(Insights Psychology) When someone changes your life…..

*Warning: emotion demonstration below * 🙂

In 2015,I attended a training course in Doha, Qatar entitled “SEN in a Mainstream Classroom”. I went there to meet like minded people and to learn from others. Leading this course was Gráinne Parish (nee Boyle) and the wonderful authoress, Kathy Hoopman. I didn’t know, as I boarded the plane, that I would meet people so inspirational and so likeminded. Inspirational people, to me, are those that I can learn from. People who challenge my thinking and my preconceptions and, as it turns out, carve parts of me into the person I am today.

Since 2015, our paths have frequently crossed. It was Gráinne who introduced me to Infinite Learning, and who encouraged me to embark on sharing my knowledge with others. I stood alongside Gráinne as we delivered across the Middle East. The first steps into what I have become today.

This week is INSET week and I have been fully booked each day, some days have seen three schools. But I started the week with Gráinne. Now the proud Founder and Owner of Insights Psychology. I was humbled and honoured to collaborate with more than 23 of her team, in sharing knowledge and skills about education in the UAE. As the team work so closely with students, parents and school staff, it was recognised that for her team to have knowledge of school systems and the internal / external expectations for SENCos/Heads of Inclusion would empowers them to continue advocating for our students effectively. Covering the rules, regulations and good practice of inclusive schools goes a long way to ensuring that parents are able to navigate a complex system effectively.

As we ended the session, I could only sit and reflect on the journey that Gráinne has made. The lives she has changed. The way that she upskills and empowers everyone she meets. The quality of her team, the consistency of their practice and the unwavering support for everyone that passes through is, in the true sense of the word, awesome.

Many members of her team have worked with me professionally, in the schools I have worked. Collaborated with me in my business; and have worked with myself, my children, and my friends in our personal identification journey. Helping me to understand both my ADHD-I and AS conditions, my strengths and my differences, has empowered me.

Thank you for inviting me to be part of your INSET week, thank you for being part of my school journey, my identification journey, and now my business journey.

I can only hope that everyone has a ‘Gráinne’ in their life.

2015: How it all began