Together achieving better decisions and brighter futures for Manchester families of children and young people aged 0-25 with Special Educational Needs and Disabilities (SEND)

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The Social Communication Pathway (SCP) offers informational workshops that have historically been offered to parents and carers of children or young people who are on the SCP waiting list or who have received a diagnosis of Autism Spectrum Condition from Manchester University NHS Foundation Trust (MFT). Since January 2026, the MFT has kindly opened these workshops to ALL city of Manchester parents and carers. Whether you have a neurodivergent child or you’re a neurocurious parent/carer, you can now access the SCP workshops to learn more about neurodiversity and how you can support neurodivergent children and young people.

The workshops run weekly and rotate between the following four topics every month:

Neurodiversity and Well-being: This session discusses information around neurodiversity, mental health and well-being, and are delivered by Clinical Psychologists and Mental Health Practitioners.
Sensory Differences: Delivered by Occupational Therapists in the team, this session offers information for parents around sensory behaviours and how to support them at home.
Communication Differences: This session provides information around speech, language and communication, and are delivered by Speech and Language Therapists.
Understanding and Working with the Education System: This session is delivered by Educational Psychologists and provides information about SEND, neurodiversity in education and how children’s needs can be met by schools.

Please visit https://bit.ly/scp-autism-workshops if you wish to view the chronological list of upcoming SCP workshops on our calendar.

Below are some articles and events on our website that refer to the SCP Workshops. Please click on a specific event to learn more and to book your place.

Understanding and Working with the Primary Education System (Central Manchester)

Delivered by educational psychologists, this session provides info about SEND, neurodiversity in education, and how children's needs can be met by schools.

Understanding Sensory Differences (Central Manchester)

This workshop aims to impart parents and carers with information about sensory differences amongst neurodivergent people.

Understanding Communication Differences (Central Manchester)

This workshop aims to impart parents with language and communication strategies to use with their children.

Understanding Neurodiversity and Wellbeing (Central Manchester)

This session discusses information around Neurodiversity, Mental Health and Well-being delivered by Clinical Psychologists and Mental Health Practitioners.

Under-5s SCP – Parent/Carer Sensory Workshop

This workshop will develop your understanding of the sensory system. It considers how neurodivergent individuals may experience sensory differences.

Under-5s SCP – Parent/Carer Community Play Workshop

This workshop considers the particular challenges parents/carers can face when toilet training a child with social communication differences. Ideal for those with children aged 0 to 5 years.

Under-5s SCP – Parent/Carer Eating Challenges Workshop CANCELLED

This workshop considers the particular challenges parents/carers can face when toilet training a child with social communication differences. Ideal for those with children aged 0 to 5 years.

Understanding and Working with the Education System (South Manchester): Aimed at Secondary + School aged young people.

This session is delivered by Educational Psychologists and provides all information related to SEN and School.

Understanding Sensory Differences (South Manchester)

Delivered by Occupational Therapists in the team, this session offers information for parents around sensory behaviours and how to support this at home.

Understanding Communication Differences (South Manchester)

This session provides information around speech and language and communication, delivered by Speech and Language Therapists.