Oly Newton was that young person once. The kid the classroom couldn't hold. He learned to mask what was going on inside his head, and got very good at it.
But there was one teacher. Mr Kent. He didn't reduce Oly to the label he'd been given. He held the line, and he held Oly with it. He is the reason this book exists.
Years later, the masking caught up. OCD took a decade of Oly's adult life. When he found his way back, he set out to become the voice he had so desperately needed when he was younger.
Close to 100,000 young people have now heard him tell that story.
Connect Before You Correct is the human story of one kid who was almost lost, and one teacher who wouldn't let him be. Underneath it runs a belief. Every young person has a story. Every story holds a purpose. And the hardest chapters often shape what comes next, leading to the most beautiful moments, and the difference we go on to make.
For anyone who wants to be the adult a young person remembers. For parents, teachers, school leaders and everyone who works with young people. And for anyone who has ever been that young person themselves.
"EVERY YOUNG PERSON HAS A STORY. EVERY STORY HOLDS A PURPOSE."
OLY NEWTON is an international lived experience speaker who has worked with close to 100,000 young people across almost 200 educational institutions. Through his own experiences of OCD, anxiety and depression, he now helps schools, organisations and communities see the child behind the behaviour.
For the young person in your life, read the companion book, I Stand Connected.
Two books. Two readers. One mission.