Our Services

Collaborating with families

Your child does not need to have a particular diagnosis, or even be on a diagnosis pathway to access help from Nurturing Humanity. When getting started, Kelly completes a detailed assessment of the child or young person’s needs and those of your family, before presenting Parents and Guardians with a variety of Person Centred Behavioural Strategies that they can choose from. Kelly will explain why such recommendations have been made and the expected outcomes, so that Parents and Guardians can provide informed consent.

By the time Parents and Guardians find this service, they may be facing some challenges at home or within the school system. Their child may be presenting with high levels of concerning behaviour or they may be aware that their child needs additional and individualised support to reach their potential.

With a big focus on building co-regulation, Kelly supports families to build emotional safety and regulation by staying connected.

Kelly is also able to help with the Education & Health Care Plan (EHCP) process and regularly represents parents at Tribunal Hearings.

Collaborating with Nurseries and Schools

Kelly regularly collaborates with nursery and school staff, recognising that they have a unique set of skills to bring to the working relationship.
This includes-

• Observations of children and young people in class

• Sharing practice with staff

• Attendance of Annual Review Meetings

• Attendance of Multi- Agency Meetings

• Staff training for CPD opportunities

Autism Specialism

Kelly has 27 years experience of working directly with learners who have an Autism Spectrum Condition diagnosis. Having a deep understanding of consent and assent, Kelly supports individuals by ensuring that their needs and wishes are heard and understood, even if they are pre-verbal.

Kelly also has many years experience supporting those who are resistant to following every day demands or instructions, who may or may not have a diagnosis of Pathological Demand Avoidance, which is a profile on the Autism Spectrum.

1-1 work with children and young people

Kelly has a wealth of knowledge and expertise when creating authentic, professional relationships with children and teens that help them feel heard and validated. Identifying areas of growth for themselves is paramount before careful scaffolding helps them reach their potential.

Following an initial assessment, Kelly works with children, teens and their Parents/ Guardians to identify their needs, wishes and priorities. Understanding each individual’s interests and what motivates them, Kelly creates learning opportunities that are fun and meaningful. This work typically takes place on a weekly basis, but can be fortnightly when appropriate.

Navigating the world can be tricky for all of us at particular times, but Kelly works proactively, to identify skills that may be lagging or missing, before helping children and teens build their social and emotional skills. One such way is using a psychological model called DNA-V (Hayes & Ciarrochi). This model teaches children and teens how to be brave Discoverers by trying out new skills. They also learn how to be Noticers and become aware of what is happening around them (noise, or warmth) and within their bodies (fast heart rate, or breathing) and they learn how to challenge their own Advisor, which is typically the little voice that tells us we aren’t doing a good enough job at something. Learning to identify personal Values and how these can be achieved is also crucial to this life improving model.

For the past 4 years Kelly has been facilitating weekly online groups for 7-14 year olds. During these sessions, Kelly collaborates with Parents/ Guardians and the young people to develop anti-ableist expectations, whilst appreciating and honouring the individuality of each group member.

Children and teens grow in confidence from attending these sessions and quickly start transferring these new skills to other situations, outside of the sessions. Children and teens tell Kelly that they love coming to the sessions and really look forward to them each week. Parental feedback has been very positive and clearly shows that parents feel these sessions are meaningful and affordable.

Particular skill areas include-

• Conversation skills

• Self Advocacy and advocating for others

• Sportsmanship and Teamwork

• Confidence and Self Esteem building

• Perspective taking

• Self Regulation (which comes from co-regulation.)

Kelly has completed the Transactional Analysis (TA) Psychotherapy Foundation course at The Iron Mill College and is now studying the Advanced TA Psychotherapy course. This knowledge has greatly enhanced the way Kelly supports families and organisations.

Once Kelly has completed her placement hours, she will be available for 1-1 Private Psychotherapy Sessions.

Uplifting the voices of disabled children, teens and adults is an important value for Nurturing Humanity. As is advocating for Parents and Guardians, as they navigate the challenging Special Educational Needs (SEN) system.

Kelly has a decade of experience attending SEN Tribunal hearings. The latest figures from SENDIST (Special Educational Needs and Disability Tribunals) show that 96% of parents who go through the Tribunal process are successful in changing outcomes, in particular the type of Education and Health support that their children receive.