Disability Advice

As part of Nottinghamshire's response to the reforms to services and provision for children and young people with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND) set out in the Children and Families Act 2014, a Children's Integrated Disability Service has been established. This brings together a number of services that were previously part of the Children's Disability Service and SEND Policy and Provision.

The new service comprises of what was formerly:

  • Short Breaks and Personalisation Service
  • Occupational Therapy Service
  • Play for Disabled Children's Team
  • Disabled Children's Support Service (Early Support)
  • SEND Assessment Team
  • SEND Commissioning Team

The Assessment Team, receives requests for Short Breaks, Specialist childcare packages and Education, Health & Care (EHC) Needs Assessments via the Disability Duty point in relation to children, young people (CYP) with special educational needs & disabilities (SEND).

The Assessment Team assesses their eligibility in relation to these requests, if eligible progresses them to ensure their identified outcomes are met and if not signposts them to other services.

The Assessment Team works closely with other services in relation to identifying families who may need support with routines, behavior management, sleep routines and families who may benefit from a multi-agency approach.

Notts Help Yourself

Nottinghamshire Help Yourself is a partnership between health, the voluntary sector and Nottinghamshire County Council to bring information and advice together in one central place - so people can find the information they need easily.

The SEND Local Offer brings together helpful and useful information for children and young people with special educational needs and disabilities (SEND), from birth to 25 years, and their families. It includes information on:

  • Education: e.g. nurseries, playgroups, schools and colleges as well as support services like educational psychologists, early years and early intervention workers
  • Health: e.g. GPs, paediatricians, school nurses and therapists
    Social care: e.g. respite services and children’s disability services.

The SEND Local Offer aims too to highlight opportunities for children and young people who have additional needs to engage in a broad range of activities, from cinema screenings for children with specific needs, to evening clubs like cubs/scouts or brownies/guides running during the week, to specific events offered during the school holidays.

Education, Health and Care Plan Pathway

In September 2014 EHC plans replaced Special Educational Needs (SEN) statements. They provide the same statutory protection as SEN statements but will extend from birth to age 25. Parents can make applications for EHC plans for their children, in cases where all graduated support in Education is in place but children's needs are still not met. For more information on educational support see Education section.

The Information Advice and Support Service (Ask Us Nottinghamshire ( previously Parent Partnership Service)) offers impartial and confidential information, support and advice to children and young people, and their parents and carers, to enable them to make informed decisions about matters around education, health and care relating to their special educational needs and/or disability.

Contact: 0115 8041740 email: enquiries@ppsnotts.org.uk

Iris

The IRIS Project is a one-stop shop run by Family Action, which offers information, advice and support to parents and carers of children and young people with disabilities based in Nottingham and Nottinghamshire.

They also produce a magazine (IRIS) on SEN and disability issues. Copies can be downloaded from the Ask Iris Website.

APTCOO

A Place To Call Our Own Ltd is a registered charity working with other public and voluntary community organisations to improve the quality of life for families with disabled children and or special educational needs (SEND). It supports children to increase their independence, realise and reach their full potential.

Visit the A Place To Call Our Own website for more information.

Autism

Autism East Midlands is a support group started on the initiative of a group of parents in 1968. Today we are still led by the parents and friends of people with autism. Autism is a complex, life-long disability which affects the development of communication, social and life skills. They provide help and support to families and individuals affected by autism from across Nottinghamshire, Derbyshire, surrounding counties and beyond.

Visit Autism East Midlands website for more information.

ADHD and other learning needs

The Department for Education has published a helpful booklet called Understanding Neurodiversity - a guide to specific learning differences [PDF].  This booklet contains information around a number of learning differences including, dyslexia, dyspraxia autism spectrum disorder and ADHD (attention deficit hyperactivity disorder).