Across South Tees, we have a ‘needs led’ neurodevelopmental pathway as we want to make sure you and your child are supported as much as possible, if you or a professional thinks that your child has a neurodevelopmental need. These are needs which are associated with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) and Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD).
Family Support Service
If you live in the Tees Valley, the Family Support Service, delivered by Daisy Chain, is here for you. The team supports young people aged 0-18 years and their families, no matter where they are on their autism, ADHD, sensory processing or Foetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorder (FASD) journey. This means that your young person does not need to have a diagnosis or be on the neurodevelopmental pathway to access support from the service. The Family Support team is here to listen to your concerns and offer support.
Click here to find out more about the Family Support Service.
Details of the South Tees drop-in sessions for local families can be found here.
The Family Support Service also provides a range of online learning opportunities covering a variety of topics to help support individuals and families.
Bubble of Support
We have created a ‘bubble of support’ across your local area with many services which can offer advice, guidance or support. There are also very active Parent Carer Forums which can offer peer support. Details of all the support available is listed below. There is also a comprehensive ‘virtual’ offer which can offer alternative websites and support tips for you to try at home.
For a full downloadable description of the pathway, a guide has been written for parents by parents:
Bubble of Support Links
Services to help meet the needs of your child and family:
- SEND Local Offer
The Local Offer aims to bring together useful information across education, health, and social care within one website. You can find information, advice and guidance and a range of local service providers who support children and young people with Special Educational Needs and Disabilities(SEND). Simply click on the link below that applies to you, or your child if you are a parent or carer. Redcar & Cleveland and Middlesbrough - Self help / virtual offer
Please take time to look through the Family Support and Behaviour sections below as there are various organisations, websites and videos for you to access. All have been recommended by NHS England and your Regional Parent Carer Forum. - Parent Carer Newsletter
Parent carer organisations from across the region have worked together with NHS England to develop the North Cumbria & North East Children & Young People’s Peer Network newsletter which is full of advice, signposting and training opportunities.
NCNE Children and Young Peoples Network Newsletter April 2021 - Parent Carer Forums
The parent carer forums work in partnership with the Local Authority and the Clinical Commissioning Group to ensure that the voices of parents or carers and of children and young people are heard. The parent carer forums will also offer support, advice and guidance to families with Children and Young People with Special Educational Needs and Disabilities (SEND). Redcar & Cleveland Parent Carer Forum and Middlesbrough Parents 4 Change - Family Support
Contact can provide support to families where they think their child could have a neurodevelopmental need. Please see flyer for more details.
You can also find more information on their website - 0-19 Service
The 0-19 service are a team of specialist public health nurses that include health visitors and school nurses. The roles of this team are to protect and promote the health and wellbeing of children and young people aged from birth to 19 years old. Click on the following links for your area: Redcar & Cleveland and Middlesbrough - Mental Health and Emotional Wellbeing
The Link – a locally based not-for-profit professional mental health and emotional well-being service, providing therapeutic support to children, young people and families across the Tees Valley. redcarlink - Early Years
The Portage service is a team of skilled and experienced specialist staff that provide specialist home support for very young children with complex needs. Click on Redcar & Cleveland or Middlesbrough - North East Autism Society (NE-AS)
The North East Autism Society offers a wide range of services across South Tees supporting autistic, neurodiverse children, young people, adults and their families. - Support for Carers
Carer support services provide a range of different services to help support adults, children and young people who are in a caring role.
Redcar & Cleveland
Middlesbrough - Speech and language therapy
The Speech and Language Therapy Unit at Overfields Primary School provides a specialist education for children with significant speech and language difficulties.
Other resources you might find useful:
South Tees Hospital NHS Foundation Trust Paediatric Speech & Language Therapy
South Tees NHS Speech Therapy YouTube channel
BBC website ‘Tiny Happy people’ - Other resources
North Tees Autism information and guidance
Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder
Foetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorders
Family Support
Contact are providing support to families of children with neurodevelopmental needs living in Darlington, Middlesbrough or Redcar and Cleveland.
The support they offer includes:
- Free online workshops for families, including “Understanding sensory processing” and “Encouraging positive behaviour”.
- Free 1:1 Telephone Support Service: talk with an experienced family support adviser in confidence for 1 hour – a supportive ear and helpful advice.
- Free 1:1 Autism Telephone Support Sessions: telephone support provided by Marie Jevon, Director for Include ‘In’ Autism with over 32 years experience in autism. Click here for more information.
To book an appointment, visit www.contact-tees.eventbrite.co.uk
To find out more, please contact: south.tees@contact.org.uk or call our freephone number on 0800 2540890.
Behaviour
Develop your new routine as soon as you are able. Have fixed points within the day that you can focus on, even if there is ‘free time’ at other parts of the day. Use diaries, timetables, lists and other familiar supports to aid this. Click here for more information.
Consider using social stories or social narratives to explain the changes we are making and why they are happening.
The Challenging Behaviour Foundation have made all their videos about managing behaviour that challenges available online.
The Challenging Behaviour website offers lots of helpful advice and guidance for parents, carers and professionals.
Positive Behavioural Support (PBS) is an evidence-based approach which is recognised as best practice in supporting people with learning disability and behaviours that challenge. The overall goal is to improve a person’s quality of life and the lives of people around them and minimise the chances of behaviour that challenges happening in the first place.
The North East and Cumbria PBS Steering Group is working with partners from across the health and care sector, including Northumbria University, and has developed a website at www.pbsnec.co.uk which provides information and resources to support families around PBS on upcoming events, courses and latest news.
Sensory Ideas for the Home
A recorded webinar has been developed by an Occupational Therapist to outline tips and guidance for supporting children and young people with sensory needs within the home.
Positive Behaviour Support
Below are the links to a short film created to showcase the co-production of Positive Behaviour Support (PBS) training for parents of children with a learning disability, autism or both. The project has been created by parents who work at Skills for People (Jillian Allan and Shona Chambers) working alongside Alison Branch (North East and Cumbria PBS Community of Practice) and is set to expand in the coming year.
The film was made by Beacon Films and funded by an NHS England / NHS Improvement Sharing and Celebrating Patient and Public Involvement in Healthcare Community Grant.
Wellbeing:
Here is a link to the Learning Disability Matter website for families; it has a range of resources to support family resilience and health and wellbeing of children and young people with a learning disability:
SEND Local Offer
The Local Offer aims to bring together useful information across education, health, and social care within one website. You can find information, advice and guidance and a range of local service providers who support children and young people with Special Educational Needs and Disabilities (SEND). Simply click on the link below that applies to you, or your child if you are a parent or carer.
Virtual offer (to be developed)
Parent Carer Forums
The parent carer forum work in partnership with the Local Authority and the Clinical Commissioning Group to ensure parent or carer and the children and young people’s voices are heard. The parent carer forums will also offer support, advice and guidance to families with Children and Young People with Special Educational Needs and Disabilities (SEND).
Redcar & Cleveland Parent Carer Forum
Middlesbrough Parents 4 Change
Support for Carers
Carer support services provide a range of different services to help support adults, children and young people who are in a caring role.
Redcar & Cleveland Support for Carers
Middlesbrough Matters – Carers Family and Friends
The Junction Foundation Young Carers
0-19 Service
The 0-19 service are a team of specialist public health nurses that include health visitors and school nurses. The roles of this team are to protect and promote the health and wellbeing of children and young people aged from birth to 19 years old. Click on the following links for your area:
Independent Travel Training
Independent Travel Training provide support and assistance to school or college for children and young people with Special Educational Needs and Disabilities (SEND).
Early Years (Portage team)
The Portage service is a team of skilled and experienced specialist staff that provide specialist home support for very young children with complex needs.
Early Help
The Early Help team provides support to a family when a problem emerges, at any stage in a child or young person’s life, from the foundation years through to teenage years.
North East Autism Society (NE-AS)
The North East Autism Society offers a wide range of services across South Tees supporting autistic, neurodiverse children, young people, adults and their families.
Specialist Teaching Service
The Specialist Teaching Service is a team of specialist qualified staff who work towards a varied approach to ensure the environment for children and young people is ASC friendly, enabling children and young people to enjoy and achieve their desired outcomes.
Sensory Teaching Advisory & Resource Service (STARS) Team
The STARS team offers support to children and young people aged 0-25 with a sensory impairment. Click here for more information.
Speech and Language Therapy Service
The Speech and Language Therapy Service has specialist and generalist therapists and therapy assistants who work with children with speech, language and communication needs.
Please click for South Tees
Overfields Speech and Language Therapy Unit
The Speech and Language Therapy Unit at Overfields Primary School provides a specialist education for children with significant speech and language difficulties.
Please click for South Tees
Mental Health and Emotional Wellbeing
Providers have come together across South Tees to be able to provide emotional wellbeing and mental health services to support Children, Young People and their families providing a range or support and services and resources.
Education settings, health and social care services, together with parents, carers and peers play a key role in supporting Children and Young People’s emotional health and wellbeing and can have a significant impact on the overall experiences and life outcomes for our children. Very few children will need specialist intervention by a clinical service/mental health professional.
Locally across South Tees, Emotional Wellbeing and Mental Health support services are provided by:
The Link – a locally based not-for-profit professional mental health and emotional well-being service, providing therapeutic support to children, young people and families across the Tees Valley. redcarlink
The Junction Foundation is a children and young people’s charity based in Teesside that provides a range of holistic support to meet the needs of children and young people aged 5 to 25 years. Click here for more information.
MIND – Mental health charity in Teesside with the aim that that everyone in the local area has good mental health. The charity works across all communities and individuals to ensure they can access support to improve their emotional wellbeing. Click here for more information.
Child and Adolescent Mental Health Services (CAMHS) – provides assessment and appropriate treatment or intervention for children and young people up to their 18th birthday who are experiencing mental health problems, with the aim of positive mental health promotion. The Child and Adolescent Mental Health Services (CAMHS) across Teesside has a single point of access for referrals and self-referrals to CAMHS services – telephone 0300 013 2000 or website Community mental health teams for children and younger people in Teesside.
Child and Adolescent Mental Health Services (CAMHS) – Single Point of Contact (SPOC) – The Child and Adolescent Mental Health Services (CAMHS) across Teesside has a single point of access for referrals and self-referrals to CAMHS. The service is available to anyone with concerns including parents, carers, school staff, health professionals and GPs, and children and young people worried about their own mental health.
You will be able to chat with a mental health nurse about your worries and concerns and the nurse can then consider the most appropriate next steps to best support the child or young person. Help and support can come in many forms, including self-help guidance, signposting to appropriate support services in the voluntary and third party sectors, or referral into the Child and Adolescent Mental Health Services (CAMHS).
Tel: 0300 2000 000 Email: tewv.stspoc-camhs@nhs.net
Child and Adolescent Mental Health Services Crisis Team – offer 24/7 support for children/young people in mental health crisis. Call 08000 516171 or visit the website at CAMHS crisis and liaison service.
Below are a list of national resources and information for families to access:
The North East and Cumbria Child Health Network – works to bring organisations together to design and deliver joined-up services to provide improved outcomes for children. Click here for more information.
Anna Freud National Centre for Children and Families – provides research, developing clinical practice and policy and workforce development nationally, working to support families of children and young people with mental disorders and associated challenges by developing resilience and supporting to manage these challenges. Visit AnnaFreud and AnnaFreud Coronavirus support, also Supporting children’s mental health
Mind – offer resources to help plan for staying at home or indoors and for taking care of your mental health and wellbeing. Visit Mind – coronavirus and your wellbeing.
Kooth – free, online forum and counselling/mental health support for young people aged 11+. Visit www.kooth.com to find out more.
Recovery College online – free resources to help support people struggling with mental health difficulties. Visit www.recoverycollegeonline.co.uk to find out more
Childline – free, private and confidential service where children can talk about anything. Visit Update from Childline
Shout 85258 – free, confidential, 24/7 text messaging support service for anyone who is struggling to cope www.giveusashout.org/
World Health Organisation – public information about the virus and how to keep yourself safe at WHO Advice for the public: Coronavirus disease (COVID-19).
Gov.Uk – advice to manage mental health and wellbeing aspects of Covid-19 – click here
Carers UK – Coronavirus guidance for carers
MindEd – provides support for frontline staff working through the Covid-19 pandemic to help manage their mental health and wellbeing. Visit MindEd Hub
WeheartCBT – free CBT resources to help schools, parents and professionals support children with mental health difficulties. Visit www.wheartcbt.com or on Twitter @WeHeartCBT
Additional, more localised information can be found on the following individual area Local Offer pages: