Aycliffe based Tree Tops Children’s Occupational Therapy Contribute to 2019 Parliamentary Review
Tree Tops mission is to educate families, schools and health practitioners to understand the difficulties of children suffering from Sensory Processing Disorder (SPD).
The team at Tree Tops, led by Dawn Dunn, Paediatric Clinical Specialist, were delighted to be invited to contribute to the 2019 edition of the Parliamentary Review. The aim of the Parliamentary Review is to share best practice and knowledge by commissioning articles from contributors who have specialist knowledge of their sector.
Tree Tops contribution to the review focused on the understanding of sensory processing difficulties, and in particular the challenges faced by children affected by the disorder. These can lead to academic underperformance, anxiety and difficult behaviour, often resulting in exclusion, which can ultimately affect the child’s social and emotional wellbeing.
Dawn Dunn from Tree Tops said:
‘We were delighted to be invited by Lord Pickles and Lord Blunkett attend the Gala event held in the Houses of Parliament, and to be able to engage with many other small businesses from all sectors and share our experiences.
Our message was to stress how effective the specialist, tailored interventions from Tree Tops can be within the school environment, improving access to learning, and providing school staff with the tools required to target children’s many complex needs.’
Guest speakers at the dinner included journalist Andrew Neil and Olympic gold medal winner Denise Lewis who delivered an inspiring speech on role models, finding opportunities and achievement. She expressed a real interest in the work of Tree Tops and noted how little support there is to help children with SPD to integrate into sports.
Our role at Tree Tops is to educate others to understand the children’s difficulties and needs, whilst providing the tools and techniques to help the child to succeed. As Denise stressed, positive experiences with support ultimately lead to enhanced self-esteem and confidence, which is fundamentally important for all children.
Tree Tops work closely with local schools in the area, developing tailored programmes to support children with their motor skills and sensory processing challenges.
You can find out more about the work of Tree Tops by reading the article written by Dawn Dunn, Paediatric Clinical Specialist by following the link below to the Parliamentary Review, with the foreword written by The Right Honourable Michael Gove.
https://www.theparliamentaryreview.co.uk/organisations/tree-tops-childrens-occupational-therapy