NeurodiverCity Sheffield

More Information

NeurodiverCity Sheffield (formally Sheffield ADHD Project) is commissioned by Sheffield City Council and has been providing support to families of children and young people living with ADHD in Sheffield for over 15 years. We offer early support via our information sessions and parent/carer drop-in cafes which are fully supported by professionals. Post-diagnostic support for ADHD is offered on receipt of a referral. We also provide training, consultancy and support for schools and professionals in Sheffield.

Our service provides support to parents and carers of neurodivergent children and young people via two pathways.

Early Support Pathway

Due to the increasing demand on services for diagnosis, our service has invested in early help support for families affected by ADHD and other neurodiverse conditions prior to a formal diagnosis. Our service provides a holistic approach and recognises that there are often coexisting conditions which families also need help with managing.

Our early help provides information on local and national sources of support, including educational, practical, and emotional support. We also provide information designed for children of different ages. Parents and carers can access our support as follows and do not need to be referred for early help support:

• via drop-in information training sessions at venues across Sheffield
• via drop-in cafe sessions at venues across Sheffield

Post Diagnosis Pathway

This pathway for support includes an initial information session and then a seven-week training course that we call Managing ADHD Groups (MAG). Courses are provided to parents and carers where a child or young person has been diagnosed with ADHD. All sessions take place either in person in our training room at Scotia Works, or on Zoom.

In the initial information session, we discuss the diagnosis to ensure families understand the information they have been given at the point of diagnosis. We also offer some advice and strategies for managing ADHD. Please note, families need to be referred into our service to receive post-diagnostic support.

MAG (Managing ADHD Groups) Training

This seven-week course gives step-by-step strategies and ideas to enable families to manage a child with ADHD and provides an opportunity for parents and carers to learn from each other and offer peer support. The course was developed by the Family Action ADHD Project alongside colleagues from The Ryegate Children’s Centre and the Child and Adolescent Mental Health Service (CAMHS).

Topics covered in this course include:

• Gaining a better understanding of ADHD and how it affects your child/young person
• Managing behaviours related to ADHD
• Information and advice from Sheffield Special Educational Needs and disability Advice and Support service (SSENDIAS)
• Medication (delivered by ADHD nurses)
• Sleep (delivered by a qualified sleep practitioner)

We currently run nine groups a year either by Zoom or face to face, both in the daytime and the evening. Sessions are planned using coproduction from families to ensure needs are met and all families have access to support.

Professionals 

We also provide training, consultancy and support packages for schools and other professionals who provide services to families in Sheffield. We support all agencies who work with children and young people to understand neurodiversity and enable them to make reasonable adjustments and support which meets the needs of children, young people and their and families.