Author: MIL-OSI Publisher

Source: The Conversation – UK – By Poppy Gibson, Lecturer in Primary Education, The Open University

If your child is putting on their school uniform for the first few times, and learning their way from the school gate into their reception class, they’re going through what education researchers like me call a transition.

As we move through life, we undergo several key changes like this, both in education and in our adult lives. Key transitions in childhood include starting nursery, beginning school, and moving from primary to secondary school. As an adult, you may have been through many further transitions, such as starting a new job or moving into a new home.

But thinking of the start of school as one single event – one transition – doesn’t really capture the enormity of this new stage in your child’s life. A better perspective would be to expand the single word “transition” into the recognition of a number of multi-dimensional transitions, or changes, for both your child and for you. And thinking in this way may be helpful for both of you in coping with this change.

For children starting primary school, these multiple transitions may involve things such as a change in routine and their understanding of the world as they have to leave the house and travel to an unfamiliar place.

Their experience of food will be changing as they try new foods in their school, and perhaps have to eat with different rules than they have at home. Clothing changes, too. They may need to wear a uniform made of materials they haven’t felt before and that don’t feel comfortable or familiar.

Perhaps the biggest transition is being away from you for hours at a time. This is especially the case for those children who may not have attended a pre-school setting, or went to nursery part time. It is paramount, therefore, that transitions maximise the involvement of parents and carers.

Research has shown that transitional experiences have an effect on children’s attainment and wellbeing. Having a positive transitional experience can result in children developing positive attitudes, and they may learn valuable skills for embracing future change.

If we accept that transitions are multiple and have a ripple effect on a child’s life, we can take care to support all areas that will be affected. These include the child’s relationships, culture, routines, environment, perceptions and aspirations. This holistic understanding emphasises the importance of adopting collaborative approaches with children and families during transitional planning.

Fostering a purposeful partnership

The key to positive transitions is a strong partnership between home and school. Teacher-child and teacher-family relationships should be prioritised and nurtured. Having trust, respect and open channels of communication are the building blocks for future success.

It can be helpful to see the transitional period as your child begins school as the start of a purposeful partnership between you and your child’s teacher. You can meet as equal experts in your child’s welfare and support.

Teachers and support staff should welcome children in with the message: “We want you here; you belong here.” Teachers must be trusted for their professional knowledge, and well supported by their school to be lifelong learners where regular training is provided. Through mutual respect, teachers can offer care and the love of learning to help children develop both academically and socially.

It is perfectly normal if you feel nervous about your child starting a new school. Trust your judgment and knowledge of your child, and feel free to speak up when things do not seem to be going well, or if your child’s needs could be better met.

Parents need to be their child’s advocate, ready to communicate and share on the child’s behalf – especially as they may not fully be able to explain their own needs.

You could consider helping your child create a poster about themselves to give to their teacher. What do they love to do? Is it playing outdoors, or building with blocks? Do they have a favourite book or toy? Are there any things that scare your child or make them nervous? What are some things that make them feel better if they are upset?

Prioritising your child’s voice is crucial, and this could help their new teacher gain a quicker insight into who they are.

Poppy Gibson does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.

– ref. Working together with your child’s new school can make their first weeks easier – https://theconversation.com/working-together-with-your-childs-new-school-can-make-their-first-weeks-easier-247024

Source: The Conversation – UK – By Aimee Grant, Senior Lecturer in Public Health and Wellcome Trust Career Development Fellow, Swansea University

When we first set out to explore autistic experiences of pregnancy, another topic kept surfacing in the personal accounts we recieved: menopause. Again and again, autistic people described how difficult this life stage had been and how little support they had received.

So we expanded our focus and our new review reveals a stark reality. Autistic people may face more severe menopause symptoms, struggle to access to care and are routinely dismissed by healthcare professionals.

Menopause technically only lasts one day, which marks 12 months since the person had their final menstrual period. But the menopause transition – including the years of perimenopause before and post-menopause after – is often a much longer and more disruptive phase of life.

Menopause typically occurs between the ages of 45 and 55, but it can happen earlier.

During the menopause transition, a range of symptoms are common. This includes changes affecting the urogenital system such as physical changes to the shape of genitals, vaginal dryness, urinary incontinence and pain during sex.

Other symptoms include hot flushes, night sweats, depression and changes to mood, memory and concentration. Some people have mild menopause symptoms, but for others they can be severe and extremely disruptive.

Our review

We pooled all of the research on autistic menopause which included evidence from eight studies. This small number of studies in itself demonstrates how much more research is needed to better understand autistic experiences of menopause. We also included evidence from publicly available blogs about autism and the menopause.

In our review, we found that most autistic people didn’t know what was happening to them when symptoms began. They hadn’t had access to information that spoke to their needs or experiences. Often, they couldn’t find any at all.

Many turned to online forums and peer support groups. These could be helpful, but they said they would have preferred information from a more trusted source, like a doctor or nurse.

We found that while the symptoms autistic people reported were similar to the general population, they sometimes experienced them more intensely.

Sensory sensitivities seemed to increase for some. This in turn sometimes led to more frequent and extreme meltdowns, which are moments of overwhelming distress where people might scream, cry, pace or physically remove themselves from a situation.

Fatigue was also a major issue. While it’s common for all menopausal people to be more fatigued, some autistic people found this change difficult to navigate. This became particularly challenging for those who mask their autism – that is, who consciously hide or manage their autistic traits to avoid negative reactions from others.

Many said that during menopause, masking became harder or even impossible. They felt more exhausted and more socially awkward than before.

Many described changing their day-to-day routines to reduce fatigue, including doing less to allow more time to rest. When this didn’t sufficiently control their symptoms, some decided to seek medical help. Those who didn’t try to get help often reported previous negative interactions with healthcare, so didn’t trust that they would get support.

Few people mentioned hormone replacement therapy (HRT), even though it’s the gold standard for managing menopause symptoms.

Read more:
Autistic people’s experiences of periods are under-researched – here’s why that needs to change

Overall, we found autistic people received little support for menopause from the healthcare system. Almost all autistic people reported negative experiences.

That shouldn’t be acceptable, especially when we know that autistic people face worse health outcomes on almost every measure, including an increased risk of early death and higher rates of suicide.

Autism diagnoses in people who were assigned female at birth often happens later in life. This has been linked to increased masking. For many, diagnosis leads to periods of reflection on difficulties earlier in life.

That matters because this self reflection and changing identity can be life-changing, but only if professionals recognise the signs and support people to access both diagnostic and menopause-related care.

What needs to change

A rethink is needed on how to better support autistic people through menopause. Healthcare professionals need better training. Autism-specific information and resources must be co-designed with autistic people.

Peer support should be properly evaluated too. In our review, some people said they had found informal support groups incredibly helpful. But they were also unsure whether the information being shared was accurate.

Read more:
Everyone isn’t ‘a little bit autistic’ – here’s why this notion is harmful

Peer support has been used in the NHS, including for breastfeeding. But peer support services don’t always get enough funding and support from health professionals, and services aren’t always designed in a way that means they can provide support that makes a difference.

Peer support shouldn’t be a cheap or tokenistic solution. For it to work, it needs proper investment.

There’s still so much we don’t know about how autistic people experience menopause and it remains an under-researched area. What we do know is that menopause has significant effects on health and wellbeing. The fact that menopause symptom severity may be higher for autistic people means that providing adequate support is essential.

Aimee Grant receives funding from the Wellcome Trust and UKRI. She is a non-executive director of Disability Wales.

Harriet Axbey and Rebecca Ellis do not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and have disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.

– ref. Why menopause may be even tougher for autistic people – and what needs to change – https://theconversation.com/why-menopause-may-be-even-tougher-for-autistic-people-and-what-needs-to-change-259423

Source: The Conversation – UK – By Amalendu Misra, Professor of International Politics, Lancaster University

The US is ramping up its fight against Latin America’s drug cartels. Washington has deployed several naval warships into southern Caribbean waters, alongside over 2,000 marines. A guided missile cruiser, the USS Erie, and a nuclear-powered fast attack submarine, the USS Newport News, are also reportedly due to arrive in the region soon.

These moves take place as the Trump administration escalates pressure on the Venezuelan president, Nicolás Maduro, who has now accused the US of plotting to oust him from power.

Donald Trump has long called Maduro “one of the largest narcotics traffickers in the world”, saying he heads the Venezuelan Cartel of the Suns. The US recently doubled the reward for Maduro’s arrest to US$50 million (£37.1 million).

When asked about the possibility of direct military action in Venezuela, White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt remarked: “President Trump has been very clear and consistent. He’s prepared to use every element of American power to stop drugs from flooding into our country and to bring those responsible to justice.”

Latin America is no stranger to US military interventions and regime changes. Washington sponsored covert and overt military operations in the region, from Chile to Brazil and Guatemala to Grenada, that led to regime changes in the second half of the 20th century.

So the presence of a US military submarine and guided missile cruiser close to its territorial waters has justifiably rattled Venezuela’s leadership. Maduro has called on his countrymen and women to join nationalist militias, declaring: “no empire will touch the sacred soil of Venezuela”. And Venezuela’s navy has deployed warships and drones to patrol the coastline.

The Trump administration has said little about its intentions. But most analysts agree the US is not preparing to invade Venezuela. The naval build-up is much more likely to be an attempt to get Latin American governments to take stronger action against drug traffickers.

Falling in line

Cracking down on transnational drug cartels has become a defining theme of Trump’s second presidency. Shortly after returning to office in January, he issued an executive order formally designating eight of them “foreign terrorist organisations”.

This included six organisations based in Mexico: the Cartel del Golfo, Sinaloa Cartel, Cartel de Jalisco Nueva Generacion, Carteles Unidos, La Nueva Familia Michoacana and Cartel del Noreste. It also included the Mara Salvatrucha (more commonly known as MS-13), which originated in California, and the Venezuela-based Tren de Aragua.

A White House statement at the time said: “The Cartels have engaged in a campaign of violence and terror throughout the Western Hemisphere that has not only destabilized countries with significant importance for our national interests but also flooded the United States with deadly drugs, violent criminals, and vicious gangs.”

In August, Trump then signed a secret directive ordering the Pentagon to use military force against these cartels. The US secretary of state, Marco Rubio, has gone on record defending this directive. He said on August 7 that it allows the US to “use other elements of American power, intelligence agencies, the Department of Defense, whatever … to target these groups if we have an opportunity to do it.”

There are several legal issues associated with direct US military action in Latin America, which reduce the prospect of any such assault taking place. It would violate the sovereignty of countries there, while launching strikes without congressional approval or a UN mandate would risk breaching domestic prohibitions.

For instance, there are debates over whether murder charges could be brought against US service members acting outside of a congressionally authorised armed conflict if they were to kill civilians or criminal suspects who pose no imminent threat.

Whether or not the US military is brought directly into the fight against the cartels will become clearer in the weeks and months ahead. However, there is some evidence that the mere threat of US military intervention is hardening the stance of some countries in the region towards criminal groups.

The Mexican president, Claudia Sheinbaum, for instance, has said “her government will cooperate with the US to fight drug trafficking”. To avoid any unilateral military strike against cartels that might undermine Mexican sovereignty, Sheinbaum has deployed tens of thousands of national guard troops across the country to stem the flow of drugs towards the US.

Maduro has more recently also pledged to send 15,000 Venezuelan troops to the border with Colombia. And he thanked Colombia for sending 25,000 military personnel to the border to tackle “narco-terrorist gangs”. The Colombia-Venezuela border is porous and has long been a key transit point for drug traffickers and smugglers.

Further south, in Paraguay, there is official support for Trump’s anti-cartel policies. Taking a leaf from Washington’s rule book, the Paraguayan president, Santiago Peña Palacios, has designated the Cartel of the Suns a foreign terrorist organisation.

Elsewhere in Latin America, El Salvador’s leader, Nayib Bukele, has been a trusted ally of the US in its battle against drug cartels. Bukele has been successful in curbing the power and influence of MS-13, putting most of its members behind bars in the country’s high-security prison.

El Salvador is also incarcerating kingpins and criminals deported from the US. If the increasingly focused US pressure is successful, it may be just a matter of time before all countries in Latin America fall in line with Trump’s war on drug cartels.

Amalendu Misra is a recipient of British Academy and Nuffield Foundation Fellowships.

– ref. The US has deployed warships near Venezuela in a cartel crackdown – but direct military action is unlikely – https://theconversation.com/the-us-has-deployed-warships-near-venezuela-in-a-cartel-crackdown-but-direct-military-action-is-unlikely-264054

Source: The Conversation – UK – By Ian Mell, Professor in Environmental & Landscape Planning, University of Manchester

Tens of thousands of fans streamed into Manchester’s Heaton Park this summer to see Oasis return home. Over 400,000 people attended across five nights of the much-hyped reunion tour.

But the joy came at a price. For more than eight weeks, large parts of Heaton Park were fenced off and heavily secured, restricting everyday use. Families, dog-walkers and runners were displaced, and the effects rippled far beyond the park gates.

The park regularly hosts food festivals and the music festival Park Life, but Oasis was of a different scale. The concerts effectively turned much of the park into a private venue, accessible only to ticket holders and staff. Residents complained of overcrowded trams, gridlocked roads and children struggling to get home from school. What is usually Manchester’s largest green space became, in some people’s minds, a no-go zone for two months.

Local governments insist such events bring much-needed revenue. Manchester City Council has not reported a specific fee for Oasis to use Heaton Park, although it has been said that around £25,000 has been allocated to fund local projects. (At time of publication, the council had not replied to our request for clarification about the fee.)

Pubs and restaurants thrived on concertgoers, and taxi drivers got a ready-made source of customers who would pay whatever it took. The city itself basked in the global spotlight of a high-profile homecoming.

Yet the downsides for locals were obvious: noise, antisocial behaviour, litter and congestion, as well as the general fatigue of not being able to go about their daily business. Afterwards, many felt the grass and grounds had been left in a poor state, raising questions of how much – if any – of the fee would be reinvested in the park itself.

This fuels scepticism: a multi-million pound tour gives the council a relatively small fee, while thousands of locals absorb the inconvenience. In my view, people are right to wonder whether public parks should be used to support these enterprises.

The Oasis shows tap into a wider debate about the use of public parks for festivals and events. Why is a space designed for community relaxation doubling up as a mega-venue? Why not use a stadium or arena purpose-built for huge crowds? And why don’t local councils charge far greater fees to permit such events, and properly enforce penalties for any damage?

Heaton Park is not unique. Sefton Park in Liverpool and Finsbury Park in London have hosted major festivals including Africa Oye and Wireless for over a decade respectively, provoking annual complaints about noise and disruption. Each time, local councils stress the economic upside, while residents question whether public green spaces are being commercialised at their expense.

Why councils say yes

In my experience, many local authorities simply feel they cannot afford to say no. Years of budget cuts mean councils must “sweat” every asset they own. Large parks, especially those with capacity for mass gatherings, are among the few resources left to monetise.

Cultural prestige also matters. Hosting a band like Oasis in their hometown generates pride and attention that no council will want to turn away.

But if parks are to be used in this way, the terms should be stronger. The reported £25,000 fee is minimal when set against the profits of a five-night run: 80,000 people paying £100 or more each over five nights adds up to around £40 million in revenue. (In fact, many people paid hundreds and even thousands of pounds to attend the Oasis gigs.)

Councils could charge significantly more, with some of the revenue ring-fenced to fund park management and improvements, and contracts that cover damage to the park.

So, did Oasis ruin Heaton Park? Not exactly. The concerts were a cultural phenomenon for Manchester and a source of joy for thousands of fans. But they also highlighted how public parks are being commercialised to plug council finances, often with limited benefit to those who most need them.

If local authorities continue to hire out green spaces to private promoters, they should rethink the terms. At the very least, residents deserve more input, and a fairer share of the rewards.

Ian Mell does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.

– ref. Parks are public spaces – but private event organisers are muscling in – https://theconversation.com/parks-are-public-spaces-but-private-event-organisers-are-muscling-in-262063

Source: The Conversation – UK – By Louise Thompson, Senior Lecturer in Politics, University of Manchester

Zack Polanski is the new leader of the Green party in England and Wales after winning a leadership election promising a programme of “eco-populism”. Polanski beat incumbent leader Adrian Ramsay and his partner on the ticket, Ellie Chowns.

It’s been just over a year since the party celebrated its best ever results in the most recent general election. In July 2024, it doubled its vote share and quadrupled its representation in the House of Commons to four MPs.

The same election saw terrible results for the Conservatives and even for Labour, despite its win, raising questions about whether two-party politics was well and truly over. Since then, as professor John Curtice has vividly described, things have started to look even shakier.

This year’s local election saw a “record-breaking” fragmentation of the vote in which less than a quarter of local council seats went to the two main parties. The Greens now hold over 800 seats in more than 170 different councils, adding to their electoral portfolio – which also includes two members of the House of Lords and three London Assembly members.

While Polanski will be celebrating today, party members will look to him to raise their electoral fortunes even further. The electoral challenge for the Greens in England and Wales is two-pronged.

First, the party needs to maintain its position in the seats it has already secured. Its four MPs have fairly comfortable majorities, the smallest being Chowns’ 5,800 majority in North Herefordshire. Second, and perhaps most importantly, it needs to maximise its success in the 40 constituencies where it came second. All but one of these constituencies were won by Labour, which makes Labour voters the prime targets.

My research has shown how the Green party has followed a policy of “total engagement” in recent years. It takes its parliamentary work very seriously, using any and every opportunity to get its message across, even in lower-priority policy areas.

The goal here is to build credibility with the electorate. Small parties tend to want voters to think they are bigger than they are, so they can present themselves as realistic contenders for taking on the heavy work and responsibility of government. Caroline Lucas did a fantastic job of this, punching well above her weight as the party’s only MP between 2010 and 2024.

Together, the Green MPs have made over 380 contributions in the House of Commons. Chowns in particular has been a prolific backbencher, making 161 contributions, while the previous co-leaders Carla Denyer and Ramsay have been much quieter.

With Polanski sitting in the London Assembly rather than the House of Commons, this will inevitably change. The four Green MPs will collectively have more time on their hands and, with the right direction from their new leader, will have the space to be more strategic in their parliamentary activities.

Outsiders

But the Greens have always acted as something of an atypical party too, keeping one foot outside Westminster. Lucas was regularly involved in activism, joining protesters campaigning against tuition fee increases and fracking and to support refugees, to name just a few. She was even arrested in 2013 after joining a protest against energy firm Cuadrilla in Sussex (she was later cleared of all charges in court).

The new Green MPs have continued in this vein, with Sian Berry joining a peaceful protest against far-right agitators in Brighton last year and Chowns pressing the government to water down anti-protest laws.

The new leadership will need to decide whether this strategy enhances their electoral appeal. Does it highlight the Greens’ distinctiveness from the establishment parties, or does it imply they aren’t responsible enough to manage being a party of significant size? The answer depends on who you ask. Polanski has participated in several protests in the past, so chances are this activism will continue to be a core feature of Green party politics.

An added complication for the Greens is that two other parties are also chasing left-leaning voters. One of these is Reform UK. Although associated with rightwing views on social issues, the party came second in many Labour seats in 2024 and needs to appeal to both sides of the political spectrum.

This may explain why the Greens have focused their efforts on highlighting Reform’s failures. Berry, for instance, recently challenged Nigel Farage and his colleagues to publish a log of all their meetings since entering the Commons, arguing that it would be in the public interest.

The other outside threat is Jeremy Corbyn and Zarah Sultana’s new and currently nameless party of the left. While we know little about this party’s policy platform right now, it seems to be veering towards a similarly bottom-up democratic model of organisation which has long been favoured by the Greens – possibly even with co-leaders.

The challenge for the Greens will be to better establish their niche on the left, to ensure they capture voters who are disillusioned with Keir Starmer’s wobbly start. Part of the solution could be to focus on a handful of key policy areas which go beyond the Green party’s niche of environmental issues. At the moment, its MPs take something of a scattergun approach in the Commons, contributing on everything from local buses and universal credit to Ukraine and the Middle East.

Some of the most recent questions asked during Prime Minister’s Questions by Greens hint at the options they might pursue. Ramsay has pushed for a wealth tax on the super rich, and an end to the two-child benefit cap. Both Corbyn and Sultana have, of course, been outspoken on these issues in the past.

If the Greens can’t forge a different path to this new left party, they may have no choice but to consider an electoral pact to avoid splitting the anti-Labour vote right down the middle.

Louise Thompson has previously received funding from the ESRC for research on small political parties.

– ref. Zack Polanski becomes Green party leader – what happens next? – https://theconversation.com/zack-polanski-becomes-green-party-leader-what-happens-next-262846