BIRD Charity

30/04/2024

As we say our final goodbye, it is with heartfelt thanks to everyone who has supported BIRD and made the last 42 years possible.

To everyone who has benefited from BIRD's therapy and support, BIRD's legacy will live on through you and our belief in each of you.

And finally, to you all as members of BIRD's family, cherish the memories and never lose hope.

29/04/2024

As we say our goodbyes, we want to extend our thanks to everyone who has volunteered and supported BIRD's work making the difference to the lives of many.....

“B.I.R.D changed the lives of both my boys and we will be forever in your debt. I cannot tell you the difference you made to the boys and our lives, they have both gone on to be independent, fantastic young men who are both able to cope with everything that life throws at them.”

27/04/2024

As we say our goodbyes, we want to extend our thanks to everyone who has volunteered and supported BIRD's work making the difference to the lives of many.....

“You all believed in my son and gave us so much hope when no one else did. I fondly remember the team initially working with him and they always made it so much fun. You were all incredible and I for one will never forget what you did for us and the continuous support you gave. “

“You know yourself that your legacy is visible in my household with the massive improvement my son made following his BIRD programme.”

26/04/2024

As we say our goodbyes, we want to extend our thanks to everyone who has volunteered and supported BIRD's work making the difference to the lives of many.....

“Your work has made a big difference in my life and gave me the strength to start again a new path in the world at a not so easy age of 42. “

“B.I.R.D changed my son's life around. Following treatment for severe dyspraxia he went on to achieve 10 straight A’s at GCSE, 3 A’s at A level, a first class honours degree, and was in the last 20 of the woodwind section of the BBC Young Musician of the Year when he was 16. Hard to believe isn’t it, when the prognosis at the start of his treatment was so poor. Without your help he would not be where he is today.”

25/04/2024

It is with the heaviest of hearts that the B.I.R.D.’s board of trustees have taken the incredibly difficult decision to close the charity as it is no longer financially viable to provide our life-transforming services.

Over the past two years we’ve struggled to secure sustainable, long-term income streams, while inflationary pressures brought about by the current economic climate have increased costs substantially.

B.I.R.D. has been improving lives through its innovative ‘developmental reflexive rehabilitation’ programme since 1982 when the charity was established. During our history, we have had the privilege of treating thousands of patients and have radically improved the lives of over 90% of them.

Despite the immense sorrow we feel in having to close our doors, we know that the legacy of our work will live on through the life changing impact the therapy has had for thousands of children & adults we have treated.

We would like to share our heartfelt gratitude for your kindness and support with B.I.R.D. and belief in helping to make a difference to the many families we have been able to help.

20/04/2024

Stress Awareness Month has been held every April since 1992 to raise awareness of the causes and cures for our modern-day stress epidemic. It is the time when we have an opportunity for an open conversation on the impact of stress. Dedicated time to removing the guilt, shame, and stigma around mental health. To talk about stress, and its effects and open up about our mental and emotional state with friends, families, colleagues, and professionals.

Children and adults with communication difficulties, particularly those with language difficulties or autism can find it harder to explain their anxiety or how they are feeling. The following strategies might help:

Name how you think they are feeling from their tone of voice and body language. This will help a younger child to match the feelings in their body to the emotion word.
Think about what might trigger the anxiety- is it changes in the environment such as noise/ lights/ smells/being in a crowded area.
Think about what helped them to feel calmer in the past – repeat these strategies.
Give them time out so they can de-stress (e.g. sit in a darker room on their own, given them a weighted blanket, go for a walk or run outside etc)
Be a detective- what happened before they became anxious. Keeping a diary of when it happens and what happened prior to this might give you clues to why it is happening.
Use visual strategies like photos, pictures or symbols to show what is going to happen next to help them predict what is going to happen.
Use simple language and reduce the number of questions you ask as this can help them to understand what you are saying more easily and then respond.
Be nice to those who are stressed and anxious – we are all undoubtedly going to experience stress and anxiety in our lifetime so treat others going through it with compassion and empathy.
Look after yourself – we all need to think more about self–care. Take time out of your day to relax or do something that you enjoy. Don’t forget to exercise and eat well, even when you feel too stressed.
If you are the parent of a child with autism look online for courses such as the Elklan ‘Let’s Talk Together ‘ (www.elklan.co.uk ) or AFASIC’s ‘DLD Together’ (Developmental Language Disorder- DLD Resources - Afasic)

Embrace the upcoming year with Elklan's clothing and accessories, whilst promoting the importance of effective communication in children's lives

16/04/2024

We are running a two -hour workshop on how to help children with unclear speech on
Tuesday 23rd April from 9.30-11.30am at the Parish rooms next to St. Josephs' RC Primary school (Oldham Road, Shaw, Oldham,OL2 8SZ). This will be free but donations to the charity will be very welcome.

The workshop will cover -what a child has to do in order to speak clearly

-how speech sounds develop

- games and strategies to use to help your child

- how to help prepare your child for reading

It is aimed at parents of children aged 3-6 years .

If you would like to come PLEASE CAN YOU EMAIL [email protected] BY 4.30pm on THURSDAY 18th April so that we can then confirm it will go ahead ?

10/04/2024

How to help your dysregulated child……………

Here are some ideas to help your child feel calm and come back to a regulated state:
• See if they allow you to co-regulate, e.g, give them a cuddle, rub their back, breathe together choose to take themselves to their room when they are upset
• especially with little ones, if they push you away, observe to keep them safe at a little distance – offer a pillow if they are banging themselves or other, remind them regularly that we are here if they need us “I’m here if you’d like a hug” “I’m here if you need me”
• an older child (2.5+ years) might choose to go to their calm place, a cosy place that’s been set up in the home that they like to go when they are dysregulated which has some of their favourite things like books, trains, soft toys etc.
• rock or sway their body or hum
• move their body (e.g., jumping jacks, running, cleaning)
• do a breathing exercise (e.g., breathe in, smell the flower, breathe out, blow out the candle; or for an older child, breathe in for three seconds, hold for three seconds, breathe out for six seconds, until calm)
• be able to locate where they feel the emotion in their body – sometimes finding the place is enough for them to help it release, or they can shake it out move, etc.
• an older child may be able to look for 5 things they can see, 4 things they can touch, 3 things they can hear, 2 things they can smell and 1 thing they can taste
• other – they may have other ways that work for them like listening to an audio book etc.

08/04/2024

Helpful books to explain Autism

There are lots of fantastic books out there that help to explain Autism in ways that make sense! Some we recommend are…..


1. The Spectrum Girl’s Survival Guide: How to Grow Up Awesome and Autistic.


2. The Spectrum Girl’s Survival Toolkit. The workbook for Autistic girls.
Both by Siene Castellon


3. The Awesome Autistic Go-To Guide: A practical handbook for Autistic teens and tweens by Yenn Purkis and Tanya Masterman



4. The Ice cream Sundae Guide to Autism by Debby Elley and Tori Houghton