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Heidi McElroy

Heidi McElroy

Teacher and author at Southern Health School, North Canterbury, New Zealand; created "This Is How It Feels," a book on lived experiences of mental health.

Jul 9, 2026

9:16
What's the most rewarding part for you?
9:22
Definitely that making a difference.
9:25
Seeing it, because one of the things about working with youth is you get to see them, you often get to see them come out the other side.
9:32
But I don't think, I think sometimes, I don't know, because I don't really work with adults, but I think sometimes that can be, you know, it's been there for so long.
9:42
And to see these youth that are just... really, really struggling and come out the other side.
9:50
And you can make such a difference just by accepting them.
9:56
Because another student I have had just recently and got an email back from his mum because he was autistic and struggling with that and feeling like broken and something faulty and so for me to be able to I just sat down with him and I explained to him that he's not broken his brain just works a little bit differently nothing to be ashamed of and actually I think it's a superpower to be honest you know and just that shift that you see in them when they realize that it's okay same thing with students like I had um even though I had it I don't actually know how to pronounce it but I had um agoraphobia agoraphobia um and it was so um At the time, it was really embarrassing, obviously.

22 MINS LATER

32:58
Shaping the conversation.

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