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Secure settings and early years
Neurodevelopmental assessment, staff training and environmental advice delivered inside prisons, secure settings and nurseries.
In preparation
These services are in development and are not yet operating. We are interested in speaking with prisons, secure units, nurseries and early years settings about what would be useful.
Secure settings
Neurodevelopmental conditions are more common in prison populations than in the general population, and are frequently unidentified. Undiagnosed difficulties contribute to disciplinary incidents and make rehabilitation programmes harder to engage with.
Assessment in secure environments
ADHD and autism assessment delivered on site, adapted to the practical constraints of secure settings while keeping to the same clinical standards.
Reports for management and support
Written reports with recommendations that staff can act on, and liaison with prison healthcare teams and mental health in-reach services.
Regulation and behavioural support
Practical strategies for emotional regulation and behavioural management informed by neurodevelopmental understanding, including environmental recommendations.
Staff training
Training for custodial and healthcare staff on neurodevelopmental awareness, de-escalation informed by that understanding, and reasonable adjustments in practice.
Nurseries and early years settings
Early identification of neurodevelopmental difference matters for long-term outcomes. We work alongside nursery practitioners to recognise, understand and respond to those differences.
Early identification
Awareness of early indicators, age-appropriate observation and screening, and support for timely referral where it is warranted.
Play-based assessment
Assessment through play in familiar surroundings, which gives a more accurate picture of a young child than a formal interview and causes less distress.
Environments that work
Practical guidance on lighting, noise and calm spaces, and on recognising sensory distress signals in children who cannot yet describe them.
Staff training and mentoring
Training for nursery staff on ADHD and autism awareness, regulation strategies and inclusive practice, with ongoing mentoring rather than a single workshop.
Working with families
Parents and carers are part of the process throughout: progress updates, involvement in planning, and practical strategies that work at home as well as at nursery.
Calm spaces
Advice on designing quiet, low-stimulus areas within existing nursery space, sized and equipped for the children who will use them.
Talk to us early
These services are being shaped now, which means there is room to build them around what settings actually need. If you run a secure unit, prison healthcare service, nursery or early years setting, we would value the conversation.