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During the UK lockdowns, many people have felt isolated, frustrated and have found it difficult to express how they are feeling to the people around them. Bottling up emotions can have a negative impact on your wellbeing, but if you want to vent without voicing your private thoughts – what should you do? Emma West, an online counselor who has Kniest Syndrome, illustrates how journaling has supported her mental health during the Coronavirus pandemic. Emma describes journaling as a ‘form of therapy’ that has helped her through a number of difficult stages in her life.

Almost two thirds (59%) of parents with a child with special educational needs or disabilities (SEND) say they have been disengaged from remote learning compared to 39% of parents whose child has no additional needs, according to a new report from Ofsted. The report also found that fewer than half (46%) of teachers say that their school has put in place additional remote learning arrangements for children with SEND.

Families who directly employ a personal assistant (PA) to care for their clinically vulnerable child are urged to contact their local authority to arrange for their PA to be vaccinated against Covid-19. Personal assistants are frontline health and social care workers. They are included in phase one of the Covid-19 vaccine rollout and are cohort number two on the priority list.

Express is a co-designed, innovative and user-friendly app that helps children as young as two and those with additional needs express their views, wishes and feelings in a fun digital way that’s easy for workers to understand and evidence. This app is the perfect way to gather children’s views for their education, health and care plans. Request an info pack from Mind of your own.

The inappropriate use of ‘Do Not Resuscitate’ (DNR) notices for people with a learning disability during the first wave of the pandemic highlights the need for greater protections to be put in place to prevent unacceptable practices from being repeated. Alison Bloomer assesses the current situation after the first pandemic wave’s inappropriate use of DNR notices for people with learning disabilities.