The Amazing Work of Dr Pooky Knightsmith
If you haven’t heard of Dr Pooky Knightsmith - usually known to audiences simply as Pooky - you’re in for a treat. If you’ve heard of her but wondered whether she’s any good, read on. If you’re a school or organisation working with young people and you want the best, most wide-ranging and inclusive resources to help all the children in your care and especially those with greater needs, book her to speak or make use of the immense range of materials she offers, many of them free. (But if you use the free stuff and like it, please support her through Patreon as she has to pay bills and is a highly qualified professional!)
Disclaimer: I know Pooky. We have spoken at conferences together and communicated supportively online. She is someone I have immense respect for, for her knowledge and professional insights, for the body of work she offers and the energy and style in which she does it and for the humanity and kindness that shines out. She does not know I am planning to write this post and no, she is not paying me!
About Pooky
From her website, you’ll see that she has a PhD from the Institute of Psychiatry, Kings College London, has chaired the Children and Young People’s Mental Health Coalition, and is an author, as well as sharing her work through her speaking, online training and YouTube videos.
Her expertise comes from both years of study and lived experience with PTSD, anorexia, self-harm and depression. She talks revealingly about those challenges. She describes herself as “an autistic mum of two (one biological daughter, one adopted)” and I have watched her (often through my fingers) engaging in terrifying (to me) activities such as paragliding. She may not admit this herself but in my eyes she is mentally and physically as strong as many horses.
Subscribe to her beautifully laid-out blog for her latest free resources. Just take a look and tell me how awe-inspired you are by the clarity and range of what’s there!
Or you can subscribe to her Substack for all the same info but on the Substack platform.
If I had to use one word that makes her resources stand out, it is a word you might not think terribly powerful. The word would be “practical”. And I think that is what schools and others need most: although you do need the theory and evidence (which she provides), you most need things you can actually USE. In practice. Things that are practical.
Why am I telling you this now?
I’ve always thought Pooky and I make a pretty good double billing. We have outwardly different styles but I think we provide two sides of the coin: my work appears to deal more explicitly with neurotypical people and hers with neurodivergent people. We both work from knowledge, common sense and compassion. Our ideas make sense. And are practical.
But, as you may know, I’m stepping back from my speaking and training work on these topics and I believe that when we speak to neurodivergent minds we speak to everyone. So, you don’t need me - just Pooky!
I’m a writer, more than a teacher
I was born in a school, to teacher parents. But a writer was all I ever wanted to be. I became a teacher so that I could earn a living while I was trying to be a published writer. Then I got published and after a while I was able to stop teaching and focus only on writing. But somehow, the teaching came back in the form of my public speaking. Maybe teaching is in my blood and I confess that when I know something I do burn to share it! And somewhere along the line the teaching - in other words the speaking and training in schools - accidentally pushed the writing to the sidelines. Now, I am determined to push it back.
From now - in fact from this week - I am writer more than speaker. I will still do some speaking - select events with the right audiences - but it will not get in the way of my writing. I am borderline desperate about this, which is why I feel the need to say it publicly! I must be a writer again. I must.
Keep speaking and teaching, Pooky! Keep producing your brilliant, practical resources.
For a selection of my books with links to buy from Bookshop.org, see my website. I am grateful for every sale.
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