What an absolutely gorgeous and phenomenal surprise to wake up this morning to the incredible and overwhelming news that I had been nominated for a Positive Role Model award at the extremely prestigious National Diversity Awards !! I don’t think I’ll ever sleep again I’m so excited !! Wow Wow Wow ….I never dreamed that anything like this could ever happen to someone like me !
Some truly inspiring and motivational people have been nominated for various awards. It’s a very humbling and amazing read. Even if I do not win, I am just so honoured to have had my name alongside theirs. Every nominee is a winner to me . What remarkable journeys and people ! I want to vote for them all !
I cannot believe that my work, message and journey have been given such value and such recognition.
I am utterly blown away and just so full of gratitude.
For so many years 18 or 19 hour days have become the norm , so much of it unpaid, as I continually campaign and fight for all the hundreds and thousands of young people just like my own autistic son. His journey birthed this work and my destiny as I grew to realise that so,so many children were suffering and being surrounded by a total poverty of expectation, just as he was. I would go to the ends of the Earth ( and have done at times!) for them and I will do this work until the end of my life . These incredible voices need to be heard. These neurodiverse children have so much to teach us and so much to contribute to our changing world.
If you think that what I do is of value and you would like to vote for me, I would be endlessly thankful ! Let’s hear it for the kids !!! And if I win then I will have a bigger platform fro which to get these hugely valid and important voices heard. Neurodiverse children become neurodiverse adults .. and they have SO MUCH potential !
So please vote for me and spread the word.
Thank you !!
Please click on the link below to vote in this year’s National Diversity Awards 2021
On May 6th 2021 it will be absolutely wonderful to join Anna Kennedy OBE and Kacey Ainsworth, actress and patron of Anna Kennedy Online charity, for an interview with Aston Avery, a fellow Charity Ambassador, at Gateway Radio 97.8 FM at 12 midday.
We will be discussing and raising awareness about the exciting re-vamp and Re-Launch of Take 5, the Charity’s Mental Health and Wellbeing Campaign which Anna asked me to undertake when she invited me to become the Wellbeing Ambassador. I have embraced this with immense passion and enthusiasm !
It was just so lovely when Anna Kennedy OBE sent me a copy of this article featuring her announcement of me as the Wellbeing Ambassador for her fabulous charity AnnaKennedyOnline.
I’m truly just SO proud, excited, humbled & wanting to do and learn more and more !! It’s gorgeous to be part of the AKO Family.
Please click on the link below to see the article .
Really delighted to be invited back again onto the Bryan Leaker radio show at www.westsomersetradio.co.uk where I talk about all my extensive freely shared therapy work throughout Covid and the launch of my new free online magazine Rainbow Kids Touch Therapy and Relaxation on 21st March 2021 !!!
The first airing of the interview will be on Tuesday 16 February and the second airing will be just after 3.30pm on Monday 22 February. Bryan deserves a medal for all the headaches I give him during interviews !! Another MBE for him perhaps ??! ……
I could actually spontaneously combust with the news that a dream come true for me is about to happen ! With the invaluable help and technical knowledge of my co-editor in chief ( !!! ) Millie Cooper, Rainbow Kids Touch Therapy Online Magazine is going to be launched Spring 2021!!!! I have a special birthday during this time and to mark this milestone, this is my gift, in some small way ,to the global community we have all become during these scary and challenging times.
It will be a banging first issue too !! We will be leaping into Spring with an interview with Anna Kennedy OBE , articles by Mary Atkinson, founder of StoryMassage, Jyoti Jo Manuel, founder of Special Yoga, the story of Kratu the famous therapy dog and how he met his “muvver”, the inspirational and extraordinary Tess, along with articles about Kratu’s work with autism and mental health.
There are real life motivational stories and journeys too of young people who were totally written off and yet have gone on to bust all the myths and achieve the most tremendous things.
In this issue we hear about a young man named Michael who is profoundly deaf , his heartbreaking but triumphant story, and who has gone on to read a degree, live abroad and will begin work later this year for a top investment bank !!
Sadly even at university level his parents were fighting a system that falls far short of being educated or inclusive of those with neurodiversities.
But triumph has overcome everything …I love it !!
We need real and achievable hope, advice and light in the face of the constant stream of negativity from the Press and all over social media.
Not that we are glossing over anything by any means.
Mental health especially amongst our young people has hit global crisis levels and the suicide rate continues to soar. So in this magazine there is lots of advice, neuroscientifically backed and proven therapies, techniques and tools whether you are self isolating alone or within a bubble, whether you are disabled, differently-abled, neurodiverse or neurotypical, in a wheelchair or a hospital.
IT IS INCLUSIVE OF EVERYONE regardless of budget or situation.
It is for individuals of all ages , families , therapists , teachers and other professionals .
It is for the unemployed, those on furlough and those still working, especially if they are in the “front line’ as key workers.
There is something for everyone and every need.
There are even ready to go yoga stories, story massage stories, positive growth mindset games and exploring feelings games which are very bonding and often very funny.
The touch therapies I myself have included can be self administered or shared in your “bubbles” …. Touch boosts immunity !! We need it more than ever.
We ARE in this together and I hope with all my heart that there will be something for everyone within these pages of a very special , unique and much needed magazine . It will come out quarterly for just £2.99 so it is affordable to everyone but covers my magazine platform costs.
MASSIVELY EXCITINGLY I was invited by presenter Andra Iuliana Stanoiu to be interviewed for her entire show to celebrate International Day Of People With Disabilities on 3 December 2020!
Her international listeners are in the millions and millions so I wanted to value this absolutely unbelievable opportunity to shout from the rooftops about the need to get our special children seen, heard, valued and included… to give as much of a voice as I possibly, possibly could to this hugely important and significant part of our rich global community.
At the end of the show I was almost in tears when Andra asked me back for a SECOND interview for her next episode…thus making December on The Healthy Debate Show all about “Special Needs”. Andra was probably close to tears too… with a gigantic migraine! I did talk… and then some !I am just so dedicated and determined both personally and professionally to try to give a voice to all those millions across the world who don’t have one.
Thank you, thank you Andra for inviting me to such a truly awesome show!
I will be appearing on it again a few months into 2021 too! Details to follow nearer the time…
The link to the first show is enclosed below and will air from Tuesday 8 December 2-3pm British time and daily for a whole fortnight INTERNATIONALLY! Wow!
Please use the player below to listen to the broadcast.
For more information, please visit the UK Health Radio’s website here.
The next show will be aired in two weeks time and again I will add the link .
I am full of gratitude to be able to freely share any advice, I possibly can, along with any knowledge, experience, science backed therapies as well as with my personal journey of raising a child with autism. We are all in this together .
Every child counts.
Every life matters.
Every individual deserves to be valued and nurtured to their fullest potential.
On Wednesday 11 November 2020 I was absolutely delighted and very excited to be interviewed by William.R Drinkwater,M.Ed,CADC-II,LADC-I,LLC and Andrew Bernstein for Episode 53 of their very popular Podcast/Youtube show The MAP.
We chatted at length about mental health, special/additional needs, inclusion, educating, advocating, de-stigmatising and addiction as well as lots of neuroscientific backed therapies and practices to support and help.
I also discussed my own journey of raising a child with autism against a continually fearful background of abuse, desertion, neglect and cruelty, learning as I went …to ending up with not just four but literally millions of children and young adults whom I care about desperately and passionately.
What a blessing my life has been and continues to be in spite of those hard times which ended up being my biggest learnings and launch pads into who I have become . Into who WE as a family have become.
YOU define YOU – no-one else!
It was such a buzz to share the neuroscience that proves it …. How exciting and empowering is that knowledge ?!!
Following on from the interview I was absolutely delighted to receive an email from Willy saying that they loved having me on and want to talk about maybe having a regular show with me about my area of Special Needs with callers !!!! Yaaaaayyyy !!!! How wonderful!
With the global crisis in mental health issues and illnesses since Covid-19 and lockdown, along with the alarming spike in suicide ( an increase of a massive 39% from March – Oct 2020) , we need to really work at de-stigmatising mental health challenges, educating everyone about mental health and above all supporting each other.
My two older boys recently and shockingly lost their oldest and dearest childhood friend William to suicide … a seemingly warm,happy, popular,intelligent young man. Sadly he is one of so many who have recently seen this as their only way out. It has really torn my heart.
In beautiful memory and celebration of William Nicholas Bargate 21/10/1996 -1/10/2020
It felt the worst and most unnatural experience to have stood with my dear, close friend and her family at her baby boy’s graveside and feel so utterly helpless witnessing her harrowing loss and my own boys’ grief as well as trying to contain my own.
I have now vowed in Will’s name to do more and be more than ever before in my fight not just for those with different abilities but also for mental health . So it will be an utter joy to me to be part of The MAP and share all I possible can to help . We are a global community .
On a lighter note I am delighted with the new moniker that Willy Drinkwater suggested for me in an email after the show that actually made me spit out my tea with laughter ….”The British Spitfire of Special Needs” !!!!
That has to be the most gorgeously hilarious and BEST compliment I have EVER received !!
At five feet three and a half it’s a big one to fulfill … but I’m on a mission like never before and I hope to one day build a fleet of them!!
Thanks a billion for having me on guys and I can’t wait to work with you again!
I’m so delighted to have been invited by Tommy Dahlborg to be interviewed for the organisation he founded called Strength Thru Vulnerability. The podcasts he produces are all about sharing the difficult things in our lives ,being vulnerable about those challenges and allowing others to know that they are not alone.
The podcast will take place on Monday 28 September at 6pm BST/1pm EST
Tommy has openly shared his experiences of acute anxiety and OCD .I will be sharing about my own experiences through some incredibly challenging times along with experiences of my son Ollie who has autism , suffered the most terrible bullying at school and college and who also developed acute anxiety and OCD when his dreams and life became so broken . I shall also share stories of other children I have had the immense joy and privilege to work with and talk about some absolutely wonderful, scientifically researched and proven therapeutic tips and techniques to manage ,control and reduce OCD and anxiety.
The link to the interview can be found above . In the meantime if you would like to listen to Tommy’s other incredible,honest and impactful podcasts you can find these on Tommy’s Facebook Page Strength Thru Vulnerability, Strength Thru Vulnerability/Podcast on Spotify, Strength Thru Vulnerability – Mental Health News Radio Network www.mentalhealthnewsradionetwork.com , Strength Thru Vulnerability on Apple Podcasts podcasts.apple.com
It was a joy to share an interview with Autism Talk (@AutismTalkAspie) and their 29.5k followers today!! They are a huge voice on autism and how life can be improved for the autism community, especially education! I was interviewed about the proven and researched neuro scientific benefits of my therapies and how I use them to help autistic people, their families, carers and schools.
I have been invited back next month for another interview – so please watch this space! The full interview is posted on Twitter and can be read here!
What an absolutely gorgeous and phenomenal surprise to wake up this morning to the incredible and overwhelming news that I had been nominated for a Positive Role Model award at the extremely prestigious National Diversity Awards !! I don’t think I’ll ever sleep again I’m so excited !! Wow Wow Wow ….I never dreamed that anything like this could ever happen to someone like me !
On May 6th 2021 it will be absolutely wonderful to join Anna Kennedy OBE and Kacey Ainsworth, actress and patron of Anna Kennedy Online charity, for an interview with Aston Avery, a fellow Charity Ambassador, at Gateway Radio 97.8 FM at 12 midday.
Really delighted to be invited back again onto the Bryan Leaker radio show at www.westsomersetradio.co.uk where I talk about all my extensive freely shared therapy work throughout Covid and the launch of my new free online magazine Rainbow Kids Touch Therapy and Relaxation on 21st March 2021 !!!
I could actually spontaneously combust with the news that a dream come true for me is about to happen ! With the invaluable help and technical knowledge of my co-editor in chief ( !!! ) Millie Cooper, Rainbow Kids Touch Therapy Online Magazine is going to be launched Spring 2021!!!! I have a special birthday during this time and to mark this milestone, this is my gift, in some small way ,to the global community we have all become during these scary and challenging times.
MASSIVELY EXCITINGLY I was invited by presenter Andra Iuliana Stanoiu to be interviewed for her entire show to celebrate International Day Of People With Disabilities on 3 December 2020!
I’m so delighted to have been invited by Tommy Dahlborg to be interviewed for the organisation he founded called Strength Thru Vulnerability. The podcasts he produces are all about sharing the difficult things in our lives ,being vulnerable about those challenges and allowing others to know that they are not alone.
The link to the interview can be found above . In the meantime if you would like to listen to Tommy’s other incredible,honest and impactful podcasts you can find these on Tommy’s Facebook Page Strength Thru Vulnerability, Strength Thru Vulnerability/Podcast on Spotify, Strength Thru Vulnerability – Mental Health News Radio Network www.mentalhealthnewsradionetwork.com , Strength Thru Vulnerability on Apple Podcasts podcasts.apple.com
It was a joy to share an interview with Autism Talk (
