This is what I’ve been up to since Covid 19 entered all our lives…

Someone who visited my website recently pointed out that I haven’t written a news update in a looong time.  That doesn’t mean that lots haven’t been going on!

I do not have to tell you that Covid-19 had an intense impact on practically everyone in the world, and that people all had unique and challenging experiences.  For me, the start of the first lockdown in 2020 coincided with the start of my maternity leave, so I was shielded very quickly but looked after so well by family and friends.  Our baby was born soon after, so I spent the rest of 2020 and the start of 2021 with my immediate family dealing with the joys and challenges that comes with having a new baby in the house.  It was not always easy, and certainly very different from when I had my first child, but at least memorable amidst the daze of sleepless nights 🙂

During this time, I kept in touch with how the occupational therapy profession was responding as a whole to the Covid-19 crisis, and I think the value of how we can help people on a physical, emotional and mental health level, has never been more apparent than now.  I am for sure proud to be an occupational therapist during this time.

Our new addition…

I started working part time again in April 2021, seeing children in person with the necessary government guidelines in place for working safely in my independent practice.  My diary has filled up fast and I have had to start a waiting list!  I feel honoured that some families had waited over a year to see me, and that I can help their children with the various challenges they face.

If you have followed my professional journey, you will know that I had been working on taking my course “How to help your gifted child with sensory issues cope in real life” online.  In this course I have taken my unique DME-C approach for helping children with high learning potential/ HLP but who also have a special educational need (Dual or Multiple Exceptionality / DME) and adapted it for parents (and teachers!) I can happily report that despite not hitting my original launch date, the course is now live on my website (click the link here to enrol) and already starting to change lives, with one parent saying:

“The DME-C approach is simply brilliant and what I truly feel I’ve been missing in my quest to help my son. NOWHERE have I found something like the DME-C approach to help and I can’t tell you what it has done for me. This course has pulled together so much of what I have not known and the little bits of what I have known make so much more sense to me. It says, ‘Okay, here’s your child, here’s how they are functioning, here’s why they are functioning like that, and here’s practical everyday tips and advice and a useful and effective strategy to helping them manage their sensory needs. I’ve come away feeling I have hope, and that I know how to help my son. Thank you!”

Getting this course online has been one of the hardest things I’ve done, and had I known how steep the learning curve, and uncomfortable the process would be, I would probably not have done it.  However, with comments like this I can look back now and say it was well worth it!  

I’ve also been keeping busy with writing articles on my journey into developing my DME-C therapy approach for HLP and DME children for the organisations Potential Plus UK, the German Association for Gifted Children (it was a very proud moment when I received my copy of their September 2020 ‘Labyrinth’ magazine), and nasen (soon to be published). 

The cover of Labyrinth, magazine for the German Association for Gifted Children

Did I mention that I started writing a series blog for Potential Plus UK on the things I would like teachers to know?  The plan is to post these articles on my website too, so watch out for the blog post page which will be created soon.

I was super excited to hear that my grant applications for presenting my course “Occupational Therapy for children with HLP and DME” free of charge, have been approved again.  As I’m writing this, I am preparing and updating this course which I’ll present in person at the start of the school term in September 2021.  What a luxury to be able to say this in the current times we are living in!

And lastly… I am considering writing a book for occupational therapists on the DME-C approach for helping children with HLP and DME.  I know that my approach works, and I’m keen to reach more therapists not only to raise the profile of how essential occupational therapy is in helping HLP and DME children, but to equip them to join me in changing the world one child at a time!

Your Occupational Therapist,

Mariza