Caroline Seyedi, MA.DipN.SRSH.MIOEE.INLPTA.MCSH.MCMA.

'Each day I live, I want to be, a day to give the best of me,

I'm only one but not alone, my finest day is yet unknown,

I broke my heart, fought every gain, to taste the sweet,

I faced the pain, I rise and fall, Yet through it all,

This much remains I want one moment in time

when I'm more than I thought I could be,

When all of my dreams are a heartbeat away

and the answers are all up to me!...

Give me one moment in time when I'm racing with destiny...

Then in that one moment in time, I will feel, I will feel eternity!...' -Whitney Houston.

 

These words really resonate with me and express how I have felt over the years as well as now...racing to find answers to help my daughter become as independent as she can be before I am no longer here...

...Hello, my name is Caroline Seyedi and I am a mother of a daughter who was diagnosed in 1998 with autism.  After many years of research for interventions and therapies to enable and empower her to become the best she can be and due to her gradual progression over the years in becoming the wonderful young lady she is today, I started to search for ways to professionalise my experiences and knowledge with the intention of helping other parents  do the same for their children... 

I am now working with parents, carers their children and autistic adults providing a personalised service as well as with organisations and professionals.

I am an Autism Specialist Practitioner & Therapist, providing a specialist autism holistic service. I am qualified with a Master of Arts research degree in Autism from the University of Wales. I am a Nutritional Therapist and a multi-modality Energy Healer & Practitioner (Reiki Seichem & Crystal Healing Practitioner; a Practitioner in Sound Healing, accredited by the College of Sound Healing; Bach Flower Remedies & essences Practitioner); Emotional Freedom Technique(EFTi) Practitioner; a licensed Brain Gym® facilitator; a Rhythmic Movement Therapy (RMTi) Consultant; a full member of the Complimentary Medical Association (CMA); a Meditation Teacher accredited by the Complimentary Medical Association (CMA); a Mentor registered with the Mentoring Institute of Enterprise & Entrepreneurs (MIOEE); and from my time prior to having my daughter, a State Registered Senior Hairdresser, registered with the United Kingdom (UK) Hairdressing Council. I am also a Weleda Well-being 'In Harmony With You' (IHWY) Advisor, trained in advising on Weleda skin care range, their homeopathy and anthroposophical medicines. 

I continue my professional development each year enhancing my knowledge and experience and adding more strings to my bow to enable me to provide a professional, extensive, holistic and naturalistic service to the autism community, their families. carers and all professionals working with them and those wanting to connect with and support children, adults and their families at a nurturing and deeper level. I believe that there is always more to learn and never an end to learning...and that everyone has the ability to learn...

I provide a holistic and naturalistic, person & family centred package of services which includes Life Coaching, Hypnosis, Mentoring, Mindfulness, Advocacy, Energy Healing, Vibrational Medicines, Remedies and Essences, Emotional Freedom Technique including Picture Tapping and Nutritional Therapy and advice to parents & carers and autistic adults. This is important because research shows there is very little if any Coaching, Counselling, Support and/or Guidance for Parents/Carers to access during the assessment of and following the point at which their child receives a diagnosis on the autism spectrum. Additionally, research evidence states that parents of children with autism suffer more stress, anxiety and mental health issues than parents of children with any other disability and this subsequently affects the child's developmental prognosis and future outcome for opportunities and positive developmental progress.

This means the whole family can benefit and become more integrated and successful as a unit which means that the issues preventing them from being that now can be transformed to enable and empower the whole family to be successful.

There is much research which shows that most individuals with Autism or Asperger syndrome, suffer high levels of anxiety, distress and relationship challenges and that they are often misdiagnosed or misunderstood because of this which can lead to unnecessary trauma and detention and sadly much too often, suicide. I have subsequently completed training in the prevention of suicide with ASIST (Applied Suicide Intervention Skills Training) which is like a 'First Aid' for Suicide, which helps recognise possible suicidal thoughts and to support the person to 'stay safe for now' whilst connecting them back into the world with what is important to them and seek further help.

My services are available to everyone related to or affected by the challenges of living with autism can bring... siblings, cousins; grandparents; aunties; uncles - as well as professionals, schools, employers and organisations those who want to learn about autism and what can support developmental progress, neurodevelopment and positive behaviour. My services include supporting you with advocacy for yourself and your loved one; such as finding relevant legislation and using this to advocate and access the things you may be eligible for. 

I offer unique tailor made experiential workshops for groups, professionals, businesses and organisations to support and promote understanding of some of the main challenges children and adults living with autism experience. This kind of workshop develops unique subjective understanding for the participants and encourages subjective innovative ideas of how they can adapt their new learnings into the environments they are working in, to support autistic children and adults.

I am available for Public Speaking; Learning Support; Small group talks; Autism Question and Answer sessions; Telephone, Skype and Face to Face/One2One consultations, NLP Interventions, Coaching and Hypnosis, Mentoring, Nutritional Therapy; Movement Therapies such as Brain Gym® and Rhythmic Movement Therapy; Emotional Freedom Technique (EFT); Advocacy Support, Reiki Seichem Healing, Crystal Healing, Sound Healing, Assemblage Point Alignment & Healing; Meditation classes; Hairdressing; Bach Flower Remedies & Essences; and as an 'In Harmony with you' Weleda Advisor, advising on Weleda Skincare and Natural Medicines. 

I am trained and/or experienced in using many interventions which are used in specialist autism education such as TEACCH, PECS, Makaton, Intensive Interaction, Pivotal Response and others. I create an individual approach, addressing and prioritising the issues that are important to you, using all of my skills when providing individualised, person and family-centred services, such as the following:

* Autism Intervention, Interaction & Social Communication
* Behaviour Transformation & Management
* Anxiety & Stress Management
* Personal Development, Relationships & Family Life Coaching
* Modelling and Transferring Specialist Interests & Skills to Achieve Full Potential
* Self Discovery, Relationships & Identity

I have a daughter, Farrah, who was diagnosed with ASD at the age of two. She is now 27 years old and has amazed us and professionals with her progress because her prognosis looked very grim back in 1997 when no-one knew how to support us as her parents, leaving us to research and discover what we could and not giving us the support we requested when we did discover interventions, therapies and/or treatments we considered could be helpful outside the Medical Model and were safe and we wanted to try.

I have always supported and helped other parents whilst on my own journey of discovery with Farrah and I work with parents with children and adults who have or are awaiting an assessment or diagnosis by sharing my learning and experiences with them; and in 2009 decided to formalise my knowledge and experience by enrolling at the University of Wales to complete a Master of Arts research degree in Autism (MA Autism). My ambition is to help parents/carers, other family members and adults living with autism reach their full potential and live the best life possible. My vision is to transform, enable and empower the world of autism! My mission is to achieve both!

My research for my MA Autism dissertation, was focused on 'Parents' Experiences of Support and Advice at and following their child's diagnosis of ASD' and I will be publishing this in the near future on this website. As I mention above, I am a Master Practitioner in the Art & Science of NLP and I have experienced very positive outcomes using NLP with my daughter; helping her understand her 'states,' make decisions for herself, calm her anxieties; increase her sophistication of her continually developing language and much more.... resulting in positive changes and outcomes for her and our whole family.

I have completed training as a business Mentor registered with the Mentoring Institute of Enterprise and Entrepreneurs and offer mentoring for setting up self-employment, business and attending interviews. I offer parent mentoring and caring for a child or adult with autism.

Additionally, I am trained to deliver the Early Support Key Working in Practice and Partnership (KWIPP) training and the Multi-Agency Planning and Implementation tool (MAPIT) which supports the  SEN and Disability Green paper (2012) legislation and the Children and Families Act (2014).

I am a member of the following organisations:

• International NLP Training Association (INLPTA)
• Association of NLP (ANLP)
• NAS (National Autistic Society)
• Complimentary Medical Association (CMA)
• EFT International (EFTi)
• The College of Sound Healing
• Reiki & Seichem Association (RASA)
• The Mentoring Institute of Enterprise and Entrepreneurs (MIoEE)
• The Hairdressing Council UK (as a State Registered Senior Hairdresser)
• Developmental Practitioners Association
• NHS Foundation Trust (North Bristol)

I have spent two years volunteering once a week at a Primary School Autism Resource Base in Bristol where Farrah attended as her primary school after our local mainstream school failed to cope with her autism behaviours and support us both. She left Primary school after sitting her SATs, achieving levels 2 and 3; something the mainstream infant school would not consider completing a baseline assessment for when she first started school. I insisted they did so that we would be able to see what progress, if any, she may make in her future years and I am so pleased that I did.

Now my daughter is a happy, sociable loving adult who loves and competes in freestyle disco and street dance and British Gymnastics Trampolining (National Level). She is now a university graduate with a BA (Hons) in Textile Practices! 

She was a member of the British Gymnastics Team GB disability Trampoline Squad between 2011-2014 ... Something I could never have even dreamed she would achieve when she was little, non-verbal and displaying all the signs and behaviours of classic autism!

What was once a dark place for me is no longer because I know there is so much you can do to make a difference for the progress and development of children and adults, in the early years and in later life. My passion and mission is to help parents/carers of children, families and individuals living with autism of all ages, helping them to live happy and fulfilling lives because I know they can when they are given the opportunities and support they need to achieve this...

Everyone is different with various abilities, interests and potential and this is the same for people communicating through 'autism' behaviours, experiencing challenges with social communication and interaction and struggling with sensory processing. I believe that the ASD diagnosis is only there to bring awareness to these challenges and enable others  (professionals and everyone caring for and teaching them) to have a guideline of how to support their learning development further in a way they can understand; can interact and engage with and move forward and towards their dreams and full potential...without this nurturing where would any of us be? Autistic children and adults need the same nurturing and love albeit at different and atypical times in their life...

I believe in God  - I am a Baha’i and you can read more about my Faith here, if you wish http://www.bahai.org/

My Faith has guided me all the way through my family’s journey with autism and my work is as a result of this.

Here is part of one of my favourite texts from the Baha'i Faith:

 ‘Behold a beautiful garden full of flowers, shrubs, and trees. Each flower has a different charm, a peculiar beauty, its own delicious perfume and beautiful colour. The trees too, how varied are they in size, in growth, in foliage—and what different fruits they bear! Yet all these flowers, shrubs and trees spring from the self-same earth, the same sun shines upon them and the same clouds give them rain....

....Thus  should it be among the children of men! The diversity in the human family should be the cause of love and harmony, as it is in music where many different notes blend together in the making of a perfect chord. If you meet those of different race and colour from yourself, do not mistrust them and withdraw yourself into your shell of conventionality, but rather be glad and show them kindness. Think of them as different coloured roses growing in the beautiful garden of humanity, and rejoice to be among them…’ - Abdu'l-Baha, Paris Talks

Click HERE to read this beautiful text in full.

...'Once you have seen one [person] with autism, you have seen one [person] with autism.' ^1.

...I have had nearly every experience imaginable parenting my daughter and I know I will continue learning as she develops further as an adult. I feel much more confident and assured now that she will become more independent than I could have ever wished for back in 1997 and know she will strive to achieve the goals she now sets for herself because she already does... On Monday 13th October 2014, we traveled to London to St. James Palace for her to be presented with her Duke of Edinburgh Gold Award by the Earl of Wessex, Prince Edward...how amazing is this!...Needless to say, I am a very proud mum!

I am currently writing my memoirs in poetry to share on this website and will include these in my book I working on... you can read these poetical memoirs on my blog...

...We have climbed over that rainbow we thought we would never climb; our dreams have become a reality and now I am passionate to empower, enable and support others to climb the autism rainbow too and meet us at the point of discovering and exploring full potential and move towards achieving our personal best! ...see my 'Over the Rainbow' services ...I will feel privileged to hear from you, honoured to become your Personal Coach, Mentor, Therapist, Practitioner and part of your life experience to guide and support you in your personal journey of living with autism....

                 ...'My daughter still has autism BUT autism no longer has her!'

                         

'Somewhere over the rainbow dreams come true'...We've climbed over the rainbow...

I believe you can too...

 

References: 

1. PAYNE, M. 2010. Supplement Therapy:Rescue, Repair, and Reconnect. In:SIRI, K. & LYONS, T. ed. Cutting-Edge Therapies for Autism. New York:Skyhorse Publishing, pp374.