Building Your Team — Collaborating With Schools And Allied Health Professionals
Welcome to July — and to Term 3. Supports need to be in place, conversations need to be had, and if there are changes coming in the second half, now is the time to start planning.
This month we are talking about your team. Raising a neurodiverse learner well is not a solo endeavour. It requires a network — teachers, allied health professionals, school support staff, coaches, and most importantly, you.
Bring a one-page summary to every professional meeting
When approaching schools and allied health professionals, bring a one-page summary of your young person’s strengths, challenges, and what works — it saves time, sets the tone, and ensures everyone starts from the same foundation.
This document does not need to be formal or lengthy. It simply needs to answer three questions: who is my student, what do they find difficult, and what helps them most. Written from a strengths-based perspective, it shifts the conversation from deficit to partnership.
Update it each year and share it at the start of every new relationship — with a new teacher, a new therapist, a new support worker. You will be amazed at how much time it saves and how much goodwill it generates.
I — Integrate Support: Building A Connected Team
The I in T.H.R.I.V.E. stands for Integrate Support — and it is about ensuring that the people in your young person’s life are not working in isolation. Integration means creating a shared understanding and a consistent approach across every environment.
Ask yourself:
- Do my student’s teacher and allied health professionals know what each other is working on?
- Is there a shared goal or priority that everyone on the team is aligned around?
- What information am I holding that I have not yet shared with the full team?
“I feel like I am the only one holding all the information about my learner. It is exhausting.”
You are not imagining it — and this is one of the most common experiences parents describe. In the absence of integrated systems, the parent becomes the central communication hub. It is an enormous invisible load.
The solution is not to do more — it is to create better information sharing. Ask your young person’s key professionals to create a brief update at the start of each term. Even one conversation of shared information can reduce your load significantly.
Have a win to share? Email admin@targetingtomorrow.com.au — your story may help another family in the future.
POST-SCHOOL OPTIONS
If you have a young person aged 14 to 18 years and want to explore post-school options while all the career and work expos are scheduled for next month, it is not too early to have an idea of what directions the next couple of years may go in.
Make yourself familiar with career and work possibilities for your learner at careersevent.com
Targeting Tomorrow is proud to bring you our monthly blog ‘Insights’ and newsletter ‘The Thrive’ each month. Be sure to check them and our other resources out on targetingtomorrow.com.au