Who this is for

Adoption practitioners and managers (Voluntary Adoption Agencies, Regional Adoption Agencies, Local Authorities, and independent social workers), children’s social care services, children and family social workers, foster carers, kinship carers, designated teachers, and other professionals working with children and families.

Details

This expert-led workshop supports adoption and fostering practitioners to develop a deeper, neuro-affirming understanding of autism, ADHD and neurodivergence in children and young people.

Many children in adoption and fostering are neurodivergent. Their ways of experiencing, processing and responding to the world may be recognised early, emerge over time or become more visible as expectations, relationships and environments change. When practitioners understand these differences, they are better able to recognise children’s strengths, reduce barriers and work alongside families to provide timely, compassionate and individualised support.

I found the whole training useful. It gave me a lot of activities I can integrate into current treatments. – Attendee 2026

Grounded in Family Futures’ neurodevelopmental, trauma-informed and relationship-based approach, this workshop explores neurodivergence in the context of developmental trauma and early adversity. Participants will consider how neurodivergence and trauma can interact to shape children’s experiences, while recognising that neurodivergence is a natural aspect of human diversity rather than a consequence of trauma.

I thought the facilitators were so approachable, knowledgeable and extremely professional in their approach. – Attendee 2026

Rather than asking “What’s wrong with this child?”, practitioners will be encouraged to ask “What has this child experienced?”, “How do they experience the world?” and “What helps them feel safe enough to thrive?”

The whole course was useful, especially the examples of direct work with children & young people. – Attendee 2026

The workshop explores how neurodivergence and trauma can influence emotional regulation, sensory experiences, communication, relationships and behaviour, while recognising that every child’s profile is unique. Participants will develop a more nuanced understanding of how neurodivergence and trauma can present similarly, differently, and in combination – building confidence in responding compassionately even when the underlying cause isn’t clear.

Learning 0utcomes

By the end of the workshop, participants will be able to:

• Recognise the diverse characteristics of autism, ADHD and other forms of neurodivergence, understanding that every child presents differently.
• Understand how neurodivergence and developmental trauma can interact to affect emotional regulation, communication, sensory processing, relationships and behaviour.
• Apply a neuro-affirming, trauma-informed approach to assessment, formulation and support planning within adoption and fostering services.
• Identify children’s strengths as well as their support needs to promote stability, belonging and positive outcomes.
• Apply practical strategies and effective partnership working to support neurodivergent children and young people.

About the trainer

Georgie Kovoor – Clinical Specialist Therapy Services at Family Futures – MA in Music Therapy, Theraplay Level 1 & 2, Group Theraplay, ADI-R (Autism Assessor) and HCPC registered (AS16748)

Georgie is an experienced Music Therapist who uses sound and creative approaches to support children and young people in expressing themselves. She creates a safe and supportive environment where emotional and relational challenges can be explored, helping individuals better understand their experiences and make sense of them over time.

She works with a wide range of families and has particular experience in supporting children and young people with additional needs and diverse neurological profiles, tailoring her approach to meet each individual’s strengths and needs.

Instructions

A member of staff will be in touch with attendees one week prior to the event to share a pre-event delegate pack.

If you have any questions regarding this webinar, please contact us at [email protected]. We will aim to answer your query within two working days.

CVAA accept online payments only. In case you do not have instant access to your company card, we suggest using your personal card instead to book a training event and claim it back with your agency in your expenses. Requesting an invoice to pay for our standard practice events is not possible.

By purchasing this training, you agree that recordings may be used for educational and promotional purposes. Participants will be blurred and anonymised.

Who this is for

Adoption practitioners and managers (Voluntary Adoption Agencies, Regional Adoption Agencies, Local Authorities, and independent social workers), children’s social care services, children and family social workers, foster carers, kinship carers, designated teachers, and other professionals working with children and families.

Details

Sensory processing refers to the neurological process of how the brain receives, organises, and helps us respond to the world we live in. It is fundamental to how we survive and thrive in the world. Developmental trauma refers to adverse experiences that can interfere with healthy development, including that of the sensory systems. These experiences can disrupt the development of the nervous system, leading to sensory processing difficulties.

In this expert-led training session, together with occupational therapists from the Centre for Adoption Support, we will explore how adopted children may have experienced developmental trauma and how this can impact their sensory modulation. Using a bottom-up approach, we will consider how to best help adoptive parents to support their child’s sensory development.

“It was extremely informative and the presenters had a great deal of knowledge and experience in this area” – Attendee, 2023

You will have an opportunity to learn what Centre of Adoption Support are doing in terms of specific aspects of this work, whilst at the same time having the opportunity to deepen your understanding of sensory modulation, sensorimotor development and sensory-attachment approaches.

“There was a wealth of information that was shared along with examples which was really helpful to put it into context” – Attendee, 2023

You will be able to network with practitioners from other agencies, share best practice and glean new ideas.

Learning outcomes

• Explore the importance of Sensory Modulation: a bottom-up approach
• Understand what sensory processing challenges may look like for our adopted children
• Learn about strategies that may be useful in supporting general nervous system regulation
• Consider the possible impacts of pre-natal experiences upon the developing sensorimotor systems of the child
• Explore approaches to develop under-mature sensory systems, including sensorimotor development and sensory-attachment-intervention approaches

About the trainers

This training will be co-delivered by Helen Springfellow, Aeron Gates and Hannah McNulty, Occupational Therapists at the Centre for Adoption Support (CfAS). Gleaning upon both professional and personal experience in the world of sensory processing and adoption, they support families with adopted children, and other professionals involved in their lives, to understand the impacts of sensory modulation upon children’s regulation and daily functioning. The team have developed bespoke packages of support for families; focusing on sensory modulation, sensorimotor development (using the BUSS Model, Sarah Lloyd) and Sensory Attachment Intervention (SAI) approaches.

Instructions

A member of staff will be in touch with attendees one week prior to the event to share a pre-event delegate pack. If you have any questions regarding this webinar, please contact us at [email protected]. We will aim to answer your query within two working days.

CVAA accept online payments only. In case you do not have instant access to your company card, we suggest using your personal card instead to book a training event and claim it back with your agency in your expenses. Requesting an invoice to pay for our standard practice events is not possible.

Who this is for

Adoption practitioners and managers (Voluntary Adoption Agencies, Regional Adoption Agencies, Local Authorities, and independent social workers), children’s social care services, children and family social workers, foster carers, kinship carers, designated teachers, and other professionals working with children and families.

Details

In this training session we will hear from Dr Zoe Webb, a clinical psychologist with whom we explore how to best support adoptive families to understand developmental trauma and mental health needs of young people. We will consider different strategies to help adoptive parents to differentiate between behaviour linked to trauma and ‘expected’ types of behaviour linked to their level of development.

“All the speakers were great. Mel seemed very approachable and was open about her own misgivings and how her own practice had developed. Aaron and Dani were fabulous! Such insightful, well articulated, engaging and friendly young people. All the speakers made the webinar an absolute pleasure to attend.” – Attendee, June 2021

We will then hear from senior practitioners at Scottish Adoption and learn from the lived experience and reflections facilitated by their young ambassadors on the issues as they see it, that are at play during adolescence. We will discuss the need to explore their identity, the need to separate from their adoptive parents and their need to see their birth family.

“[I liked…] the expertise and experience of the facilitators on this particular topic, and the contribution of the people who were adopted. Their generosity in sharing their experiences was very powerful and made the webinar even more meaningful.” – Attendee, June 2021

During this training you will be able to network with fellow practitioners from other agencies, share best practice and glean new ideas.

Learning outcomes

• Explore strategies to support adoptive parents in understanding developmental trauma and mental health needs of young people, including differentiating between behavior linked to trauma and ‘expected’ behavior linked to development level.
• Understand the experiences and reflections of young ambassadors facilitated by senior practitioners at Scottish Adoption on issues at play during adolescence, such as exploring identity, separating from adoptive parents, and the need to see birth family.
• Network with fellow practitioners from other agencies, share best practices, and gain new ideas.
• Gain insight into the perspectives of adoptive families and how to better support them in navigating the unique challenges of raising children who have experienced developmental trauma

About the trainers

Melanie Thomson 

Melanie Thomson is the Children’s Worker at Scottish Adoption. In addition to proving post adoption support to children and their families, Melanie facilitates a number of different groups for adopted children and young people. Melanie strongly believes in the power of group work within post adoption support and alongside her team of Adoption Ambassadors, manages the @TeenTalk social media channel https://www.scottishadoption.org/teentalk/ where the aim is create an online adoption community for children and young people and educate the wider world via their lived experience.

Dr Zoe Webb

Dr Zoe Webb, BSc, PhD, DClinPsy, is a qualified child and adolescent clinical psychologist with over ten years experience of working with young people & their families. Having worked previously within Child and Adolescent Mental Health services in the NHS, she has been in full-time independent practice since 2015. Zoe works therapeutically with both young people and adults, individually, dyadically or systemically on a range of mental health & well-being difficulties (inc. anxiety, depression, anger, self-harm etc..) with a specialist interest in developmental trauma & attachment difficulties. She is trained in the core therapeutic models used within clinical psychology practice (inc. CBT, systemic, and narrative) and has completed additional training in Dyadic Developmental Psychotherapy (DDP; certified practitioner), Theraplay (to level 2), the Dynamic Maturational Model of attachment, The Meaning of the Child, Child Attachment & Play Assessment (CAPA), and EMDR (level 1 & child).

Instructions

A member of staff will be in touch with attendees one week prior to the event to share a pre-event delegate pack.

If you have any questions regarding this webinar, please contact us at [email protected]. We will aim to answer your query within two working days.

CVAA accept online payments only. In case you do not have instant access to your company card, we suggest using your personal card instead to book a training event and claim it back with your agency in your expenses. Requesting an invoice to pay for our standard practice events is not possible.

Who this is for

Adoption Practitioners, Managers, Social Workers (Voluntary Adoption Agencies, Regional Adoption Agencies and Local Authorities), Children’s Social Workers, Support Workers and Independent Professionals.

Details

Sensory processing refers to the neurological process of how the brain receives, organises, and helps us respond to the world we live in. It is fundamental to how we survive and thrive in the world. Developmental trauma refers to adverse experiences that can interfere with healthy development, including that of the sensory systems. These experiences can disrupt the development of the nervous system, leading to sensory processing difficulties.

In this expert-led training session, together with occupational therapists from the Centre for Adoption Support, we will explore how adopted children may have experienced developmental trauma and how this can impact their sensory modulation. Using a bottom-up approach, we will consider how to best help adoptive parents to support their child’s sensory development.

You will have an opportunity to learn what Centre of Adoption Support are doing in terms of specific aspects of this work, whilst at the same time having the opportunity to deepen your understanding of sensory modulation, sensorimotor development and sensory-attachment approaches.

You will be able to network with practitioners from other agencies, share best practice and glean new ideas.

Learning outcomes

• Explore the importance of Sensory Modulation: a bottom-up approach
• Understand what sensory processing challenges may look like for our adopted children
• Learn about strategies that may be useful in supporting general nervous system regulation
• Consider the possible impacts of pre-natal experiences upon the developing sensorimotor systems of the child
• Explore approaches to develop under-mature sensory systems, including sensorimotor development and sensory-attachment-intervention approaches

About the trainers

This training will be co-delivered by Helen Springfellow, Aeron Gates and Hannah McNulty, Occupational Therapists at the Centre for Adoption Support (CfAS). Gleaning upon both professional and personal experience in the world of sensory processing and adoption, they support families with adopted children, and other professionals involved in their lives, to understand the impacts of sensory modulation upon children’s regulation and daily functioning. The team have developed bespoke packages of support for families; focusing on sensory modulation, sensorimotor development (using the BUSS Model, Sarah Lloyd) and Sensory Attachment Intervention (SAI) approaches.

Instructions

A member of staff will be in touch with attendees one week prior to the event to share a pre-event delegate pack. If you have any questions regarding this webinar, please contact us at [email protected]. We will aim to answer your query within two working days.

CVAA accept online payments only. In case you do not have instant access to your company card, we suggest using your personal card instead to book a training event and claim it back with your agency in your expenses. Requesting an invoice to pay for our standard practice events is not possible.