Following the “Accelerator Projects” run in North Cumbria and the North East that started in 2018, the programme has now been rolled out to the rest of the country, with Greater Manchester (GM) being one of the localities involved. All the 10 GM areas have signed up for this initiative – Manchester, Bolton, Bury, Oldham, Rochdale, Salford, Stockport, Tameside, Trafford, and Wigan – covering over 30 schools across GM.
There are currently seven participating schools in Manchester: Co-op Academy Manchester, Didsbury High School, Levenshulme High School, Manchester Communication Academy, Parrs Wood High School, Southern Cross school, St. Matthew’s Roman Catholic High School, and Trinity Church of England High School
Being closely aligned with the Transforming Care programme, we have an overarching aim to improve services so that more people can live in the community, with the right support, and close to home. We seek to ensure that children and young people are supported better in the school environment; foster good relationships between and among staff, parents and students; signpost families to sources of information and support; and promote neurodiversity awareness and acceptance among young people.
In 2024, the Greater Manchester steering group for Autism in Schools decided to change the name of the project, as we felt that Neurodiversity in Schools will be more representative of the aims of this programme.
Below are some blog posts and events associated with Neurodiversity in Schools:
