Um, but I think sometimes thejourney of trying to keep doing
(06:02):
school is going to be reallytraumatizing, and I think that's
going to cause more damage thanleaving the school path and
trying home education.
Leisa Reichelt (06:13):
That makes a lot of sense.
So we've, kind of establishedthat there are alternatives to
traditional school experienceand home education is, just one
of them.
But, uh, you know, for mostpeople, most of the time, plan A
is to stay in school and makethe school experience work.
Tiff, can you talk us throughsome of the things that we
(06:34):
should be thinking about whenwe're trying to get that
flexibility and support andaccommodation in the school
environment?
Tiffany Westphal (06:41):
Yeah.
This is important becauseaccommodations and supports help
reduce student stress.
They are used to remove barriersthat impede a student to
accessing the curriculum ordemonstrating their learning.
They can be used to help astudent feel safe and capable.
They have a role to play inrestoring capacity for school
(07:03):
attendance.
The first step in providingaccommodations and supports is
being sure that you understandwhat the stressors and barriers
were...
that the student isexperiencing.
And it's okay to have just ahypothesis about this if the
child can't tell you.
You can still request anadjustment or a, an
accommodation on the basis ofsuspecting that something might
(07:25):
help and then reassess, down thetrack and see whether it did
help or not.
I usually start by brainstormingwith the child or listening to
the child's description of thedifficulties that they've
experienced, making a list anduh, thinking about, well, what
sorts of accommodations andsupports might make it easier
(07:46):
for the young person.
I think it's important.
that families understand thatthere is legislation that
protects your right to be ableto ask for, uh, supports and
accommodations on the grounds ofa child's disability or mental
health needs.
The 2005 Disability Standardsfor Education Act is the act
(08:07):
that covers this.
It's not a very long document.
You can print it out, you cantake it with you to meetings.
The only justifiable reason notto provide an accommodation or
support is if doing so wouldcause the school undue hardship.
Often I hear schools say theydon't want to provide a support
because the child will get usedto having that support and then
(08:28):
they won't be able to have it inyear 10 or year 11 And so we're
not going to give it to themnow.
And I say, well, we need to dealwith the child we have in front
of us now, and that child'sneeds now because we might not
have that child still in schoolif we withhold those
accommodations and supports now.
You should also visit NCCDwebsite.
(08:50):
You can request that your childbe included in the school's NCCD
registration.
Most of the students who areexperiencing School Can't are
eligible.
You don't need a diagnosis to beincluded in the NCCD, all you
need is documentation from theschool that they have provided
supports and accommodations.
(09:12):
So once you've collectedinformation about your child's
experience, about the stressorsand barriers and about your
ideas, for support, things thatwould reduce the stress, I would
say, well, let's request adiscussion, request a meeting
with the child's school todiscuss supports and
accommodations.
(09:32):
If you have any treatingclinicians, if you have a, a
psychologist or an OT or speechtherapist, or even if you have
a, a tutor that's been workingwith your child who can give
some advice about supports andaccommodations that would be
beneficial for your child.
Provide that documentation tothe school.
I email, before meetings,communication to a school about
(09:55):
stressors and barriers and aboutwhat we think might work.
Schools are usually reallyreceptive to suggestions about
what might work, makes their jobeasier, if they don't have to
come up with these things.
You can ask other parents insupport groups what, what have
they done to reduce thestressors and barriers, There
are lots of places to get ideas.
Leisa Reichelt (10:16):
It does seem Tiffany as though it's very much
on the parent to advocate
Tiffany Westphal (10:22):
It is
Leisa Reichelt (10:23):
I think for the early years of my son, when we
would sit down and do theindividualized education plan,
it would be very teacher led andit would end up being'needs to
concentrate on handwriting' Thatwas kind of it, right?
Over the years as I learned moreI could go back and go, oh, what
about this?
Well, yeah, we could do that.
And it's like the things thatthey were able to do once you
asked for it was, to me,extraordinary.
(10:46):
But if I didn't ask for it, itwould never be volunteered to
me.
Tiffany Westphal (10:50):
Yeah, most schools have learned about
making behavior support plans.
So plans are very focused onwhat the child's going to do
differently or what the child'sgoing to learn, and they're not
nervous system focused.
Parents know lots of stuff abouttheir kids and we have the
opportunities at home to haveconversations with our children.
(11:12):
Sometimes there's relationshipwork that needs to happen.
Sometimes we need to wait untilour kid's stress levels have
reduced before we can have thoseconversations with them.
But it's really helpful if ourkids see us as their allies, as
their bridge people, who cansupport them in that space, to
negotiate, to try and, helpcommunicate what their needs
(11:33):
are.
Leisa Reichelt (11:35):
And to say no to the school sometimes.
Tiffany Westphal (11:38):
yeah.
Yeah.
Leisa Reichelt (11:39):
We had a few situations where we would have
an agreement with the school.
I, I started going in with a,here's our term three plan.
And they'd be like, okay, wellwe can do that for the first
three weeks and we'll see whathappens then.
And I'm like, no, no, no.
This is all of term three.
If we can do this for all ofterm three, we are golden.
Tiffany Westphal (11:54):
And that we need to be responsive to signs
of distress.
Louise Roger (11:58):
We need to be responsive to our young people.
And so, putting timelines onwhen they're going to be doing
things that's not responsive,that's, that's expecting them to
conform.
It's easier if all the kidsfollow the processes and do all
the things.
And, and if you don't actuallyhave to make modifications for
(12:20):
individual students, but we havea student population that is
varied.
Different kids are going to beat different stages of learning.
They're going to need differentthings to help them with their
learning.
There are teaching methods whichallow for that variation in the
classroom.
And part of that is also havingthose individual plans, but the
(12:43):
purpose of them is to meet theneed of the student.
Leisa Reichelt (12:47):
They also have to be acted on, don't they?
I have no idea how a teacherwith 30 kids in the class is
able to keep in their mind allof those individual
accommodations that's, thatcan't be an easy thing to do.
And I think part of your role asa parent is to make sure that,
that that's not being put on theback burner and forgotten about.
Louise Roger (13:05):
Yeah, it is.
Tiffany Westphal (13:06):
Can I just go back and say, you know, what you
were saying before aboutresponsive.
Provision of supports andaccommodations needs to be
responsive.
We need to be aware of signs ofdistress and use those as
indicators that we're not yetgot things right for that
student.
So I was constantly monitoringmy daughter for signs of
(13:29):
distress and those are red flagssaying, hello, hang on, maybe
there's something not quiteright here, or some stress that
we haven't quite identified., Soyes, your question about
different of supports andaccommodations.
So often we think about supportsand accommodations in terms of
things that enable a person toaccess the curriculum or things
(13:51):
that enable a person todemonstrate learning.
I think we also need to thinkabout being able to, feel safe
at school as well.
So we need to think about thenervous system needs.
So supports and accommodationsneed to target nervous system
needs of a student.
(14:11):
How about I give a few examplesof, um, difficulties and how we
accommodated them.
So one of the difficulties mydaughter experienced was
difficulty managing the workloadbecause she has dyslexia and
dysgraphia.
and she developed lots ofanxiety about completing work.
And so one of the supports weput in place was that she would
(14:33):
only ever be graded on the workthat she completed.
So she wouldn't lose marks forthe things that she didn't
complete.
That was a really simpleaccommodation that didn't cost
the school anything And becauseshe wasn't in year 11 or 12,
there was no externalassessments.
It was possible.
Lots of people don't realizethey can ask for that sort of a
(14:54):
simple accommodation.
Leisa Reichelt (14:56):
For us, that was a game changer, absolute game
changer to realize that notevery single assessment had to
be done.
That there were other ways toassess a child other than them
ticking off the list of all ofthe assessments that that had to
be done.
And, that made a huge differenceto my child as well.
But like, gee, the first time ateacher said to me, well, which
(15:17):
assessments would he like to do?
I'm like, oh, there's a choice.
It was, yeah, it was a gamechanger.
Tiffany Westphal (15:24):
Difficulty completing work in the same
amount of time as peers, due toattention difficulties or
executive function difficultiesor anxiety.
The solution is reduced workloadSo it's simple.
Instead of doing 10 mathsquestions and they're expecting
the student to do the firstfive.
Leisa Reichelt (15:42):
Or you've got the alternative.
Right, which is give them moretime.
Tiffany Westphal (15:46):
Yeah.
Or more time.
Yeah, that's right.
Um, that one can becomedifficult.
Because it can mean that theyend up doing more work than
other people.
So we need to make sure that thestudent still has enough time to
rest and relax.
We need to make sure thatthey're not using lunchtime or
recess to finish work becausethat time's important for
nervous system regulation andfor social, connection and, uh,
(16:11):
belonging.
And, and that's really importanttime too.
We shouldn't be robbing studentsof time from other things that
are important for theirwellbeing in order to complete
work.
Leisa Reichelt (16:22):
My son was able to get more time to do a maths
exam.
And being good at maths is kindof a big part of his sense of
self, but he was getting likenot good scores in maths and so
they just let him have more timeto do his maths exam.
And with that more time, he wasable to actually demonstrate his
learning and do really well.
I think we get brought up withthis idea that everyone's gotta
(16:44):
do this amount of work in thisamount of time and that's how we
compare everybody.
But actually that's not a fairway to compare all kids who have
got these different needs andand disabilities.
Tiffany Westphal (16:55):
My daughter has also is really good at maths
and we discovered that, one ofthe difficulties she has is that
when she knows she's got afinite, a fixed time to do
something in her nervous systembecomes so escalated that she
starts to not be able tofunction.
And she's quite good at math,but what we have to do is say to
her, look, you can have as longas you like to do this math
(17:17):
test, so if you don't finish ittoday, you can take it home and
finish it.
And guaranteed she'll be able tofinish that math test before
anybody else.
But if she doesn't have thataccommodation, she becomes so
stressed she can't do the work.
And so just this simple, going'look, it's okay.
You can have as long as youlike', enables her nervous
(17:38):
system to calm- and she knowsthat this is what's happening.
she needs this reassurance.
It's a simple accommodation forher.
It doesn't cost anybodyanything.
It doesn't require any extratime from a teacher.
It's just the use of some wordsand reassurance.
You know, for a student who hasdifficulty with reading, or
(18:01):
difficulty getting theirthoughts out of their head onto
paper, being able to accessassistive technology and use,
make use of speech to text ortext to speech, and having
someone teach them how to makeuse of those things.
Now that's that is a, support oraccommodation that's going to
cost the school some money toprovide that support.
but there are ways that thatsort of support can get funded
(18:22):
through a school and they make ahuge difference to the stress
levels of a student.
Sensory difficulties relating toschool uniform is something that
came up over the years again andagain for my daughter.
Um, you know, at one point wehad, she could wear another
piece of clothing that wascomfortable, long as it was the
same colour as the schooluniform.
(18:42):
In primary school.
high school, we negotiated theability to wear the sports
uniform instead of the academicuniform because that was more
comfortable.
She used to come home fromschool and the first thing she'd
do was race down to her bedroomand strip off this horrible
uniform that she couldn't standwearing.
She was using up so much energyduring the day just managing the
way this thing felt against herskin, that it, it was robbing
(19:05):
her of energy capacity do otherthings.
Leisa Reichelt (19:09):
These are really good examples and I think it
just really illustrates that ifwe take the time and, and we are
able to get into that regulatedstate where we can, understand,
what our, what our young peopleare experiencing, and then go
and have conversations aboutthat with the school.
The, the flexibility often isthere to put things in place
(19:32):
that might make it easier.
There's no guarantee that it'sgoing to necessarily work, but
like that there is that abilityto have that conversation with
most schools that you might notrealize is there.
Louise Roger (19:45):
I think it's important to be able to revisit
supports if they're not working.
We can't make a plan and assumethat it's going to work, even if
it's something a young personhas suggested.
You know?
We can't just think that, okay,the plan's there now it's done
and dusted.
It needs to be something werevisit.
We need to also recognize that,you know, we as children
(20:07):
develop, they'll come across newchallenges and then we'll need
to, to put in new plans in placefor the, for the new things that
they need support with.
So it needs to be an ongoingdiscussion that progresses with
them through school.
Tiffany Westphal (20:26):
Yeah, sands are constantly shifting.
Louise Roger (20:28):
Yeah.
Leisa Reichelt (20:30):
One of the things that made a big
difference for us was, makingsure that instructions were
written.
I think teachers often give alot of verbal instructions.
If you don't have a great verbalprocessing capability, you can
just be completely lost.
Tiffany Westphal (20:42):
Yeah.
For some kids they have a lotsof difficulty copying things
down from a whiteboard So havingthe, the teacher provide printed
notes that a child can annotateinstead of having to copy down
work.
Um, so many, uh, difficulties.
I think, you know, another onethat my child had was, We, we
had an accommodation about herbeing able to carry her phone in
(21:04):
her pocket because she wouldbecome overwhelmed and, and
really highly distressed and beunable to talk to staff, uh, or
unable to speak to a teacherwhen she was in this state.
We negotiated that she should beable to have her phone in her
pocket so that she could send atext to mum, or call mum who
could then provide support tocalm to over the phone or assist
(21:25):
staff to locate her, so that shecould be repatriated back home
if she needed to.
If it the point where she justneeded to get out to, to come
back home, because she was toooverwhelmed.
Another one that's unusual is mydaughter has lots of difficulty
with distraction in class.
And, she uses music to eliminatedistraction from voices in
(21:49):
class, from peers talking.
And it also helps with hernervous system management she
has uh, playlists she'sdeveloped with her music
therapist that help her feelcalm and relaxed while she's
doing schoolwork.
So she, she has a permission touse noise canceling earbuds to
(22:09):
listen to music while the theclass is completing work.
Leisa Reichelt (22:12):
So I think what we're taking away from this is
that there, it can actually bequite a lot of flexibility in
all different aspects of howkids are experiencing school and
how they're undertaking theacademic aspects of school.
Um, but we as the, the adult inour young people's lives really
(22:34):
kind of need to take it onourselves to be very proactive
in thinking about what mighthelp learning from our young
people, what might help, andthen going in and advocating on
their behalf with the school.
Um, and I like what you said aswell, Louise and Tiff, I think
as well about like how it'salmost, we need to take an
experimental mindset to this,don't we?
(22:55):
Like there's no guarantees thatany of this will work.
It's not a failure if it doesn'twork.
It tells us something new.
But we, we, we try differentthings and, um, we have to keep
monitoring and seeing what'sworking and what's not and
what's happening and what's nothappening.
Tiffany Westphal (23:12):
Yeah, I think it's important to remember that
we can make lots of supports andaccommodations.
So sometimes I've gone in with afamily to a school meeting and
the school's agreed to a wholelot of supports and
accommodations, but we stillcan't get the child to go to
school And so the supports andaccommodations sometimes they
come too late in the piece.
(23:33):
And so there's trauma we need tofind ways of building trust and
safety again.
Um, sometimes it's not possiblefor a child to return to a
school where the experience hasbeen so, profoundly distressing,
that they, they, they just, thatthe nervous system has triggered
(23:55):
so much by having to go backinto that space.
that no amount of provision ofsupports and accommodations is
going to meet their needs forfeeling safe.
Leisa Reichelt (24:06):
So what do we do then?
We, we've, we've tried all ofthese accommodations.
School's still not happening.
What next?
What do we do?
Tiffany Westphal (24:15):
I think we need permission sometimes to,
um.
To take a break.
Sometimes we need to spend timemaking sense of what's happened
for our child to help, know, todo some sense making of what,
what's happened to me, Um, whyis this so hard for me to be
there?
Leisa Reichelt (24:34):
When you say we should, we need permission to
take a break.
Who do we get permission from?
Tiffany Westphal (24:42):
well.
Louise Roger (24:42):
It's a hard one, It really is.
I, I think we need to giveourselves permission for a
start.
Um, we, we've got to acknowledgethat this is really, really,
really hard.
We had a parent in our SenateInquiry submission research tell
us that school attendancedifficulties was more stressful
(25:03):
to her than her cancerdiagnosis.
I think that's huge.
That's incredibly huge.
Families are going through a lotof stress.
We've gotta give ourselvespermission.
Tiffany Westphal (25:16):
Permission is only one part of that story too.
You know, having the c thecapacity to be able to manage
financially or to be able to, towrangle all of the other stuff
in our lives as well is, is a,just as much a challenge.
Um, so I think, you know,sometimes we have to let go of
(25:36):
fear that if our child's not atschool, then they're going to be
doomed in the future.
We need to remember thatactually there's an awful lot
more at stake here that isprotective of a child's future
and their capacity to, to learnand to, to become a, know, a
(25:58):
member of society that's makinga contribution, that's earning
some money, that's able to liveconnected in to the community.
so yeah.
Leisa Reichelt (26:10):
So allowing yourself and your child to take
a break from trying to get toschool every day, be it for a
few weeks, be it for a term thatcan help to alleviate stress in
the child.
It can help parents gain alittle bit of sanity back.
Tiffany Westphal (26:27):
yep.
And it can give you time to dothe sense making, to have those
conversations about what'shappened, um, to, to connect to
build a stronger relationshipwith your child so they trust
you.
Uh.
That you've got them.
Louise Roger (26:44):
I, I think it's also important though, to
acknowledge the enormouspressure on us not to do that
and to get our kids back toschool anyway.
From the schools, from,authority, there are rules in
place.
Uh, and in some states aroundAustralia, there are potential
fines and court appearances ifyou don't take your, young
(27:07):
person to school.
so you might be able to go to aGP or pediatrician or
psychologist and get arecommendation, a medical
recommendation, that your youngperson has a break from school
to recover.
Tiffany Westphal (27:25):
Yeah, it's really important to, to have
yourself covered by medicaladvice, um, medical
recommendations, having medicalcertificates, for not being at
school.
Leisa Reichelt (27:36):
So it's going and talking to the GP and making
sure the GP is across thesituation.
'cause that might not be thefirst thing that people are
thinking about doing eitherbecause child's not sick, not
physically sick, but.
Louise Roger (27:47):
Mm.
Leisa Reichelt (27:48):
Having that GP can help then if you find
yourself in a difficultsituation with the education
system, perhaps.
Tiffany Westphal (27:55):
Stress is a legitimate and, and stress and,
and difficulty coping withstress it's, it's signs of, of
mental health distress.
Yeah.
So it is an illness.
being so mentally distressedthat you can't function, that's
an illness.
Louise Roger (28:11):
And, and it's also a reason why some of our
families go into to homeeducation Because they need that
break from the constant pressureto attend school.
And those families may look atsome other time about going back
to school, but for right now,they need a break.
Leisa Reichelt (28:28):
Yeah.
And there are a range ofdifferent things that you can
consider as alternatives, right?
Like you've got home education,distance education, potentially
alternative schools.
Louise Roger (28:38):
Mm-hmm
Leisa Reichelt (28:38):
Okay Then let's wrap it up.
I think we've covered a lot ofterritory today and a lot of
important insights for folk whoare probably, if they're
listening to this, it's probably'cause they're going through a
pretty stressful time right now.
So I really couldn't appreciatemore you sharing your experience
and expertise.
Tiffany and Louise, thank you somuch for, for taking the time.
Tiffany Westphal (29:00):
You're welcome
Louise Roger (29:00):
Thank you.
Leisa Reichelt (29:02):
Well, I really hope there was something in that
discussion that you foundhelpful or reassuring.
There is no one right waythrough this school current
journey, but in partnership withother School Can't parents and
with experts in the field, weare able to make a big
difference in reducing stressand trauma for our young people
and for our families.
If you're a parent or carerwho's feeling distressed and
you're in Australia, rememberthat you can call the Parent
(29:24):
Helpline in your state.
We've put a link with the numberto call in the show notes.
We've also added links to theSchool Can't community, the
Disabilities Act, and the NCCDthat Tiffany mentioned in the
podcast, and there's a place foryou to share your feedback on
our podcast or maybe evenvolunteer to share your very own
School Can't experience on afuture podcast episode.
We would love to hear from you.
(29:45):
And finally, please considerdonating to School Can't
Australia, your tax deductibledonations assist us to raise
community awareness to, partnerwith researchers, to produce
resources like webinars and thisvery podcast which assist people
who are supporting children andyoung people experiencing School
Can't.
Thanks again for listening, andwe'll talk again soon.
(30:07):
Take care.
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