Trauma-informed practice is one of those phrases everyone nods along to – but how many of us truly understand what it means, or what it actually looks like in practice?

Dr. Asha Patel, founder and CEO of Innovating Minds, joins Dale to discuss what we really mean by trauma-informed practice.

"Trauma-informed practice is a way of being. It's not a switch that you can switch on and off."

— Dr. Asha Patel

It starts with the adult being regulated, aware of how they are feeling, and able to offer that calmness to the young person in front of them. You cannot support a dysregulated child if you are dysregulated yourself.

Dale and Asha also explore why the word 'trauma' puts so many people off – and why it shouldn't. Trauma doesn't just mean the most extreme experiences. It is a normal human response to overwhelming situations, and it shows up everywhere, every day. Understanding that changes everything about how you respond to behaviour – because behaviour is always communication, and asking why someone is struggling will always lead somewhere more useful than asking what they have done wrong.

They also discuss why giving someone your undivided attention is one of the most powerful things you can offer, why trauma-informed practice is not about lowering expectations or excusing behaviour, and why the biggest barrier to getting this right is often simply not knowing where to start.

Dr Asha Patel is a qualified Clinical Psychologist and the founder and CEO of Innovating Minds, a multi-award-winning social enterprise dedicated to early intervention in mental health. Drawing on her expertise in forensic mental health, Dr Patel launched Innovating Minds in 2016 to bridge the gap between access to clinical expertise within education, health and social care.

A passionate advocate for mental health equity, Dr Patel empowers frontline professionals to deliver trauma-informed psychological services to enable young people to access education, training and employment opportunities.

• B Squared Website – www.bsquared.co.uk
• Meeting with Dale to find out about B Squared - https://calendly.com/b-squared-team/overview-of-b-squared-sendcast
• Email Dale – dale@bsquared.co.uk
• Subscribe to the SENDcast - https://www.thesendcast.com/subscribe

We have been involved with Special Educational Needs for over 25 years, helping show the small steps of progress pupils with SEND make. B Squared has worked with thousands of schools, we understand the challenges professionals working in SEND face. We wanted a way to support these hardworking professionals - which is why we launched The SENDcast! Click the button below to find out more about how B Squared can help improve assessment for pupils with SEND in your school.

The SEND reforms have generated a lot of discussion – but one significant gap has gone largely unnoticed. Where do specific learning difficulties fit in?

Dale is joined by Louise Selby, a dyslexia specialist, and Janet Goring, an SpLD specialist, for a lively and at times eye-opening conversation about what the shift from four broad areas of need to five areas of development could mean for children with SpLD.

Together, they explore:

• Why cognition and learning has disappeared from the new framework – and why this is a significant oversight.
• Why dyslexia, dyscalculia, and SpLD maths don't fit neatly into what remains.
• Whether a stronger universal offer can really compensate for the absence of a dedicated cognition and learning category.
• The important distinction between a diagnosis that unlocks funding and one that tells a child: this is not your fault.
• Why quiet children who are struggling but not disruptive have always been at risk of being overlooked – and why the new framework may make this worse.

Louise has worked in a number of SEND settings, more recently for 11 years in the advisory service for Specific Learning Difficulties at Hertfordshire Local Authority, before becoming freelance.

Louise's first book, Morph Mastery, a Morphological Intervention for Reading, Spelling and Vocabulary, was published in 2021 by Speechmark (Routledge) in 2021. Her recent two books, "All About Dyslexia, a practical guide for primary/secondary teachers" were published in December 2024 with the same publisher, and her 4th book, Morph Mastery for Small Groups, is in the pipeline.

Louise's passion is in enabling, equipping and empowering staff in schools at grass roots level to meet learners' needs.

Janet Goring worked as a teacher for 25 years, firstly as a primary classroom teacher and Advanced skills teacher for Maths and assessment, before training as a specialist SpLD teacher/assessor and completing a Masters with a focus on supporting number sense through games.

She chaired the SASC (SpLD Assessment Committee) Working Group on Dyscalculia and Maths Difficulties which produced the 2025 guidance on the assessment of Maths Difficulties and Dyscalculia.

Having retired as Manager of a local authority team of specialist Literacy and Numeracy teachers in 2023, she now focuses on training in maths difficulties for mainstream and specialist teachers.

Where are dyslexia and dyscalculia in the 2026 SEND Reforms?

• B Squared Website – www.bsquared.co.uk
• Meeting with Dale to find out about B Squared - https://calendly.com/b-squared-team/overview-of-b-squared-sendcast
• Email Dale – dale@bsquared.co.uk
• Subscribe to the SENDcast - https://www.thesendcast.com/subscribe

We have been involved with Special Educational Needs for over 25 years, helping show the small steps of progress pupils with SEND make. B Squared has worked with thousands of schools, we understand the challenges professionals working in SEND face. We wanted a way to support these hardworking professionals - which is why we launched The SENDcast! Click the button below to find out more about how B Squared can help improve assessment for pupils with SEND in your school.

There are 1.3 million children in this country with developmental language disorder. Most of them are sitting quietly in classrooms going unnoticed.

Today, Dale is joined by Jane Harris, Chief Executive of Speech and Language UK, to discuss DLD, the SEND reforms, and what it really means to ensure no child is left behind. They discuss:

- Why children with DLD are six to ten times more likely to fall behind in core subjects, and twice as likely to be unemployed as adults.

- The deeply problematic link between unidentified speech and language challenges and mental health - and why referring these children to talking therapies without addressing the root cause simply doesn't work.

- Why children with DLD are often invisible in classrooms, quietly masking just as autistic children do - until suddenly they aren't.

- How behaviour policies are failing these children, and why over three-quarters of teachers themselves say children with speech and language challenges are being unfairly punished in schools.

- The government's new oracy framework and what it could mean for identification and support - if it goes far enough.

- Why augmentative and alternative communication technology is life-changing for some children, and why the current commissioning guidance is working against them.

Jane Harris is Chief Executive of Speech and Language UK, an experienced and energetic charity sector leader with 15 years' experience influencing public policy, building new audiences, and increasing income for third sector organisations including the National Autistic Society, Leonard Cheshire Disability and Rethink Mental Illness.

Throughout her career, Jane has focused on raising the profile of issues that impact people's lives - through influencing public policy, building new audiences and increasing income generation. She has helped to measurably change public perceptions of mental health and autism.

She recently launched Voices for DLD, has been central to the SEND reform consultation with the Department for Education and partners, and has helped guide two schools to Ofsted outstanding ratings.

SEND reform and speech and language challenges

Transforming SEND campaign

DLD resources for educators

• B Squared Website – www.bsquared.co.uk
• Meeting with Dale to find out about B Squared - https://calendly.com/b-squared-team/overview-of-b-squared-sendcast
• Email Dale – dale@bsquared.co.uk
• Subscribe to the SENDcast - https://www.thesendcast.com/subscribe

We have been involved with Special Educational Needs for over 25 years, helping show the small steps of progress pupils with SEND make. B Squared has worked with thousands of schools, we understand the challenges professionals working in SEND face. We wanted a way to support these hardworking professionals - which is why we launched The SENDcast! Click the button below to find out more about how B Squared can help improve assessment for pupils with SEND in your school.