Editor’s Note – February 2023

Welcome to the month of LOVE!

I don’t even know where to start. January is always one of the longest months in the year, it is the month of cold weather, dark mornings and it creates lots of ‘’January blues’’ which are the opposite of the beautiful perfume called Bleu the Chanel, one of my favourites. I feel like February is always more welcoming than the other months. It’s the first day of Spring which means new beginnings, a new intentions, a new everything. Bye, bye January! Welcome February!

There are many symbols of love. Caring is one of them, supporting and encouraging are also forms of love. Being an SNA, brings lots of joy and fulfilment which is a form of love. Love to what we do, love to our profession and sympathy to others, who are in our care. As we all know our job, as I mentioned before, brings lots of joy but also lots of different challenges. To help us overcome these challenges I have invited a lot of experts to give us some sort of help, strategies and different approaches to our profession. I’m not a big fan of the word ‘’assistant’’ as we must have a huge knowledge in so many areas of special education that this word is not able to cover it! We are a ‘’special force’’, we are the ‘’superpower’’ behind our students, we represent them, we fight with the barriers in education to give them the same opportunity for growth and success, which is nothing less than giving them self-love!

To fill in all the gaps in between the system and an individual, it is important to seek the knowledge from other professionals and advisors. Therefore, the experts I invited will show us new better ways of supporting our students so we can see the bigger picture! And so, Lynsey McCabe is telling us why we should or why we shouldn’t ask children to say sorry. Lorna Mc Cormack is showing us the benefits of using Irish Sign Language within the educational settings. You will learn a lot from Amy Collins about neuro affirmative language while supporting autistic students. A special guest from the UK, Giuliana Wheater wrote about inclusion and our mindset. Liath Sheehan is sharing an interesting approach, one of my favourites, the INTROCEPTION approach to emotions. Paula Quinn is sharing with us her Not-So-Secret Diary of an SNAs. To keep a gender balance, I invited two men! Michael Cullen is taking us in the poetry world, to keep a balance between work and personal life. He wrote a beautiful poem about HOME which I personally identify as a form of love. Last but not the least is Robbie O’Connell, who wrote in AMYGDALA previously and now he is taking us into the world of technology, to show us how we can support students with additional needs. As he said it is a ‘’21st century skill’’ and it’s good to know how to use it in a practical way.

To finish this issue with a nice touch, I will take you with me on a trip to London to learn more about manifesting. What is it and how can we use it? This is what I am writing about, because at the end of the day our mental health and our wellbeing is one of the most important parts in our life. Let the story of manifesting begin …

I hope you’ll find something here that interests you.

Finally, I want to thank all our readers for your continued support. I couldn’t do what I do without you.

Happy Reading!

Yours,

MAGDALENA LANDZIAK

EDITOR

February Contents:

The Not-So-Secret Diary by Paula Quinn.

Assistive Technology within education. By Robbie O’Connell, School Principal – Manager and founder of Kerry Apple RTC.

SNA Poetry Zone. A few words about poetry and ”Home”. Michael Cullen interviewed by Magdalena Landziak.

Using ”faces” to teach emotions or using ”the Interoception Approach”? By Liath Sheehan an Occupational Therapist and owner of Rise Therapy Clinic.

Inclusion : A Privilege or a Mindset? By Giuliana Wheater BA Hons MCMA.

Language Matters: Using Neuroaffirmative language with Autistic students. By Amy Collins, Speech and Language Therapist.

Irish Sign Language in a School Setting. By Lorna McCormack, Director – Simply Signing.

Why do we ask children to say sorry? By Lynsey McCabe, Bright Sparks Early Intervention.

What do we know about manifesting? #ManifestWithRoxie By Magdalena Landziak.

SNA First Aid Zone What is the emergency medicines legislation for non-medical persons?

SNA Book Zone by Magdalena Landziak.

SNA Fashion Zone for WOMEN by Magdalena Landziak.

SNA Fashion Zone for MEN by Magdalena Landziak.

SNA Travel Zone Killarney, Co. Kerry by Magdalena Landziak.