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Support our Co-op Campaign
We’re thrilled to share that The Fidget Project CIC has been chosen out of over 6,500 projects nationwide as a Co-op Local Community Cause for 2025/2026.
This partnership means that every time Co-op members shop and select us as their chosen cause, a portion of their spending helps support our work with neurodiverse children and families across our local area.
We’ll be working closely with our local Co-op stores in Dartmouth, Modbury, Salcombe and Ivybridge to raise awareness of our mission and make a lasting difference in our community.
Why Our Work Matters?
Many people are still unaware of the Sensory Processing Differences (SPDs) that underpin conditions such as Autism, ADHD, AuDHD, Dyslexia, Dyspraxia and Developmental Delay.
These differences can lead to challenges such as sensory overload, withdrawal, masking, meltdowns, social communication difficulties and learning challenges when needs go unrecognised.
Through our sessions in local hubs, village halls, schools and community venues, we provide practical support to children, parents, educators and local businesses, helping neurodiverse young people thrive.
How You Can Help
You can make a real difference simply by voting for The Fidget Project CIC (Cause ID: 98814) as your Co-op Local Community Cause.
Already a Co-op Member?
Vote for us via the Co-op app or online at coop.co.uk/membership.
Not a Member Yet?
Join today online or through the app.
Every new member who joins before 15 November receives £5 in their account, and we receive £50 for every 10 new members who sign up and support us.
Together, we can raise awareness, provide essential equipment and resources, and create more opportunities for neurodiverse children to let their talents, creativity and originality shine.
Please support us and help make a real difference to local children’s lives.
Neurodiversity and the Government’s New SEND Proposals
A Perspective from The Fidget Project CIC
More than 1.7 million pupils in England’s state schools have Special Educational Needs (SEND). Alongside this, it is estimated that 15–20% of children and young people in the UK are neurodivergent.
This means around 1 in 7 children (14%) have a diagnosis linked to neurodivergence such as autism (ASC/ASD), ADHD, AuDHD, dyslexia or dyspraxia. Many more remain undiagnosed.
Most, if not all, of these neurodivergent conditions are underpinned by sensory processing differences. Under the Equality Act 2010, neurodivergence is considered a disability. As a result, the needs of neurodivergent children are legally included within SEND provision.
At The Fidget Project CIC, our mission is to improve neurodivergent children’s access to learning, life and health. We aim to do this through education, life opportunities and the support services children need to thrive in cultural institutions that are still largely designed around neurotypical experiences.
What Families Are Telling Us
In Spring 2025, we conducted a survey of families across the rural South West of England.
Of the 400 respondents, 67% reported that SEND provision — particularly around neurodiversity — was “poor or non-existent.”
This is deeply concerning.
In response, The Fidget Project has been working to support families and raise awareness in practical ways. Our initiatives include:
- Regular drop-in sessions for parents and allies.
- A lending library of sensory tools and equipment.
- Training sessions in primary schools.
- Community awareness raising around sensory processing differences.
We hope these efforts have helped, even in a small way.
But we also recognise that community projects alone cannot meet the scale of need.
The Government’s New SEND Proposals
We welcome the intention behind the Government’s new SEND proposals and recognise several promising commitments.
These include:
- Increased funding for SEND provision
- The writing off of some local authority SEND deficits
- A commitment to making children with additional needs integral to the school system
We share Bridget Phillipson’s ambition of being “fiercely ambitious for every child in our country.”
The idea of tailored support built around individual needs, available close to home is something we strongly support.
We are also hopeful about the proposed “Experts At Hand” service, which could make specialist support far more accessible to families and schools.
What Neurodiverse Families Need
Families repeatedly tell us they need faster and easier access to specialist support, including:
- Occupational Therapists
- Speech and Language Therapists
- SEND-trained teachers
- Professionals who understand sensory processing differences
At present, many school SENDCOs (Special Educational Needs Coordinators) are overwhelmed with the administration of the Education Health and Care Plan (EHCP) system.
This leaves little time for them to focus on improving classroom practices or raising awareness about sensory processing needs.
Teacher training also remains limited. Currently, trainee teachers receive around half a day of SEND training, which does not necessarily include meaningful guidance on supporting neurodivergent children.
Imagine a Different Approach
Imagine if every child entering the education system was screened for their sensory profile.
Early screening could help identify:
- Dyslexia
- Dyspraxia
- Sensory system differences
This would allow earlier support for key developmental systems such as:
- Auditory processing
- Visual processing
- Touch
- Vestibular balance
- Proprioception
- Early reflex integration
With earlier identification and support, classrooms could become far more inclusive environments.
The potential outcomes could include:
- Fewer sensory overload experiences
- Fewer “meltdowns” or mislabelled behavioural incidents
- Fewer children refusing school
- Reduced risk of developing mental health difficulties such as anxiety, depression or eating disorders
- Fewer children needing alternative provision or home education
- Fewer children having to leave their families to attend distant specialist schools
Imagine if the funding allocated to early years settings made this possible.
Could this be included in the new Best Start Family Hubs?
Signs of Progress
At The Fidget Project, we have been working closely with a local primary school to develop what the Government might recognise as an “inclusion base.”
We are already receiving positive feedback from parents about this new neurodivergent provision.
This shows that positive change is possible.
Across Devon, there are excellent Family Hubs already supporting families. With the right investment and policy support, these centres could become powerful examples of how inclusive communities can thrive.
Our Continued Concerns
While we welcome many aspects of the new proposals, several concerns remain.
We are worried about the raising of the threshold required to qualify for EHCP support, particularly when waiting lists for assessments and services in many areas already stretch into years.
We are also concerned that the system may remain overly administrative, with annual EHCP reviews continuing to consume time and resources that could otherwise improve practical support for children.
Another serious concern is the risk that children may lose their EHCP when transitioning from primary to secondary school.
In our experience, the move to secondary school is one of the most vulnerable periods for neurodivergent children.
At this stage, they need more support, not less.
Join the Conversation
The future of SEND provision matters deeply to families, educators and communities.
We would love to hear your thoughts on the Government’s proposed changes and what you believe needs to happen next.
Together, we can continue working towards a world where neurodivergent children are supported to learn, participate and shine.
Lynne Tarrab-Snooks
Director, The Fidget Project CIC
Nobody Tells You About the In-Between: Parenting in the Diagnosis Gap
By Lynne Tarrab-Snooks, Director of The Fidget Project
There's a particular kind of exhaustion that comes from knowing something is going on with your child, but not yet having the language to describe it. You're not imagining it. You know that. But without a diagnosis, without a name, without anyone in a clinical setting nodding and saying "yes, I see it too," you start to question yourself more than you'd like to admit.
That was me. And it was one of the most disorienting periods of my life.
My child was eventually diagnosed with autism. But the road to that diagnosis was long, confusing, and at times deeply isolating. And what I've since learned, through conversations with dozens of other parents, is that my experience was far from unusual. The waiting lists are long. The referral processes are fragmented. The goalposts move. And in the meantime, you are expected to just get on with it.
What nobody prepares you for
When you first raise concerns with a GP, a health visitor, or a teacher, the response is often measured. "Let's keep an eye on it." "All children develop differently." "It might just be a phase."
These responses are not always wrong, but when your gut is telling you something more specific, the wait-and-see approach can feel like being handed a puzzle with no picture on the box.
During that time, I was also trying to understand my child's sensory processing differences, long before anyone had given them a formal name. Certain textures caused genuine distress. Loud environments were overwhelming in ways that looked, to outsiders, like behaviour problems. Getting dressed in the morning could take an hour, not because of defiance, but because the sensation of certain fabrics was genuinely unbearable. We were adapting constantly, instinctively, without a framework to explain why or a community to learn from.
We found strategies by trial and error. Some worked. Many didn't. We learned that predictability mattered enormously. That transitions needed warning. That what looked like a meltdown was usually a communication, and that behind every difficult moment there was a sensory or emotional need that hadn't yet been met.
But we were figuring this out largely alone.
The gap that nobody talks about
Here's what I've come to believe: the diagnosis is not the finish line. It is not even really the starting line. It is simply a door that, once opened, reveals how many more doors there are.
After diagnosis, many families discover that the support they assumed would follow is patchy at best. Waiting lists continue. School provision varies enormously depending on postcode. Schools are also over-stretched and under-financed. Therapists are expensive or inaccessible. And the emotional labour of advocating for your child, across healthcare, education, and everyday life, falls almost entirely on parents who are already running on empty.
What I needed, and what I couldn't find easily, was a community. Not a clinical resource. Not a forum full of strangers arguing. A genuine, warm, informed community of people who understood what it felt like to be in the thick of it.
And that’s what led to The Fidget Project.
Why we built what we wished had existed
The Fidget Project was born from lived experience. My own, my partners, and that of other parents and carers who are navigating neurodivergence without enough support around them. Our aim is simple: to reduce the isolation that so many families feel, to share practical knowledge rooted in real life rather than theory alone, and to help parents feel less alone in what can be a genuinely hard journey.
We are not clinicians. We are not here to replace professional support. But we know that the space between the professional appointments, between the diagnosis and the next step, between the school meeting and the outcome, is where parents often struggle most. That is the space we are trying to fill.
What I would say to you, if you are in the in-between
If you are still waiting for answers, you are not failing your child by not having them yet. The system is slow. That is not a reflection of your urgency or your love.
If you are post-diagnosis and wondering why it doesn't feel like the relief you expected, that is normal too. Diagnosis gives language. It does not automatically give support.
Trust what you observe. You know your child better than any assessment can capture. Keep a record of what you notice. Lean into the strategies that work, even if you can't yet explain why they work. And please, find your people. Whether that is a local group, an online community, or simply one other parent who gets it, connection matters more than we often give it credit for.
You are not alone in this. And the fact that you are reading this, looking for understanding, looking for strategies, looking for solidarity, tells me you are exactly the kind of parent your child needs.