Connect before you correct.
good — start here ✓
A way of thinking, a five-step framework, and a book. Built by somebody who lived the years the system couldn't reach.
The first half is the lived story. OCD. ADHD. A decade lost and the way out of it. The second half is the framework — PAUSE — that came out of that story.
Oly at his old school.
I Stand Connected.
you're not the only one.
For young people aged 11 to 24 carrying things nobody around them knows about. Written by Oly Newton, who lost a decade to undiagnosed OCD, ADHD and severe anxiety, and found the way back.
Part lived-experience memoir. Part toolkit. Built around a five-move framework called STAND — See yourself · Tell the truth · Ask for help · Notice others · Do hard things. The moves that build who you're going to become.
The student companion to Connect Before You Correct, the adult book for teachers, parents and the adults around you.
you are the main character ✓
The frameworks
Every session, resource and conversation in ConnectedXP lives inside one of these two.
P · A · U · S · E
- P
Pause.
A second between the behaviour and the response.
- A
Acknowledge.
See the kid, not just the behaviour.
- U
Understand.
What's actually going on underneath.
- S
Steady.
Hold the boundary. Calm voice. No audience.
- E
Engage.
What happened. What might land better next time.
S · T · A · N · D
- S
See yourself.
Notice what's actually going on in you.
- T
Tell the truth.
To yourself first. Then to someone safe.
- A
Ask for help.
It's the bravest move, not the weakest.
- N
Notice others.
Somebody near you is carrying it too.
- D
Do hard things.
The moves that build who you're going to become.
CUT HERE
Get first word when a book drops.
Publication dates, sample chapters, and the launch of the I Stand Connected school groups. No spam.