The EPIC Project

Understanding and supporting neurodivergent children

Neurodivergent conditions, such as autism, ADHD and DCD/ Dyspraxia, are common. Around one in five children in mainstream primary school classes are neurodivergent. These conditions are associated with a high risk of poor developmental outcomes in areas of academic learning, relationships and mental health. These children can thrive, though, if there is an understanding of their difficulties and support in place tailored to their individual needs.

Support programmes and interventions have traditionally focused on parenting and changing a child’s behaviours. Research has shown that neurodivergent children have underlying difficulties in their thinking skills, termed ‘executive functions’, that contribute to the behaviours we see. This can include difficulties in memory, attention flexibility, control of responses and planning and organisation.

Children who are neurodivergent differ in the pattern of difficulties they have with executive functions. These conditions are highly cooccurring, for example, autism with ADHD. Sometimes a second condition is not at a diagnosed level, but the co-occurring symptoms may still affect the type of difficulties the child has. Therefore, we need to take an individualised approach rather than being solely guided by a diagnosis to fully understand and support a child’s thinking and learning difficulties.

My research shows the type of a child’s thinking difficulties relates to their performance in literacy and maths. These thinking skills are not only important for reading but also broader literacy skills such as spelling and oral expression. Putting the right support in place for their thinking skills can improve a child’s academic attainment. Again, this is individual to the child - for one, this may mean an emphasis on verbal memory support, while for another it may relate to planning. www.ed.ac.uk/clinical-brainsciences/research/epicedinburgh-psychoeducationintervention/epic-research

I have led on the development of EPIC (Edinburgh Psychoeducation Intervention for Children and Young People) which provides services and resources for parents and teachers to better understand and support neurodivergent children in relation to this evidence base. EPIC activities empower the child with an understanding of themselves and upskill them with a toolkit of strategies they can apply in familiar and new situations, supported by their parents and teachers.

The EPIC project is being formed into a social enterprise community interest company ‘EPIC Think Learn’ to enable us to provide our services and resources more widely. For information on EPIC Think Learn, please see our website and blog. You can be kept updated by joining our register by emailing epic@ed.ac.uk and/or follow us on Facebook and Twitter.