The Sensational Kids Show

As an adult with ADHD, Aniesa struggles with Rejection Sensitive Dysphoria (RSD). In this week’s episode, she explains the symptoms and causes of RSD and how identifying it in young children will help them cope later. KEY TAKEAWAYS  In a nutshell, Rejection Sensitive Dysphoria (RSD) is the fear of being rejected. The fear of rejection activates the same parts of the brain as physical pain. ADHD co...

In this episode, Aniesa talks all about the power behind saying no. In modern life, it’s all too easy to say yes to things you either don’t want to do or don’t have time for, creating more stress and anxiety in your life. Listen in to hear how and why you should learn to start saying no. KEY TAKEAWAYS The better you become at saying no, the more your stress and anxiety will be reduced because you...

After conquering her nerves and attending an Ethics Committee question and answer session for funding for her Masters research project, Aniesa reflects on on the lack of resources in education and healthcare which results in a large number of children going without the provision that they need.   KEY TAKEAWAYS Due to lack of resources, basic assessments for care of children are not being carried o...

Aniesa is an empty nester! In this week’s episode, Aniesa reflects on the last few weeks now her youngest is at University. The highs, the lows, and the cheaper food bills. KEY TAKEAWAYS Aniesa’s youngest left for University three weeks ago. The silver lining of having no children at home is the abundance of food available! An empty nest may be quieter, but don't worry; the pets will always be the...

Aniesa chats with Jodie Isitt, founder of The Nurture Programme, offering bespoke training and support for teachers, carers, and parents of children with additional needs. Jodie has three autistic children and was diagnosed autistic during the pandemic lockdown. In today’s episode, she discusses the obstacles of being a parent of a child with PDA (Pathological Demand Avoidance) and how she works t...

Product Design student Sean Fraser continues his discussion with Aniesa on the relationship between ADHD-diagnosed kids and education, focusing on the products used to aid Occupational Therapy sessions. Aniesa explains the process of encouraging kids to build obstacle courses to regulate behaviour and how lockdown affected in-person Occupational Therapy sessions. KEY TAKEAWAYS  It’s essential to s...

Sean Fraser, a final-year Product Design degree student, talks to Aniesa about the resources and techniques available to aid ADHD-diagnosed kids in building a better relationship with education. In part one of this two-part interview, Sean and Aniesa discuss the difference between how girls and boys present their ADHD symptoms, how changes can be made in a classroom setting to accommodate an ADHD...

Large scale events and overwhelming environments can cause sensory overload. Join Aniesa as she explains how to deal with sensory overwhelm, crowds and transitions. Learn how to become child-led and discover how to help anyone struggling with sensory overwhelm. KEY TAKEAWAYS  It’s important to remember that if you as an adult are experiencing sensory overload, it is likely, even more, overwhelming...

How do you apply lotions and creams to your child? Join Aniesa as she explains our children's tactile defensiveness, how to go help your children become comfortable with light touch and stickiness and how to help them regulate their nervous system.   KEY TAKEAWAYS One of the questions I got asked when it came to their kids, being tactile defensive was how you go about putting on creams and lotions...

It is almost back to school time. Aniesa dives into the chaotic time of back to school in today’s episode of The Sensational Kids Show. Listen in to discover how to prepare your child for school and create a successful routine.    KEY TAKEAWAYS  It’s important for your health and your kid's health to make sure your kids are getting a lot of exercise. In the run-up to school, it’s vital that your k...

Results aren’t a prediction of how well you will do in life. Join Aniesa as she dives into exams, results and teaching your kids. Discover why results aren’t everything and why being happy, independent and confident is far more important.   KEY TAKEAWAYS  Don't write kids off, give them a chance to play, explore and come into themselves. There’s always a way to teach kids, results on paper aren’t...

There are four areas where both children and adults can have sensory integration problems. In this episode, Aniesa explains each one and how it can impact our daily lives and the development of our children. KEY TAKEAWAYS  There are four areas that can be defined as sensory integration problems, sensory modulation, sensory discrimination and perception, vestibular and bilateral functions and final...

Aniesa explores the sense of smell among children and their parents in a new episode of The Sensational Kids Show. Discover how smell is closely linked to our memory, taste and emotions, learn how smells can trigger powerful experiences from your memory bank and why smell can be an indicator of child development.   KEY TAKEAWAYS   Your sense of smell is closely linked with your memory and certain...

There are some things that are absolutely vital to teach our children. In this episode of The Sensational Kids Show, Aniesa explores what activities, thoughts and feelings are important to our kids' development, which activities will help them grow and why it’s important to respect their own decision-making.    KEY TAKEAWAYS  Insist that your kids advocate for themselves. Respect their decision an...

How can we help our kids deal with disappointment? In this episode, Aniesa explains why we shouldn’t dismiss our children’s big emotions, why we need to teach them to deal with feelings to become self-regulated adults and how encouraging your children to open up can help them create their own inner voice.    KEY TAKEAWAYS  It's important to remember that we need to allow our kids to feel disappoin...

Learn why core strength is so important to growth and developing fine motor skills. Join Aniesa as she shares the daily activities you can do with your child to build a strong foundation of core strength, why it’s essential to improving a child's stamina and endurance and how a lack of core strength can result in a de-motivated and tired child.   KEY TAKEAWAYS   Having a good core strength made up...

Welcome back to The Sensational Kids Show, in this episode Aniesa reflects on her experience at the international sensory integration conference.. Discover why inclusion is so important to children's development, how we can use technological advances in education to improve learning and why including others makes everyone's life simpler.   KEY TAKEAWAYS  We've seen a lot of advances in medicine an...

Welcome back to The Sensational Kids Show as Aniesa reflects on how little she knew about everything when she became a parent. Tune in to hear why it’s okay to struggle, how to overcome self-doubt and limiting beliefs and why as parents we just need to do what we can with what we have.   KEY TAKEAWAYS  When your child is struggling and there’s so much you need to do, so many things their teacher i...

Join Aniesa as she discusses auditory sensitivity and auditory defensiveness. Discover how sounds can affect children and adults, how sensory systems are designed to protect us and the fight, flight or freeze mechanism.   KEY TAKEAWAYS   Auditory sensitivity affects children and adults who struggle with being sensitive to certain sounds, loud or unexpected noises and sounds that are at specific pi...

Aniesa is joined my music therapist Claire Wood in today’s episode of The Sensational Kids Show. They discuss how music can help with multiple learning difficulties, why psychodynamic and neurologic therapy is helping people of all ages and why child-led sessions can empower children.     KEY TAKEAWAYS  Music and psychodynamic therapy has always been used to support adults, young people and childr...

Aniesa draws on a recent experience with her son. She had a very tough day and her son came home to find her very upset and in a state of overwhelm. It made her re-recognise the importance of children seeing their parents, caregivers and other adults experience real emotions and in this episode she explores why this is.     KEY TAKEAWAYS    When your child is sad, don’t tell them to not be sad. It...

In today's episode of The Sensational Kids Show, Aniesa is joined by Wellbeing Specialist and Mental Health Expert Giselle Monbiot. They discuss anxiety in kids and teenagers, the movement towards expressing emotions and how forming attachments between parent and child is crucial to treating mental health issues.   KEY TAKEAWAYS  There's an awful lot of anxiety in kids and teenagers in s...

In this episode of The Sensational Kids Show, Aniesa discusses our eighth sense, interoception. Learn how to tune into interoception to better understand your body, your emotions and what you need to do to stay healthy and in a positive mindset.    KEY TAKEAWAYS  It can be hard for some kids to just adapt to that change and often they can't quite explain how or what they're feeling....

Join Aniesa as she discusses ADHD and how it presents itself differently in girls, and women and how it is so often undiagnosed or missed. Understand the signs and symptoms to be able to spot ADHD, how to overcome the gender bias and the different coping strategies to help a child with ADHD focus.   KEY TAKEAWAYS   Why do boys often get diagnosed with ADHD and girls don't? At school, boy...

In today's episode of The Sensational Kids Show, Aniesa gives you some ideas of things you can ask your kids after school. How to engage with them and ask questions that lead to more meaningful conversations that give your child the opportunity to express their feelings and emotions.    KEY TAKEAWAYS  As adults, we can be pretty annoying and it needs to be acceptable for children to...