Together, not alone: why every child needs a circle of support

Nobody can guide a neurodivergent child through school life alone, neither parents nor educators. What holds is a network of adults who know about each other and talk to each other.

In many schools it goes like this: the parents say little because they are afraid their child could be labelled. The teacher says little because she doesn't want to add to the parents' burden. And the occupational therapist, who has known the child for a year, has never spoken to the school. Everyone sees one part, nobody sees the whole picture. And yet the solution often lies precisely in the gaps in between.

An example from practice

A child regularly became restless, irritable and overwhelmed in the mornings. The school looked for the cause in the lessons, the parents in the class. Only when everyone sat down at one table did it become clear: the child hardly ate anything before school. A small breakfast, a reliable snack at the first break, and the mornings changed noticeably. Not a big intervention, just a piece of information that nobody had brought together before.

You are allowed to get help

Many educators ask themselves: am I even allowed to turn to others with a problem like this? Yes. You don't have to know everything yourself or solve everything yourself. There are people whose job it is to help with exactly this:

• At school: colleagues, school assistants, after-school educators, counselling teachers, the head teacher.
• In the school system: the school psychology service and the departments for inclusion, diversity and special needs education at the regional education authority.
• Outside school: occupational therapists, psychotherapists, speech therapists, child and adolescent psychiatrists who are already supporting the child.