OT Matters

09/06/2026

https://www.facebook.com/share/18jP5nPTPE/?mibextid=wwXIfr

✈️ IMPORTANT UPDATE FOR ANYONE TRAVELLING TO SPAIN WITH A HIDDEN DISABILITY 🌻💚

Traveller’s may not be aware that things have changed at a number of Spanish airports.🇪🇸✈️

If you currently use the Hidden Disabilities Sunflower Lanyard in the UK, it’s worth knowing that participating Spanish airports now use Aena’s own FREE Invisible Disability Badge for access to their dedicated assistance security lanes and support services.

💚 The good news? The badge is completely free to apply for and can help make your airport experience much smoother and less stressful.

💚 Benefits can include:

✅ Access to dedicated assistance security lanes (where available)
✅ Additional support throughout the security process
✅ Easier identification for airport staff
✅ Only one badge is needed per family or travelling group

🌴 Available at selected Spanish airports including:

🇪🇸 Alicante
🇪🇸 Barcelona
🇪🇸 Fuerteventura
🇪🇸 Gran Canaria
🇪🇸 Ibiza
🇪🇸 Lanzarote
🇪🇸 Málaga
🇪🇸 Menorca
🇪🇸 Palma de Mallorca
🇪🇸 Reus
🇪🇸 Tenerife South

📝 How to apply:

1️⃣ Complete online application at least 48 hours before travel
2️⃣ Enter your passenger and flight details
3️⃣ Submit your application
4️⃣ Receive your badge by email
5️⃣ Save it to your phone or print it out to present at the airport

📲 Please tag or share this with anyone travelling to Spain who may benefit from knowing about this update. 💙✈️

Love Claire xx

Here’s the link⬇️

https://www.aena.es/en/passengers/travellers/passengers-with-special-needs/invisible-disabilities/invisible-disabilities-badge.html

04/06/2026

If you want to get ahead with your CPD in the next academic year, our PDA for Educators course has everything you need to feel more confident supporting PDA children: https://training.pdasociety.org.uk/product/pda-for-educators/

PDA is a profile of autism which is often misunderstood or overlooked because it doesn't fit mainstream ideas about autism.

On this two-part online training, you'll learn how to recognise PDA and how small adjustments can make the classroom a safer space for PDA children.

This training is aimed at anyone working with children in an education setting, but parents and other professionals are also welcome.

07/05/2026

Your breath first!

When a child is melting down, our instincts can take over — and not always the helpful ones.

We might lecture, rush to fix, or tell them to calm down… but these actually block co-regulation rather than build it.

Let’s talk about what not to do — and what to try instead — so we can truly help a child borrow our calm instead of our chaos.

via The Contented Child, Child Wellbeing Consultancy

11/04/2026

Join us on Tuesday 21st April for our 'EBSNA' Webinar, with Megan Booth. “Emotionally Based School Non-Attendance” from 6.30–8pm via Microsoft Teams,
Book your ticket here 👉 https://buy.stripe.com/8x26oHbnybu9cBJ3if1RC1S

03/04/2026

21/03/2026

“My baby isn’t walking yet… should I worry?”
Is your baby not walking yet or refusing to stand? Many babies with hypermobility walk later than others, or walk on their toes and it doesn’t always mean something is wrong. In this podcast episode, a paediatric physiotherapist explains why delayed walking happens, what toe walking really means, and how you can help your baby at home. Perfect for anxious first-time mums worried about baby milestones.

10/03/2026

Anxiety shows up in many ways for autistic children. Tummy aches, headaches, sleep problems and meltdowns. Sometimes it’s hard to see it as ‘anxiety’ because it looks like disruptive behaviour – and because it provokes such strong feelings in you yourself.

When anxiety looks like behaviour, things can quickly go wrong. Adults respond in a way which make things worse, because they are responding to the behaviour, and missing the emotions which are driving it.

What can you as a parent do to help your autistic child with anxiety? That’s what I cover in this upcoming lunch time webinar. You’ll understand more about what anxiety is, how it manifests in autistic children and what you can do to help. It’s not about quick fixes, but more about how you can adjust your parenting to help your child thrive.

https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/helping-your-autistic-child-with-anxiety-tickets-1982284000808?aff=fb4

05/03/2026

Many children want to use the toilet, but their bodiesmay not feel safe enough yet.

Our new FREE blog looks at potty learning through an interoception-informed lens, focusing on safety, sensory needs, and readiness from the inside out.: https://www.kelly-mahler.com/resources/blog/why-my-child-resists-the-toilet/



Image Description: a toilet with a white top and blue base in a plain blue room.

04/03/2026

Surrey County Council was sanctioned in dozens of Special Educational Needs and Disability appeals, Freedom of Information figures show.

More here: https://bbc.in/4aXOCyc

02/03/2026