The SENDcast

Geoff and Nargis join Dale in the studio for this special episode to discuss the Autism & ADHD Shows (June–July) in London, Birmingham, and, for the first time, Liverpool (moved from Manchester).
They share how the event evolved from the Autism Show, launched in 2011 after their son's autism diagnosis, to its current format that also includes ADHD - driven by the rise in co-occurring diagnoses.
They also describe what attendees can expect: a welcoming, supportive community hub offering over 100 CPD-accredited learning hours, practical strategies, workshops, one-to-one clinics, and the chance to connect with exhibitors and services.
About the Autism and ADHD Shows
It's the national event dedicated to autism and ADHD. Attend to access a huge amount of trusted information and advice to help support an autistic or ADHD person in a home, education or workplace setting. 
The CPD accredited programme has been designed to enable attendees to pick and choose the learning which is most relevant, whether it relates specifically to autism, ADHD or when both conditions co-occur. Interwoven between the many theatres, one to one clinics, and practical workshops, you'll also find an essential selection of specialist products and services. Discover what's on at each location:
The Autism and ADHD Show LONDON
19 – 20 June 
The Autism and ADHD Show BIRMINGHAM
26 – 27 June
The Autism and ADHD Show LIVERPOOL
3 – 4 July
B Squared Website – www.bsquared.co.uk 
Meeting with Dale to find out about B Squared - https://calendly.com/b-squared-team/overview-of-b-squared-sendcast 
Email Dale – [email protected] 
Subscribe to the SENDcast - https://www.thesendcast.com/subscribe
The SENDcast is powered by B Squared
We have been involved with Special Educational Needs for over 25 years, helping show the small steps of progress pupils with SEND make. B Squared has worked with thousands of schools, we understand the challenges professionals working in SEND face. We wanted a way to support these hardworking professionals - which is why we launched The SENDcast! Click the button below to find out more about how B Squared can help improve assessment for pupils with SEND in your school.

Today is Fibrodysplasia Ossificans Progressiva (FOP) Awareness Day, and to mark the occasion we're sharing an episode focused on raising awareness of this rare condition.
In this conversation, Nicky Muller - a former trustee of FOP Friends and mother of Isla, who has FOP - joins Dale to share practical insight into supporting children with rare conditions and to tell Isla's inspiring story.
Nicky explains that FOP causes the body's soft tissues to progressively turn into bone, often after flare-ups triggered by injury or sometimes viruses. She highlights how unpredictable this is, and how it affects daily life - particularly movement, risk management, and schooling.
A key focus is Isla's recent transition to secondary school where they discuss difficulties around inclusion, PE participation, breaks/lunchtime, and the emotional impact. Nicky highlights the importance of school-wide awareness and an inclusive culture. Stressing that genuine inclusion is not just about the support in place, but whether a child feels safe, seen, valued and able to belong.
"The best one-on-ones are the ones where you don't even know they're there. Isla's voice is the voice that's heard - it's so difficult for her to feel not only included but valued."
Nicky Muller
View all podcasts available or visit our SENDcast sessions shop!
 
About Nicky Muller
Nicky is an FOP awareness advocate and mum to Isla who is now 12 and diagnosed with FOP as a baby. A former trustee of the UK charity, FOP Friends and a career in Marketing, she combines lived experience with expertise to drive awareness, fundraising and support for families.
 
Contact Nicky
https://www.fopfriends.com
https://www.facebook.com/fopfriends
https://www.instagram.com/fop_mum/
https://x.com/FOPFriends
[email protected]
https://www.youtube.com/FOPFriends
 
Useful Links
www.fopfriends.com 
 
B Squared Website – www.bsquared.co.uk 
Meeting with Dale to find out about B Squared - https://calendly.com/b-squared-team/overview-of-b-squared-sendcast 
Email Dale – [email protected] 
Subscribe to the SENDcast - https://www.thesendcast.com/subscribe
 
The SENDcast is powered by B Squared
We have been involved with Special Educational Needs for over 25 years, helping show the small steps of progress pupils with SEND make. B Squared has worked with thousands of schools, we understand the challenges professionals working in SEND face. We wanted a way to support these hardworking professionals - which is why we launched The SENDcast! Click the button below to find out more about how B Squared can help improve assessment for pupils with SEND in your school.

Bright Futures' research estimates that around 270,000 young people (age 5–24) miss 20% or more of their education each year due to long-term illness. The consequences for qualifications, employment and wellbeing are severe - for example, 79% of 18-24 year‑olds who are out of work due to ill health only have qualifications at GCSEs or below, compared with 34% of their peers.
These young people don't just lose learning: prolonged absence damages social connections, confidence and everyday school experiences. "Returning to normal" needs careful planning, not a simple reinstatement of lessons.
Josh Pelled, CEO of Bright Futures UK and a two-time cancer survivor, founded the charity based on his lived experience of missing significant portions of his education. Josh joins Dale to discuss 'supporting young people with long-term illness in education', covering the academic, social, and mental-health impacts of prolonged absence, the difficulty of reintegration, and how technology can help maintain learning and connection but cannot replace full inclusion.
"We can try to do things to bridge the gap between illness and education and make sure that a young person feels as supported as possible."
Josh Pelled
Listen to Josh delve into the practical, emotional, and systemic challenges faced by ill students and explore how educators, SENCos, and pastoral teams can be more proactive in helping these students stay connected to learning and community life.
View all podcasts available or visit our SENDcast sessions shop!
 
About Josh Pelled
Joshua Pelled is the Founder and CEO of Bright Futures UK, a pioneering charity dedicated to reintegrating young people into education after serious long-term illness. His journey is deeply personal, having survived cancer twice— first at the age of five and again at sixteen. These experiences revealed the profound educational and social challenges that come with prolonged medical absences, inspiring him to create a support system he wished he had. 
 
Contact Josh
https://www.brightfuturesuk.org
https://www.facebook.com/BrightFuturesUKOfficial/
https://www.instagram.com/brightfuturesuk/
[email protected]
 
Useful Links
ONS Statistics – People with long-term health issues 
Statutory Guidance – Ensuring a good education for children who cannot attend school because of health needs
 
B Squared Website – www.bsquared.co.uk 
Meeting with Dale to find out about B Squared - https://calendly.com/b-squared-team/overview-of-b-squared-sendcast 
Email Dale – [email protected] 
Subscribe to the SENDcast - https://www.thesendcast.com/subscribe
 
The SENDcast is powered by B Squared
We have been involved with Special Educational Needs for over 25 years, helping show the small steps of progress pupils with SEND make. B Squared has worked with thousands of schools, we understand the challenges professionals working in SEND face. We wanted a way to support these hardworking professionals - which is why we launched The SENDcast! Click the button below to find out more about how B Squared can help improve assessment for pupils with SEND in your school.

The needs around SEND in schools are increasing - both in numbers and complexity of needs – and many schools are struggling with the best way to support their learners effectively. They want to do the best for their students, but the DfE provides very limited guidance on supporting learners with SEND.
Jordan Garrett from Sensory Classroom joins Dale to discuss 'assessing complex learners'. Jordan brings a wealth of experience from specialist and mainstream settings, plus years of curriculum and resource development, and offers practical, classroom-tested advice.
Their discussion includes:
Clear explanation of the gaps in current guidance and why schools struggle to turn these into day-to-day practice.
Practical, person-appropriate approaches for curriculum and assessment that meet learners where they are - including translating mainstream topics into meaningful, multi-sensory lessons.
How to use frameworks to track small steps of progress, show meaningful outcomes to parents and plan bespoke learning without creating lots more work.
Ideas for making regulation, communication and sensory needs the foundation of teaching so pupils can access academic learning.
Advice on building collaboration between teachers and TAs, using APDR cycles, and choosing trusted, adaptable resources rather than one-size-fits-all "solutions".
View all podcasts available or visit our SENDcast sessions shop!
 
About Jordan
Jordan is an experienced Specialist Education Teacher in the UK. She shares daily ideas, support and resources to support supporting adults of non-speaking children with SEN. 
 
Contact Jordan
https://sensoryclassroom.org
https://www.facebook.com/share/z4JM3rfbXWsuw2Kb/?mibextid=LQQJ4d
https://www.instagram.com/sensoryclass
https://www.tiktok.com/@sensoryclass
 
Useful Links
Sensory Curriculum
 
B Squared Website – www.bsquared.co.uk 
Meeting with Dale to find out about B Squared - https://calendly.com/b-squared-team/overview-of-b-squared-sendcast 
Email Dale – [email protected] 
Subscribe to the SENDcast - https://www.thesendcast.com/subscribe
 
The SENDcast is powered by B Squared
We have been involved with Special Educational Needs for over 25 years, helping show the small steps of progress pupils with SEND make. B Squared has worked with thousands of schools, we understand the challenges professionals working in SEND face. We wanted a way to support these hardworking professionals - which is why we launched The SENDcast! Click the button below to find out more about how B Squared can help improve assessment for pupils with SEND in your school.

Did you know that common infections, like strep throat, can cause a neuroinflammatory response affecting the brain?
Today we're raising awareness of difficult to diagnose and often misunderstood conditions – Paediatric Acute-onset Neuropsychiatric Syndrome (PANS) and Paediatric Autoimmune Neuropsychiatric Disorders Associated with Streptococcal Infections (PANDAS). Tina Coope, a former teacher and parent whose daughter experienced sudden neuropsychiatric symptoms, explains how PANS and PANDAS present, why they're often missed, and what schools can do to support affected children.
This episode explains:
What PANS and PANDAS are: what they are, typical triggers, and common symptoms.
How they can mimic or overlap with neurodivergence yet require medical recognition and timely intervention.
Classroom-ready guidance: spotting multiple unexplained changes, documenting patterns, making immediate needs-led accommodations during flares, and planning flexible support during recovery.
Resources and training available.
Why early recognition, careful recording, and good communication between school and family can make a huge difference.
"You're looking for multiple unexplained changes. They are uniformly, hugely distressing across the board of those symptoms."
Tina Coope
View all podcasts available or visit our SENDcast sessions shop!
 
About Tina Coope
Tina Coope is a former teacher with a Master's in Education and a rich background across mainstream and special schools. She's led specialist Autism provision and founded a Nurture unit in an infant school. When her daughter suddenly developed severe neuropsychiatric symptoms at age 7, Tina's professional and personal worlds collided. 
Driven by lived experience, Tina became the Education Lead for PANS PANDAS UK in 2021, where she created the UK's first teacher and educational psychology training course on the conditions, and developed extensive resources for educators and allied professionals. She now co-chairs the national Education, Social Care and Health Group, shaping guidance for Local Authorities.  
 
Contact Tina
https://panspandasuk.org
https://www.facebook.com/panspandasuk/
https://www.instagram.com/pans_pandas_uk/
https://x.com/PANSPANDASUK
[email protected]
 
Useful Links
Resources for Education Professionals 
Training
Local Authority Information and Update
 
B Squared Website – www.bsquared.co.uk 
Meeting with Dale to find out about B Squared - https://calendly.com/b-squared-team/overview-of-b-squared-sendcast 
Email Dale – [email protected] 
Subscribe to the SENDcast - https://www.thesendcast.com/subscribe
 
The SENDcast is powered by B Squared
We have been involved with Special Educational Needs for over 25 years, helping show the small steps of progress pupils with SEND make. B Squared has worked with thousands of schools, we understand the challenges professionals working in SEND face. We wanted a way to support these hardworking professionals - which is why we launched The SENDcast! Click the button below to find out more about how B Squared can help improve assessment for pupils with SEND in your school.