Neurodivergent people may have differences in the way they eat. This could include selective eating (sometimes restricted to certain tastes, textures or colours), difficulty trying new foods (resulting in a restricted diet), having rules and rituals around foods (such as only eating at certain times of day, or from a certain plate), over or under eating, and the consumption of non-food items (known as Pica). These differences can be caused by a range of factors, including sensory differences, pre-established routines, and co-occurring health conditions. Such restrictions can cause anxiety in parents or family members if they believe someone is not getting the nutrients that they need which in turn could affect their growth and development. Some neurodivergent people also have digestive difficulties, which can lead to toileting difficulties or abdominal pain.
The NHS Fife Nutrition and Clinical Dietetics team has lots of information about nutrition and eating, and information about the services they offer. In particular, the Children and Young People’s dietetic team have produced a range of resources to help, all freely accessible on their website. They cover topics such as how to introduce new foods, set portion sizes, and more. As many neurodivergent children have different eating preferences, their resources are often designed to meet the needs of neurodivergent young people. On their website you can also see how to get in contact with the team, or contact the child healthy weight service Fife Loves Life.
NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde has some great information for parents regarding fussy eating and the challenges surrounding it. The site discusses information surrounding why children may be fussy eaters and what parents can do to try and alter this by getting the children involved in the making of meals, giving choices and being creative.
Similarly Action for Children has a great article explaining eating difficulties for children with additional needs.
The National Autism Implementation Team (NAIT) have produced guidance for parents of autistic children who have unusual eating preferences.
Healthier Families is another excellent, more general resource that can give ideas of new recipes and activities to try as a family. The site can guide you to facts about food, information on children’s weight and includes various games and quizzes to complete together.
Everyone experiences the world a bit differently, and has some things they are more or less sensitive to. Neurodivergent people are more likely have senses that are more or less sensitive to neurotypical people. .
Sensory differences can occur in our external senses – sight, touch, taste, hearing and smell. However, it can also occur for our internal senses. These includes vestibular system (our sense of balance), proprioception (where our body is in space), nociception (sense of pain), and other internal senses such as our bowels, bladder, and hunger.
Often sensory differences don’t cause a person too much difficulty, or they have their own strategies for managing these. However, sometimes sensory differences can cause a person to stop being able to take part in things they enjoy, get in the way of daily living, or require a lot of time and energy to manage them. For example, a child who finds having their hair cut overwhelming, or who is needing to keep moving around in order to focus which stops them being able to do their work at their desk. When this happens, it may be helpful to access professional advice.
Fife Children and Young People’s Occupational Therapy Department have a wealth of information and resources available. You can also learn more about what the Fife CYPOT service can offer, contact their parent advice line, and learn how and when access their service via their main website.
The Cerebra network have produced lots of helpful parent guides, including several on sensory processing in children developing differently, and the kinds of things that can help.
NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde Kids Independently Developing Skills (NHS GGC KIDS) has a host of great resources, including a section focused on sensory issues. Please note that NHS GGC run some online sessions and have their own advice line. Please contact NHS Fife CYPOT for this support, as NHS GGC are unable to provide this for people not living in their area.
Sleep is really important for everyone, and a good night’s sleep and a good bedtime routine can benefit numerous areas in a person’s life, and the lives of those around them. Sleep helps us to concentrate better and react more quickly to situations, supports memory and consolidation, and gives the body time to grow and repair. On the other hand, people having difficulty with sleep may struggle to focus, be more easily worried or become irritable, find school work or everyday tasks challenging, not to mention the massive effect a child not sleeping has on the rest of the family trying to get a good night’s sleep!
Sleep can be affected by multiple different factors, such as self-settling, changes in routine, bed-wetting, sensory issues, fear and anxiety, and physical health. Research also suggests that children developing differently are more prone to having difficulties with sleep. However, there is support available:
The Cerebra network have produced lots of helpful parent guides, including several on sleep and sleep difficulties in children developing differently.
The Sleep Charity has lots of brilliant resources and guidance on numerous sleep related issues including diet, melatonin, relaxation tips and even has a page dedicated to Children with additional needs. They also have a confidential National Sleep Helpline that that can be utilised to discuss sleeping issues; run by specially trained sleep advisors.
As the UK’s oldest sleep charity Sleep Scotland have a wealth of knowledge behind them which they can use to offer help to both families and professionals. Families can use their Sleep Support Line to talk to Sleep Counsellors to get advice on how best to assist children with their sleeping issues or other sleep related concerns. They can offer guidance on How to Get a Good Night’s Sleep. For professionals, Sleep Scotland offers training to provide them with the tools they need in order to work with families to promote healthy sleeping and get into the best sleep routine.
A condensed version of their advice and information can be found within their Parent Help document, touching on areas including the body clock, good bedtime practice and co-sleeping.
Alternatively, another great resource to look at is the Sleep Information Sheet by NHS Greater Glasgow & Clyde.
As children get older, we expect them to take on more of their own self-care skills, such as learning to wash and dress themselves, or use the toilet. We might also expect them to develop organisational skills, learn to cross the road, pay for things and get correct change, or to cook meals. However, while these skills may look simple to an adult, they are complex to learn, involving lots of different skills. Children have to be developmentally ready to learn these skills and have plenty of time and opportunity to practise. Sometimes, children developing differently learn these skills at different rates, or require more support to develop these skills when they are ready.
NHS Fife Children and Young People’s Occupational Therapy Service have a great range of resources able to download for pre-school, primary school and high school aged children. You can also call their advice line to speak to an Occupational Therapist about any concerns you have about your child’s development of life skills and get advice on what might help
The NHS Fife Children and Young People’s Continence service provide specialist support for toileting for children and their parents. Their website has lots of helpful information on toilet training, bladder control and soiling, and other common toileting challenges for young children through to teenagers.
NHS Greater Glasgow & Clyde’s Life Skills page also holds information on various topics including self-care, play and leisure, education, and sleep. They also provide General hints and tips that can be useful to know when learning and developing new skills.
Communication is one of the most important things to get right when working with people developing differently. However, it is also one of the easiest areas to overlook. Communication includes: -
Some people may have challenges with communication that are easy to recognise – such as people with no, little, or delayed spoken language. However, it is easy to overlook more subtle difficulties with communication some people may have, especially if the language they use appears typical. For example, some people look to have good spoken language, but are struggling to understand what others say, and so are needing to use context to make an educated guess. Some people might appear to have good expressive language, but not fully understand what they are saying (such as using a phrase they’ve heard before in the right context, but not really knowing what it means). Some people find non-verbal communication hard or have difficulties understanding language presented in abstract ways. Lastly, even people who are normally good communicators can struggle to communicate when upset, stressed, or under pressure.
Communication is important to preventing people experiencing anxiety, frustration, and isolation. However, often different neurotypes communicate in slightly different ways, which can make clear communication harder. Therefore, is always worth thinking about how we can communicate more clearly.
NHS Fife’s Children and Young People’s Speech and Language Therapy Service have a wealth of information and a wide range of resources available on their website. Their Facebook page “NHS Fife Speech & Language Therapy Service” is regularly updated with lots of handy hints and tips for communication, as is their twitter @banter4bairns. They run a parent advice line where you can speak to a Speech and Language therapist about any concerns you may have about your child’s communication, and what might help. If you still need more help after calling the advice line, you can also make a request for assistance via a downloadable form on their website.
The Cerebra Network also has a handy guide for parents about communication with children with severe or profound intellectual disabilities.
Executive functions are a set of cognitive processes and skills in the brain. They include:
Executive functioning skills are one of the last skills to mature, not finishing until your mid 20s. However, in many neurodivergent people we see that executive functions are working differently, or maturing at a different rate. Therefore, understanding executive functions is really important when supporting neurodivergent children.
NHS Ayrshire and Arran have produced an excellent video explaining how executive functions can be different in autistic people.
The website Understood has lots of practical tips for supporting children who struggle with executive functioning skills, such as lists, colour coding, and organisational strategies.
Harvard University Center on the Developing Child have produced a whole website dedicated to explaining executive functions and their development in children, and resources on how parents can support their child to develop these skills.
Finally, “Late, Lost & Unprepared: A Parent’s Guide to Helping Children with Executive Functioning” by Joyce Cooper-Kahn and Laurie Dietzel is a great resource for providing strategies to support executive functioning skills in children.
Neurodivergent Emabler provides a neurodivergent perspective and personal experiences in order to help increase understanding and acceptance of neurodiversity in different environments. One particular document discusses Workplace Adjustments For Executive Function.