SEND Local Offer - Communication and behaviour support

Find communication and behavioural support services for children and young people with special educational needs or disabilities.

Help with questions about my child's communication or behaviour

Children and young people need to be able to communicate and express themselves. How they communicate and their behaviour are key elements of their development.

Those with communication difficulties are more likely to have behavioural difficulties. If you have concerns about how your child communicates or their behaviour, these resources can help.

Your child's school

Parents can speak with their child’s school about any concerns with their child’s communication and behaviour.

Schools will have access to support through the SEND Inclusion Service.

Learn more about this service on the SEND Inclusion Service directory listing.

Schools can also refer you to other services. Contact your child's school using the School Search (Nottinghamshire County Council)

Early Help Unit

The Early Help Unit provides a central contact point for families wanting to access early help services in Nottinghamshire. This includes support around communication and behaviour.

Telephone: 0115 804 1248
Opening hours:
Monday, Tuesday, Thursday and Friday: 9am to 4:30pm
Wednesday: 10:30am to 4:30pm
Email: early.help@nottscc.gov.uk

For further details, go to the Early Help Unit directory listing

Healthy Family Teams

Healthy Families Teams are an NHS service who can provide advice and support to all families living in Nottinghamshire with a child aged between 0 and 19 years on a variety of issues, including child development and behaviour.

Learn more about the Healthy Family Teams (NHS Nottinghamshire Healthcare)

Parents and carers can call Healthy Family Teams advice line for support by telephone on 0300 123 5436

Find out about what support the advice line offers in this in this 2-minute YouTube video.

Nottinghamshire County Council support services

Disability Family Support Service - Specialist Support Team

The Specialist Support Team (SST) provide support for children and young people aged 0 to 18 years either within their own homes or local communities, supported by trained and experienced workers. This can include support around challenging behaviour.

For further details, go to The Specialist Support Team directory listing

Neurodevelopmental Support Team (Family Service)

The Neurodevelopmental Support Team operates within the Family Service, offering early assistance to families concerned their child may have neurodevelopmental support needs suggestive of Autism or ADHD.

For more about the team, including the referral process, go to SEND Local Offer - Neurodevelopmental support team (Family Service)

Social, emotional mental health team (SEMH)

The team is made up of specialist teachers and teaching assistants who provide advice and support to parents, schools and to partnerships of primary schools. The service aims to reduce fixed term suspensions, permanent exclusions and secure and strengthen the school places of the primary aged children aged three to 11 years with the most severe and complex social, emotional and mental health needs. The team is split up into districts across the North and South of the county.

Learn more about the SEMH team (Nottinghamshire County Council)

For general enquiries, please contact SEMH@nottscc.gov.uk

Family Hub Networks

Family Hub Networks are located in every district of Nottinghamshire and offer a wide range of support including child development, communication and behaviour.

They offer a range of activities for children under age 5 years. They can also offer one to one or group support.

Learn more on our Family Hubs page

Other advice and support

Parentline

Parent line is a confidential texting service for parents and carers. The texting service is an easy way for parent and carers of children aged from age 0 to 19 years to confidentially ask for help about a range of issues, such as:

child development
parenting advice and support
emotional health and wellbeing
behaviour difficulties.

Text Parentline on 07520 619919

Learn more about Parentline (NHS Nottinghamshire Healthcare)

Family Lives

Family lives provides information and support for parents on all aspects of family life, from children’s development, behavioural management, dealing with teenagers, and family breakdown. The provide support in a number of different ways including via their website and confidential helpline.

Telephone helpline: 0808 800 2222
Opening hours:
Monday to Friday: 9am to 9pm
Weekends: 10am to 3pm

Learn more about the team or talk to them through webchat on the Family Lives website

The Challenging Behaviour Foundation Family Support Service

The Challenging Behaviour Foundation Family Support Service can provide information and support about the needs of children and young people with a severe learning disability.

Telephone: 0300 666 0126
Opening hours
Monday to Thursday: 9am to 5pm
Friday: 9am to 3pm
Email: support@thecbf.org.uk

Read more about the service on The Challenging Behaviour Foundation website

Search for support in our directory

Search for details of organisations who offer support around communication and behaviour in the communication and behaviour support directory listings

Please note: You can narrow down the search results, if you are specifically looking for services that support with communication, by clicking on the filter option 'supporting people with' and then 'communication difficulties'.

Children's speech and language support

The Nottinghamshire Healthcare Children’s Speech, Language and Communication Support Service offer early intervention speech and language therapy and specialist children’s speech and language therapy.

Early intervention speech and language therapy

The Early Intervention Team provides support and advice for families and professionals for young children who are ‘late talkers’.

The early development of good language and communication skills is so important in shaping a child’s life. It opens the door to all other learning and gives a child confidence in social situations.

Learn more about Early Intervention Speech and Language Therapy (NHS Nottinghamshire Healthcare)

Specialist children's speech and language therapy

The Children's Speech and Language Therapy Service supports children in Nottingham city and county.

Children meeting the service entry criteria will receive assessment, diagnosis and support.

The service work with children who need support with the following.

Understanding what is being said to them
Listening and following instructions
Using words and linking words together
Saying sounds and speaking clearly
Communicating and interacting with other people
Using alternative ways of communicating
Having a healthy voice
Eating and drinking safely
Talking fluently

Learn more about Specialist Children's Speech and Language Therapy (NHS Nottinghamshire Healthcare)

If you live in Bassetlaw district, go to Children's Speech and Language Therapy Service (Doncaster and Bassetlaw Hospitals NHS)

Adults speech and language support

The Adult Community Speech and Language Therapy Service deliver a service to adults (aged 18 years and over) in Nottinghamshire County who have acquired swallowing, speech and other communication problems.

The service can work with people who have therapy needs due to neurological conditions such as:

stroke
motor neurone disease
multiple sclerosis
parkinson’s Disease
brain injury
any other condition that causes swallowing or communication difficulties.

Learn about the Adult Community Speech and Language Therapy Service (NHS Nottinghamshire Healthcare)

NHS individual funding requests

An individual funding request can be made by the clinician treating you if they believe that because your clinical circumstances are exceptional, you may receive benefit from a treatment or service that isn’t routinely offered by the NHS.

A request can be made when both:

your clinician believes that your clinical circumstances are clearly different to other patients with the same condition
there is a reason why you would respond differently to other patients - and therefore gain more clinical benefit from the treatment.

For more information download individual funding requests: A guide for patients (Nottingham and Nottinghamshire ICB) [PDF]