encounter hope

A short workshop offering practical help to families with SEND or neurodivergent children, using a toolkit that can be taken away and used every day at home.

There is no need for assessment or screening by a professional. This workshop is suitable for those who have started to identify that your child is struggling. If you have already had a referral for assessment but are on a long waiting list, it is particularly suitable.

We will address the difficulties experienced when foundational sensory and motor systems are not working well, which is a typical finding in children with SEND but is also valuable for all children.

You will be provided with background knowledge and guided through how to use particular motor and sensory tools to bring an experience of body based felt safety. You'll be taught to track your child’s responses and given advice on how to adapt tools if needed.

Benefits of this approach:

• Support is delivered jointly by a professional and an experienced parent who has been applying this approach and reaping its benefits.
• You will be equipped to help yourself. We will be supporting and training you to use simple movements and inputs that can be used daily in your own home. This approach is in keeping with neurodevelopmental evidence that regular repeated patterns of inputs are more like to bring change than an hourly weekly session.
• You may also benefit from these techniques yourself. Parents have reported back to us that this has enabled them to become more confident and feel equipped to support their children.
• Parents have reported the tools have also helped improve their relationship with their child and rebuild safety bonds between parents and children.
• Children who are overwhelmed and frightened by the constant challenge of living with a dysregulated nervous system start to experience what it’s like to feel safe in their own bodies. Their nervous system will start to receive the regulation that it needs, and their foundational sensory and motor systems receive inputs that supports healthy neurodevelopment and function.
• You'll be trained by an expert who can explain not only what activities help but also why. This will help you when your child is seeking certain sensory inputs and enable you to provide more effective support.
• You will have access to other parents in a similar situation to you, with opportunities to build connections and support networks in an often-isolating situation.

Our workshops are currently running in Croydon, but we are planning to introduce it in other areas over the next year.