Richard Semmens's guest appearances

Richard Semmens

Autism, Neurodiversity and Me

Pooky Ponders – Big Questions with Brilliant People

Anthony McCann

Mark Baker

Amy Dickinson

Jane Crawford

Kathryn Mannix

Mark Edwards

Stuart Guest

Lisa Cherry

Jenny McLaughlan

Angela Charalambous

Adem Cetindemar

Haia Ironside

Helen Cottell

Elizabeth Rose

Andrew Edwards

OwlTail

Today’s question is: Should special interests be encouraged?  I’m in conversation with Richard Semmens.  Richard is an Autistic/ADHD social entrepreneur, supporting autistic children to show their true potential.  He runs "All Aboard Club" which provides inclusive play sessions, 1-to-1 mentoring and workshops for parents to help people understand their neurodiversity. LINKS: Website: https://www.allaboardclub.com  Twitter: https://twitter.com/allaboardclub  If you enjoy listening to this episode, please take a moment to share it with your network and to leave a review for the show on apple podcasts – this increases visibility of the show so that more people can discover and learn from it.  You can connect with Pooky on: Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/pookyh  Twitter: https://twitter.com/pookyh LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/pooky/  Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/pookyh/  Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/pookyh   Support the showIf you’d like to support my work, you can do so by sharing my resources; by joining me on Patreon for £1 a month or by inviting me to speak at your setting or event. 

Today’s question is: Should special interests be encouraged?  I’m in conversation with Richard Semmens.  Richard is an Autistic/ADHD social entrepreneur, supporting autistic children to show their true potential.  He runs "All Aboard Club" which provides inclusive play sessions, 1-to-1 mentoring and workshops for parents to help people understand their neurodiversity. LINKS: Website: <a href="https://www.allaboardclub.com" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">https://www.allaboardclub.com</a> Twitter: <a href="https://twitter.com/allaboardclub" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">https://twitter.com/allaboardclub</a> If you enjoy listening to this episode, please take a moment to share it with your network and to leave a review for the show on apple podcasts – this increases visibility of the show so that more people can discover and learn from it.  You can connect with Pooky on: Youtube: <a href="https://www.youtube.com/pookyh" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">https://www.youtube.com/pookyh</a> Twitter: <a href="https://twitter.com/pookyh" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">https://twitter.com/pookyh</a> LinkedIn: <a href="https://www.linkedin.com/in/pooky/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">https://www.linkedin.com/in/pooky/</a> Instagram: <a href="https://www.instagram.com/pookyh/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">https://www.instagram.com/pookyh/</a> Facebook: <a href="https://www.facebook.com/pookyh" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">https://www.facebook.com/pookyh</a> <a href="https://www.patreon.com/pookyh" rel="payment nofollow" target="_blank">Support the show</a>If you’d like to support my work, you can do so by sharing my resources; by <a href="https://www.patreon.com/pookyh" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">joining me on Patreon for £1</a> a month or by <a href="https://www.pookyknightsmith.com/speaking/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">inviting me to speak</a> at your setting or event.

Autism & ADHD: should special interests be encouraged?  | Richard Semmens

Last Updated on January 30, 2023 by Steph Reed Podcast Episode Notes The third episode of the Autism Spectrum Teacher Podcast is about the importance of embracing special interests with special guest Richard Semmens from All Aboard Club (previously known as  the Engine Shed). “The Engine Shed is a special interest group for children and young people with autism who like trains. They can play, talk and enjoy their interest in a welcoming, safe and relaxing environment – and their parents can talk in a supportive atmosphere. They run open days in Streatham, South London on the 2nd Saturday of every month.” I visited the engine shed during one of their open days a few weeks ago and had a great time playing with different trains, with children and young people and also had conversations with parents who spoke very positively about The Engine Shed and the impact it was having on them.If you know someone with autism, which I’m sure you probably do, you will properly have noticed that they may have very high attention to detail, whether that is with a particular object, a particular interest or even noticing detail during an observation of something in a room.It is frequently recognised that autistic individuals can be highly focused on a topic, toy or object. This is often referred to as a ‘special interest’ (or even an obsession, I personally opt for the terminology of special interest) and these special interests can start from a very young age and may continue through life, or may change regularly to a different focus.I’ve taught children who have had highly focused interests in dinosaurs, ancient Egypt, the map of London, numbers, letters and many others. Individuals may also be very attached to particular objects or toys such as a book or figure or other object. I taught a child who carried a piece of broken coat hanger everywhere with him.For a lot of children and adults, methods of transport including buses and trains is a particularly common special interest. Now there are many reasons why trains may be so appealing to autistic individuals and we discuss this further in the podcast.  In the podcast episode, Richard discusses the impact of The Engine Shed on the community, future plans and the importance of using special interests in engaging children and young people with autism. You can find the All Aboard Club (previously known as The Engine Shed) here:Website: http://www.allaboardclub.com/Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/allaboardclubukTwitter: https://twitter.com/allaboardclub Inclusive Teaching Strategies Guide		window.fd('form', {    formId: '636e7ac8e224ff21ae4bf56e',    containerEl: '#fd-form-636e7ac8e224ff21ae4bf56e'  });Online Training Courses Take a look at our online courses full of videos and resources to empower you with knowledge, strategies and skills to enhance children's learning and development    												Show Me More!							 The post Podcast #3: All aboard! Autism and special interests with Richard Semmens from the All Aboard Club appeared first on Autism Spectrum Teacher.

Last Updated on January 30, 2023 by <a href="https://autismspectrumteacher.com" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Steph Reed</a> <h1>Podcast Episode Notes</h1> The third episode of the Autism Spectrum Teacher Podcast is about the importance of embracing special interests with special guest Richard Semmens from <a href="http://www.allaboardclub.com/" rel="noopener nofollow" target="_blank">All Aboard Club (previously known as  the Engine Shed).</a> “The Engine Shed is a special interest group for children and young people with autism who like trains. They can play, talk and enjoy their interest in a welcoming, safe and relaxing environment – and their parents can talk in a supportive atmosphere. They run open days in Streatham, South London on the 2nd Saturday of every month.” I visited the engine shed during one of their open days a few weeks ago and had a great time playing with different trains, with children and young people and also had conversations with parents who spoke very positively about The Engine Shed and the impact it was having on them.If you know someone with autism, which I’m sure you probably do, you will properly have noticed that they may have very high attention to detail, whether that is with a particular object, a particular interest or even noticing detail during an observation of something in a room.It is frequently recognised that autistic individuals can be highly focused on a topic, toy or object. This is often referred to as a ‘special interest’ (or even an obsession, I personally opt for the terminology of special interest) and these special interests can start from a very young age and may continue through life, or may change regularly to a different focus.I’ve taught children who have had highly focused interests in dinosaurs, ancient Egypt, the map of London, numbers, letters and many others. Individuals may also be very attached to particular objects or toys such as a book or figure or other object. I taught a child who carried a piece of broken coat hanger everywhere with him.For a lot of children and adults, methods of transport including buses and trains is a particularly common special interest. Now there are many reasons why trains may be so appealing to autistic individuals and we discuss this further in the podcast. <h4> </h4>In the podcast episode, Richard discusses the impact of The Engine Shed on the community, future plans and the importance of using special interests in engaging children and young people with autism. You can find the All Aboard Club (previously known as The Engine Shed) here:Website: <a href="http://www.allaboardclub.com/" rel="noopener nofollow" target="_blank">http://www.allaboardclub.com/</a>Facebook: <a href="https://www.facebook.com/allaboardclubuk" rel="noopener nofollow" target="_blank">https://www.facebook.com/allaboardclubuk</a>Twitter: <a href="https://twitter.com/allaboardclub" rel="noopener nofollow" target="_blank">https://twitter.com/allaboardclub</a> <h1>Inclusive Teaching Strategies Guide</h1>		 window.fd('form', { formId: '636e7ac8e224ff21ae4bf56e', containerEl: '#fd-form-636e7ac8e224ff21ae4bf56e' }); <h1>Online Training Courses</h1> <h2>Take a look at our online courses full of videos and resources to empower you with knowledge, strategies and skills to enhance children's learning and development </h2> <a href="https://autismspectrumteacher.com/online-courses/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank"> </a> <a href="https://autismspectrumteacher.com/online-courses/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank"> 						 						Show Me More! 		 					</a> The post <a href="https://autismspectrumteacher.com/ast-3-all-aboard-special-interests-with-richard-semmens-and-the-engine-shed/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Podcast #3: All aboard! Autism and special interests with Richard Semmens from the All Aboard Club</a> appeared first on <a href="https://autismspectrumteacher.com" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Autism Spectrum Teacher</a>.

Podcast #3: All aboard! Autism and special interests with Richard Semmens from the All Aboard Club