Oh gee, where to start, I will start with me.
As I have got older, sometimes wiser, more reflective and learning more and more about Neurodiverse learners, the more I see the child in me, my childhood and my educational life.
I was not a scholar, didn’t fit in anywhere, and got up into a cabbage class, but knew I wasn’t stupid, this just frustrated the hell out of me. As you can imagine, I then became a behaviour problem, for my teachers, peers and parents. So let’s say my schooling life finished as soon as I legally could make it, 15 years old. The only place I truly felt like me and could be me, was on my horse, with my dog roaming the farms, true freedom!
Jump forward 20-30 years and lots of really poor choices, dissatisfaction in employment, relationships, constantly moving. I moved to a remote area, by a beach (2nd best place to be) living on the benefit, partying way too much and had a 3-year-old son. Something inside was screaming stop this, this is not your life, you are better than this! So the universe answered my call, I got a job, working at the local school, with a special needs girl, who was totally reliant on support, I mean everything, eating, drinking, toileting everything. I loved every day with her, and her curriculum was mine to do what/how I wanted (the teacher, now I reflect on it, did not have the skill set to integrate)
every day was different, there was a plan, but I had to flexible, depending on where the child was at, at any given day or moment.
So next major decision (when the girl went into residential care) was I wanted to be a school teacher! To make a difference, to be an agent of change and to be the voice of the children.
Well, you can imagine how that went down, me with no education, but one thing I did have on my side (I now know it was the universe) was determination and a bit of good old mongrel. My now late mum was concerned as she knew that disappointment for me when I have a heart set on something can be devastating. Lo and behold I GOT ACCEPTED! Yes I had to do some extra papers – Thank you universe! I graduated with a bachelor of Education. I passed my 2 practical years and moved to a small rough town, big gang influence, somewhere I saw beauty. I worked in this very low decile, dysregulated, dysfunctional, highly toxic environment pretty such for 20 years. But I took all the learning, had the space to explore and find out who I was as an educator, and how to work with unworkable kids. My specialty was the kids that didn’t fit into any boxes, I designed programmes you name it I did. I got to middle management and pushed and pushed to make changes, I got pushed right out, of the school and the town.
By this time, I was fully aware of the impact the universe had and where it was pushing me, as I had ignored all the subtle hints.
Since 2015, I have wanted to incorporate horses into learning, create something, and give back, as horses had always been my go-to for emotional support, space and freedom. I just didn’t know how. I found Eagala and went and did the training, yeah like it, but it still wasn’t right.
2018 moved towns, with horses, and gave up my salary, this was it. A chance to create my ‘thing’, What that looked like, felt like I had no idea. But I had the flexibility to do it now, I could call the shots, go relief teaching and build my own business, with kids and horses. And that is exactly what I did, learning, and figuring stuff out, and we grew and grew, I was and still am doing what the universe intended for me.
Lockdown gave me space and time to do more study, tidy up the edges of the business, re-branding, and narrow down our target market. Who knew that little misfit would be here.
Present day, we have clients, all spectrum one way or the other and I know them, I know their world, their struggles, I know them.
So when a colleague said ‘Nik, have you seen the Horse Boy?’ “No’, “Watch it, it is so you” And that is all it has taken I was hooked, like here you are this is the final piece to my pie! Movement Method, Horse Boy with all the science to back up what I already knew, was my light.
Studying MM has helped me put all the dots together, I have gained a greater understanding of the autistic brain and nervous system and how it works for our neurodiverse kids and community. MM has given me tools to share with other professionals, and with schools to help adapt their thinking, teaching and learning.
The 8 guidelines are simple and logical and make total sense to me. These are the fundamentals of working with neurodiverse clients.
So to answer the question, Why MM, because it works, not only for our neurodiverse but for all. Learning should be fun, we should be able to move or not, and we should be able to explore or not, we are all teachers and learners, no matter how old, or how our brain works, we can all learn from each other.
To finish off, I have worked with high-needs kids, gang kids, you name it kids, hand on heart, I never thought or wished why me! I suppose my personality comes out here when working with kids and family,(my key phrase – it takes a village to raise a child) This I stand by every day, every moment when working with children and family. I stop and take the time to listen, truly listen, I don’t have the answers, they do, they just need to be heard and seen.
People/parents/clients/caregivers say they love being in our space it is where they feel safe and their kids feel safe. So to conclude, why MM? MM joins all my dots and the skills I have and will learn will make me the best I can be, to pass this knowledge on, either through my professional village or my village I work with (Staff and clients) and I feel
I have found my village, although a bit shy around people I don’t know.
~Nik Lewis – Director Horses R Us, New Zealand
