ND Family Support
The ND Family Support Service is for families with children and young people under 25, before and after assessment for neurodevelopmental differences such as autism, ADHD and tics/Tourettes. We support families in Brighton & Hove and East Sussex.
Our service is currently closed for the holiday period and will reopen on 2 January 2025. Please know there will be a short delay in replying to your referral during this time. Best wishes, ND Family Support Team.
Our core service is ND Family Training and Navigation. We also offer peer support for parents through our parent groups and befriending, and youth activities that welcome young people with neuro-differences through Amazing Futures.
What is ND?
ND is an abbreviation for a few terms that all relate to how our brains work.
neurodivergent – a way of describing people whose brains work differently in one or more ways from what is considered standard or typical (neurotypical).
neurodiversity – the idea that everyone thinks and processes the world differently and all perspectives deserve to be seen, valued and treated equally.
neurodevelopmental – the way the brain develops and works in everyday life; in the SEND world, this adjective is often attached to the words ‘condition’ or ‘difference’ to collectively describe conditions such as autism, ADHD and tics/Tourette syndrome.
You may also hear about the neurodevelopmental pathway or NDP. This describes the different steps that a child or young person goes through from looking into a referral to the diagnosis of a neurodevelopmental condition (or conditions). It also includes those children and young people who are assessed but do not get a diagnosis.
The ND in our ND Family Support Service stands for neurodevelopmental, as we support families at any point on the neurodevelopmental pathway; before, during and after assessment and diagnosis for a neurodevelopmental condition.
ND Family Training & Navigation
Our ND Family Training & Navigation Service offers information and advice for parent carers about neurodevelopmental differences, how the local pathways work and how to support your neurodivergent child. There is advice through navigation calls and access to workshops and courses.
NHS Sussex teams in Brighton & Hove and East Sussex commission Amaze to coordinate this service for our local parent carers. It complements a range of neurodevelopmental pathway services and other support across health, education and social care in both regions.
Who can use ND Family Support?
Any Brighton & Hove or East Sussex parent carer with a child or young person under 25, at any stage on the neurodevelopmental pathway, from looking into getting a referral to the NHS for an assessment to post diagnosis/assessment.
Your child does not need to have a diagnosis to get support.
What conditions are covered?
- autism
- ADHD
- tics/Tourette syndrome
- learning disabilities/developmental delay
- FASD (foetal alcohol spectrum disorder)
- social communication concerns
- sensory processing differences
How we support families
ND Navigation offers a one-off call to ensure families have access to information and can find and take up available support appropriate to their needs and their stage on the neurodevelopmental pathway. This might mean advising them on how to get an assessment, telling them about services that can help or relevant support networks and sending them resources.
ND Family Training offers a programme of training, family education and support, produced and delivered by expert parents, people with lived experience, and professionals. Use our short parent carer training tool to find out which of our courses you can access for support.
Examples of training include our online workshop about waiting for an assessment, or our in-person 2-week course for parent carers of children with a diagnosis of ADHD. We also run regular specialist workshops. You may find some of our training on Amaze’s Events calendar.
We will contact you by phone or email. This is typically a one-off contact for signposting, or involve short term follow up to match you to relevant training.
To find out more about our training offers for parent carers and those of our ND partners in the area, take a look at the guide we have coproduced.
How to make a referral
You can refer yourself for ND family support or ask a professional to do it for you.
The self-referral form takes about 5-10 minutes to complete and it is best to complete it in one go as you cannot save the form. If you are having difficulty filling in this form, please contact us by phone or email. Phone: 0800 088 6013 or Email: [email protected]’
Refer yourself for ND Family Support
Ask a professional to refer you
Get online advice
You can read information about specific conditions and common concerns as well as education, benefits, health and social care in our Info & Advice area.
Other support
Amaze services
Amaze provides a range of services that can support families with children and young people on the neurodevelopmental pathway.
Our parent groups and befriending service offers regular groups and befriending
Our SENDIASS advice line offers impartial information, advice and support on education, health, social care and any other issues related to SEND.
Our Amazing Futures service runs regular peer support groups and activities for young people up to 25 with SEND in Brighton & Hove and East Sussex.
Other local support
Read our page on Support while you wait for a health assessment for more information.
You can find out about other local SEND services on Brighton & Hove’s Local Offer and East Sussex’s Local Offer. The Local Offer is the council’s online directory of local services for families of children with SEND.
