News

end of grant report, Positive Family Connections, University of Warwick

Kids love to read books where they can identify with the characters in the story. Our postal lending library has a ...

Celebrating Progress in Neurodevelopmental Research

Cerebra Network, CNND, Research project

Over the past four years, Cerebra has proudly supported the Cerebra Network for Neurodevelopmental Disorders (CNND), a collaborative initiative spanning ...

Celebrating Progress in Family Support Research

Over the past three years, Cerebra has proudly funded a pioneering research program at the University of Warwick, focused on ...

Celebrating Progress in Prenatal Brain Health Research

foetal medicine, premature birth, University of Barcelona

Over the past three years, Cerebra has proudly funded a pioneering research programme at Barcelona's Clinical and Research Centre of ...

Preventing Neonatal Brain Injury and Childhood Disability

neonatal brain injuries, premature birth, University of Leeds

From 2020 to 2024, Cerebra supported a research initiative at the University of Leeds aimed at preventing neonatal brain injuries, ...

Cerebral palsy and medical negligence: your questions answered

Cerebral Palsy, Leigh Day, Medical negligence, solicitors

Can cerebral palsy be caused by medical negligence? Medical negligence in cerebral palsy claims usually arises if there is a ...

Urgent Call for Action: Support Disabled Children’s Right to Dignified, Accessible Continence Care

bladder and bowel dysfunction, Continence, disabled children, human rights, petition, Template Letter | 9 Comments

Our groundbreaking new report reveals a shocking failure by health and social care bodies across England, Wales, and Scotland to ...

Book review: Developing Ellie

Book Review, Library, Periventricular Leukomalacia, postal lending library

I really enjoyed reading this one, it's so full of hope and positivity. This is a really special autobiography. I ...

Sleep Anxiety: how our Sleep Service helped

Sleep Advice Service, Sleep anxiety

Nine-year-old Elsie was struggling with anxiety at night which was affecting her sleep and having a knock on effect at ...

A selection of toys available from cerebra's lending library

Toys for Maddie and books for Mum

Book Library, Library Service, sensory toys

Zoe introduces us to her daughter Maddie and explains how our Library Service has helped them both. "Maddie loves to ...

Our Scoot Horse brings joy and laughter

cerebra innovation centre, portfolio, scoot horse

“Our daughter is 6 years old. She has Cerebral Palsy and loves movement - swings, scooter boards, her specialist bike. ...

Inaccessible, unacceptable and unaccountable: the provision of paediatric continence supplies in England, Wales and Scotland.

Continence, LEAP project, Legal Rights Service, Luke Clements, Professor Luke Clements

Charities issue an urgent call for action, following the publication of a major new research report into the provision of ...

Law Commission Consultation Response

disabled children, Law Commission, social care law

Our response to the Law Commission's consultation on disabled children's social care law can be found here. The Law Commission ...

New Children’s Books in the Library

ADHD, Book Library, Cerebral Palsy, Library Service, postal lending library

Our lending library is open to the parent/carers of children aged 16 and under with neurological conditions anywhere in the ...

Sleep for the whole family

night waking, Sleep Advice Service

"Our 5 year old son Oliver loves his food and the Cars films - he is obsessed with Lightning McQueen. ...

Thinking about legal advice for your child’s brain condition? Here’s what you need to know

Bolt Burdon Kemp, Compensation, financial support, legal advice, legal rights, medical costs

If your child has a brain condition, you might be wondering whether to seek legal advice. Understandably, many parents feel ...

Easy to access specialist books

Book Library, Library Service

Emma introduces us to her son Henry, their family life together and explains how our postal lending library is ideal ...

A treasure chest of resources in our library

Book Library, Library Service

George is 7 years old. He is a whirlwind of happiness, he always has a smile on his face and ...

Our specialist book library provides knowledge and confidence

Book Library, specialist books

“My son is a four-year-old non-verbal child with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) and challenges related to restricted eating. As he ...

Help to explain your child’s condition

Book Library, Dyspraxia

“Our son is a wonderful energetic and cheerful child. He loves dancing, unicorns and Korean pop music as well as ...

New Guide to Co-Production in Research Launched

co-producing research, family carers, University of Warwick

A new guide to co-production in research had been launched by Warwick University. It focuses on co-producing research with family ...

Digital Wellbeing Interventions for Family Carers: A Systematic Review

digital interventions, family carers, systematic review, University of Warwick

A University of Warwick team has carried out a piece of research to review all the current academic research on ...

Claiming for holidays and recreational activities as part of a clinical negligence claim

accessible holidays, adapted services, CL Medilaw, clinical negligence claim, Compensation

Taking a break from the stresses of daily life is essential for every family, but for families with a child ...

Books in Cerebra’s Library on Special Educational Needs and Disability

disabilities, Library, SEN

3rd December is National Day of Person's with Disabilities. Here's a list of some of the relevant titles that are ...

Books in the Library for Carers

carers, caring, Library

We have lots of books in our Library that aim to provide information and support to carers. Our Librarian Jan ...

Self-injury in children with intellectual disability

parent guides, PEACE, Self Injury

We are delighted to publish our new comprehensive guide for parents on ‘Self-injury in children with intellectual disability’ in partnership ...

Understanding and reducing sleep problems for children with a genetic syndrome webinar review

Cerebra Network, research, Sleep problems, sleep research

A recording of the webinar is now available if you’d like to catch up in full. Introduction Professor Caroline Richards ...

Tailored Sleep Interventions in Neurodevelopmental Conditions

Aston University, sleep research

Dr Georgie Agar Last year we reported that researchers at Aston University were working in partnership with Cerebra to understand ...

Girl asleep in bed with a sheep toy and pink butterfly pajamas

Expert Sleep Advice for Autism and ADHD

Sleep Advice Service

We recently heard from a family who got in touch to tell us how our Sleep Advice Service was able ...

New Books in our Library this October

cerebra innovation centre, CIC, fish tank

Sensory Processing Disorder L7042: Understanding Your Child’s Sensory Signals 4th Edition by Angie Voss ADHD L7043: ADHD Figuring it out ...

Navigating Life After a Brain Injury: The Power of Rehabilitation and Collaboration

equipment, Irwin Mitchell, Quality of Life, Rehabilitation

Equipment and Rehabilitation: Enhancing Quality of Life Access to the right equipment and rehabilitation can significantly improve quality of life ...

Fish Tank Fun For Arthur

Our Innovation Centre designs and builds innovative, bespoke products to help disabled children discover and engage with the world around ...

Securing Direct Payments To Transform A Family’s Life

direct payments, Legal Rights Service | 2 Comments

Direct Payments are intended to give families more control over the care and support services their children need and are ...

Developing The Next Generation Of Researchers – Daniel Sutherland

Positive Family Connections, University of Warwick | 1 Comment

"My name is Daniel Sutherland, and I have spent the last three years completing a PhD funded by Cerebra and ...

Floating Music Stations Are A Hit

cerebra innovation centre, CIC, Floating Music Station

At the Cerebra Innovation Centre (CIC) we respond to requests from parents, therapists and school teachers to invent new products ...

Law Commission seeks views on disabled children’s social care law

Consultation, Law Commission, LEaP, Social Care, social services

The Law Commission has published an important consultation paper on disabled children’s social care law in England. The Commission has ...

MumFighter – Partnership brings powerful story to the stage

MumFighter | 8 Comments

We are proud to have partnered with theatre company Grand Ambition to bring a play with a powerful message to ...

Books in the Library on Cerebral Palsy

Cerebral Palsy, Library

Our Librarian Jan takes a look at all of the books in our Library on Cerebral Palsy this World Cerebral ...

Project breaking barriers to media content creation

content creation, Cowshed, Stori Lab

A project has been awarded funding to begin development of tools to make media content production more accessible to everyone ...

Introducing Stori Lab

stories, survey

We’re excited to launch Stori Lab, an innovative project in partnership with Cowshed and Media Cymru, focused on empowering young ...

New sensory items for our lending library

sensory toys, toy library

We have recently purchased some new sensory items for our lending library. Sensory issues are common in children with neurodiverse ...

Book review: I’ve Got You!

Book Review, Library | 1 Comment

Sometimes books just say it all! And this one does that perfectly. It’s written for children trying to figure out ...

Surfing USA!

cerebra innovation centre, surfboard

Brandon Klein, a student from New York, wanted to transform the surfing experience for disabled people. Earlier this month he ...

Our Library Service Bringing Happiness

Library Service

Vicky is mum to eight-year-old twins Isaac and Enoch, who both have disabilities. The boys love football and vehicles, reading, ...

Our Library Brings Mum And Daughter Time

Library Service, postal lending library, toy library

Three year old Alexandra likes jumping about, climbing as high as she can, going to the zoo and her iPad. ...

Sensory Engagement For Luca

sensory toys, toy library

Luca playing with a yellow sensory ball Our Toy Library has a variety of sensory toys for all sorts of ...

Celebrating 15 Years of the GoTo Seat

cerebra innovation centre, CIC, GoTo Seat, leckey

We celebrate the 15 years of the GoTo seat with Dawn, whose request to our Innovation Centre led to the ...

‘The BEST day ever’: Harry and Tommy smash the Superheroes Tri

Cerebral Palsy, fundraising, Superheroes Tri

On a sunny Saturday in August, our Superhero Harry (aka Phoenix Fire) and his brother Tommy (Super-Farmer-Ted) completed the epic ...

RCPCH refuses to withdraw its 2021 Fabricated or induced illness (FII) guidance

fabricated or induced illness, FII, Royal College of Paediatrics and Child Health, Systems Generated Trauma | 1 Comment

Royal College of Paediatrics and Child Health refuses to withdraw its 2021 guidance concerning Fabricated or induced illness (FII) by ...

Systems Generated Trauma Survey

FII, survey, Systems Generated Trauma, University of Leeds | 9 Comments

Trauma related practice’ is a phrase increasingly used by public bodies to convey their awareness that many of those with ...

What is Cerebral Palsy?

Cerebral Palsy, Fletchers Group, legal rights

Cerebral palsy is a medical condition resulting in disorders of movement because of an injury to the brain. It is ...

Louise and Fabs run 10k in the Festival of Inclusivity

fundraising

A huge thank you to Louise Astill and Fabienne Cuthbert, from Fieldfisher for taking part in the Parallel Festival of ...

Building practical solutions for traumatised families

LEaP, social welfare system, Systems Generated Trauma, Trauma related practice, University of Leeds School of Law | 12 Comments

On 9th July 2024 we jointly held a conference at the University of Leeds, School of Law to explore practical ...

New CEO For Cerebra

Chief Executive

Jess Camburn is currently the Chief Executive and founder of Elrha, a global organisation that finds solutions to complex humanitarian ...

Our Library Service Helps Mum Feel Less Isolated

Book Library, Library Service

"Archie's favourite things are people, music and sport. If he could choose how to spend a day, he would go ...

Seminar Review – To Mortality And Beyond

CIDD, Seminar Review, University of Warwick

For the June CIDD seminar, we heard from Professor Stuart Todd - Professor in Intellectual Disability research at the University ...

Cerebra library a child holding some books from the library.

New Books in the Library

Earlier in the year we decided to replace some of our older children’s books with more recent ones and they ...

boy in a wheelchair with a carer stood behind him

Improving The Health And Wellbeing Of People With Intellectual Disabilities

CIDD, Seminar Review

Professor Cairns is Director of the Scottish Learning Disabilities Observatory, and Professor of Health and Neurodevelopmental Conditions in the School ...

Introducing our new Chair of Trustees

Chair of Trustees, Charlotte Geeves

‘I am honoured and delighted to have taken up the post of Chair at Cerebra. It’s a real privilege to ...

Book review: Jayben and the Golden Torch by Thomas Leeds

Book Review, Library

I have just been on an adventure with Jayben. Where do people go when they have a seizure? Jayben goes ...

Helping Rajesh Get To School Safely

Legal Rights Service, school transport

Meera contacted our Legal Rights Service for help to get school transport for her 5 year old son, Rajesh. Rajesh ...

Help To Navigate Social Care

fabricated or induced illness, Legal Rights Service, Social Care

John Furlong from our Legal Rights Service explains how we guided and supported Sarah through the complex and traumatic process ...

School transport, Cerebra help with families of children with brain conditions.

Securing School Transport For Grace

LEAP project, Legal Rights Service, school transport

Our Legal Rights Service provides families of children with brain conditions with help when facing difficulties accessing support services they ...

Social Care and Parent Carer’s Needs Assessment

LEaP, Legal Rights Service, Social care needs assessments

Our Legal Rights Service provides families of children with brain conditions with help when facing difficulties accessing support services they ...

Updated school transport guidance and the impact on disabled children

Department for Education, school transport

This article was co-written by Cerebra, IPSEA, SOS!SEN and Contact. We’ve previously expressed concerns about the Department for Education’s revised ...

Our Book Library Makes A Big Difference

books, Library

"I wanted to share my experience of using Cerebra Library and the awesome impact it has had on my family’s ...

Toys To Entertain Asiya

Library, toy library | 1 Comment

"Asiya enjoys watching things moving around her and doesn't like the quiet. She enjoys watching other people especially children making ...

Skylar Steps Up to the Challenge!

fundraising

11 year-old Skylar is taking on a 125,000 steps challenge throughout May. Her Dad, Mark, told us all about why ...

Your experiences matter

PhD student Louise would like to interview parents who have experience of looking after a child with an acquired brain ...

Cerebra toy library a child playing with colourful toys.

7 questions to ask when choosing a solicitor for your child’s compensation claim

BBK, Compensation, legal advice

Cerebra understands that as a parent or carer of a disabled child you might need to seek legal advice for ...

Diagnostic Overshadowing Webinar Review

Diagnostic overshadowing, Dr Jo Moss, Webinar Review

A recording of the webinar is now available at the end of this article if you’d like to catch up ...

63.1 miles and still smiling!

London Landmarks Half Marathon, Ultra Marathon

In February, we shared the news that Cerebra supporter, James Atkinson, had set himself the almighty challenge of running his ...

Embracing Complexity: Top 10 Priorities for Research on Neurodivergence

Neurodivergence, research

Embrace Complex coalition carried out the Research Priority Setting to identify what areas of research are the most important to ...

Traumatic Brain Injuries in Children: Causes and Prevention

Irvings Law, TBI, traumatic brain injury

What is a Traumatic Brain Injury? Traumatic brain injury (‘TBI’) is an injury to the head caused externally by a ...

Practical, Helpful And Effective Support From Our Sleep Service

Sleep Advice Service

“Our daughter Verity is 11 years old. Verity absolutely loves to read and to write her own stories too. She ...

Does your young boy with cerebral palsy want to be an actor?

Cerebral Palsy

'Happy Snaps' is inspired by the writer's brother's real life story. He grew up with cerebral palsy and spent his ...

Research Journeys: Breaking down barriers: Access for all

"In identifying the barriers to disability rights implementation we can begin to understand why and how some services are accessible ...

Cerebra library a child reading books from the library.

Our postal library is as popular as ever!

Pos Fam, Positive Family Connections

We have added over 90 new books to the library over the last year on subjects such as autism, PDA, ...

Positive Family Connections Report

Our partnership with Centre for Research in Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities (CIDD) at the University of Warwick focusses on family ...

Fidgeting Fun For Faith

Fidget Kit, Sensory Seeking, toy library

Mum Louise introduces us to her daughter Faith and explains how borrowing a Fidget Kit from our Toy Library has ...

Research Into Sibling Relationships

1000 Families study, Siblings, University of Warwick

The Cerebra 1000 Families Study is exploring the experiences of families who live with a child with a learning disability ...

Intrauterine Growth Restriction and neurological injury by Amy Milner

CL Medilaw, intrauterine growth restriction | 1 Comment

Intrauterine growth restriction – what is it? Intrauterine growth restriction (IUGR), also called fetal growth restriction (FGR), occurs when a ...

A response to the consultation: Reviews of Education, Health and Care plans: proposed timescales

EHC plans, LEaP, legal rights

Response to the government's consultation to increase the time a local authority has to issue draft amendments to an EHC ...

Working Together to Safeguard Children: Changes to Statutory Guidance

LEAP project, safeguarding

Response to the government's consultation proposing changes to Working Together to Safeguard Children guidance which concluded on 6 September 2023. ...

Double the Fun for our Next Cerebra Superhero!

fundraising, James Atkinson, London Landmarks Half Marathon, Ultra Marathon

We're very excited to welcome James to Team Cerebra! James will be taking on two running challenges to raise money ...

Legal help Cerebra charity for children brain conditions.

A look at the quality of decision making by the Local Government and Social Care Ombudsman

LEaP, legal entitlements and problem-solving project, ombudsman | 1 Comment

In December 2023 the Local Government and Social Care Ombudsman published its annual report. A section on internal reviews (1) ...

Written evidence submitted by the Legal Entitlements and Problem Solving (LEaP) Project, Cerebra

Cerebra Legal Entitlements and Problem Solving Project, LEaP

We have published our evidence to The Education Committee, which is assessing the current system of children's social care in ...

Dr Hayley Crawford

Dr Hayley Crawford is an Associate Professor at Warwick Medical School and network lead for the Cerebra Network. Alongside Dr ...

Professor Caroline Richards

Professor Caroline Richards, Professor of Neurodevelopmental Conditions, is a Clinical Psychologist and researcher at the University of Birmingham. Caroline leads ...

Dr Jane Waite

Dr Jane Waite is a Senior Lecturer at Aston University and a Clinical Psychologist. As a co-lead for the Cerebra ...

Dr Jo Moss

Disabled Facilities Grant, levelling up | 2 Comments

Dr Jo Moss is a Senior Lecturer at the University of Surrey. Jo leads the Cerebra Network research in autism, ...

Have You Applied for a Disabled Facilities Grant (DFG) for your Disabled Child?

This is your chance to feed back your experience of applying for a Disabled Facilities Grant to the government because ...

What commonly goes wrong to cause types of birth injury and why?

Cerebral Palsy, Fletchers Solicitors, Legal Entitlements, legal rights

Birth injury statistics Giving birth is not easy and can be a traumatic experience for all, even if things go ...

Podcasts for Family Carers

Challenging Behaviour, Challenging behaviour foundation, family carers, podcast

If, as a carer you sometimes feel lonely, isolated and that nobody else in the world is going through what ...

Working with families to find sleep solutions

night waking, Sleep Advice Service | 2 Comments

Sami explains how his family were able to adapt suggestions from one of our Sleep Practitioners leading to a better ...

Support and understanding from our Sleep Advice Service

Sleep Advice Service, Sleep problems, sleep support

Emma introduces us to her son Arthur and explains how our Sleep Advice Service was such a support. Tell us ...

Without Cerebra’s Sleep Service I don’t know where we’d be

Sleep Advice Service, sleep routine

"Without the help of Cerebra’s Sleep Service I don't know where we would be. As a family we were all ...

Family Trauma: A Broken Care System

Care system, Challenging Behaviour, legal rights, research, University of Leeds School of Law | 2 Comments

The University of Kent's Tizard Centre has been collaborating with the Challenging Behaviour Foundation, which provides support to families who ...

New Library Books this November

fabricated or induced illness, LEAP project, University of Leeds School of Law | 11 Comments

New Books in the Library - November 2023 L7001 - What Works for Autistic Children by Dr Luke Beardon L7002 ...

The feasibility and effectiveness of tailored behavioural sleep interventions for children with neurodevelopmental conditions.

Aston University, research, sleep research, study

Researchers at Aston University are working in partnership with Cerebra to understand how practical and effective behavioural sleep interventions are ...

Fabricated or Induced Illness Research Report

The findings of a major research project concerning FII have been published today. This research report considers the prevalence and ...

Falling to sleep alone and waking in the night

night waking, Sleep Advice Service, sleeping alone

Mum Gabby got in touch to tell us how her three year old son Theodore was not only struggling to ...

Specific phobia in children with learning disabilities

CEDAR Seminar Series, CIDD, University of Warwick | 2 Comments

In this seminar, Professor Kylie Gray presented the findings of the study titled “Specific phobia in children with learning disabilities ...

New Sleep Training Course for Professionals

Sleep Advice Service, Sleep Training for Professionals | 2 Comments

We are delighted to announce that we will be holding a pilot of our brand new Cerebra Professionals Sleep Training ...

Our Sleep Service provides a listening ear alongside practical guidance

Library Service, sleep advice, Sleep Advice Service

"Logan came to live with us when he was 2 years and 9 months old. He was diagnosed with autism ...

Lifestyle interventions during pregnancy improves child neurodevelopment

Pre-natal care, pregnancy, University of Barcelona

Structured interventions during pregnancy, such as those centred on a Mediterranean diet or mindfulness-based stress reduction, can improve child neurodevelopment ...

The Mediterranean diet and maternal stress reduction during pregnancy improve infant neurodevelopment

Barcelona, Mediterranean diet, pregnancy

Interventions based on the Mediterranean diet or mindfulness to reduce stress during pregnancy improve the neurodevelopment of children in the ...

School Transport: what will the Department for Education’s updated guidance mean for disabled children and their families?

legal rights, school transport

In June 2023, the Department for Education published the long awaited revised school transport guidance, Travel to school for children ...

Free webinar: Diagnostic overshadowing

Autism, Challenging Behaviour, Diagnostic overshadowing, webinar

Free webinar: Tuesday 21st November 6.00pm-7.30pm Diagnostic overshadowing presents a significant challenge for parents and carers of children with intellectual ...

Having Fun With Our UV Fun Tub!

postal lending library, sensory toys, toy library

Mum Koral introduces us to her daughter Evangelina and explains why our Library Service has made such a difference to ...

Making the call

Bolt Burdon Kemp, Legal Entitlements, legal rights

Reasons to seek legal advice about a potential claim for compensation for a child with a brain injury or condition ...

Autistica is building the Autistica Neurodiversity Employers Index (NDEI)

Autistica, Inclusion, Neurodiversity

Autistica are looking for 200 companies who want to review their neurodiversity inclusion practices. You may already be actively championing ...

Independence for Arlo

cerebra innovation centre, Design

Two year old Arlo likes going on walks, playing with his blocks and reading books. He is a happy little ...

Case Management following an acquired brain injury

case management, Irvings Law, Legal Entitlements, legal rights

What is case management? Paediatric Case Management is the planning and coordination of therapeutic, medical, and social care to promote ...

Finding Calm At Bedtime

night waking, Settling to sleep, Sleep Advice Service

Four-year-old B has sensory issues as well as developmental issues, particularly around communication. It was taking B a long time ...

Books in the Library on Sleep

Library, sleep books, Sleep problems, Sleeptember

Here's a list of our library books about sleep available to borrow this Sleeptember L6325 – Sleep Disturbances in Children ...

Toys For Harley To Discover

Library Service, sensory toys, toy library

Mum Lisa got in touch with our Toy Library in the hope of finding some toys that her son Harley ...

Amelie Is Going Places On Her New Skateboard

cerebra innovation centre, CIC

Six-year-old Amelie is a bubbly and happy little girl. She loves playing outside and worships her little brother, Arthur. They ...

An Adapted Camera For Budding Photographer Archer

camera, cerebra innovation centre, Design

Mum Amanda explains how our Innovation Centre were able to cleverly adapt a camera so that her son could enjoy ...

Rhys Makes A Splash With Our Innovative Paddle Board

cerebra innovation centre, CIC, paddle board, surfing

Teenager Rhys has a rare, progressive genetic condition which affects his extremities and his physical strength. While he has tried ...

Helping The Whole Family To Play Together

Library Service, sensory toys

Our son Sam has Angelman Syndrome and needs assistance with all aspects of life. He is developmentally delayed, non-verbal, has ...

Our Toy Library Brings Excitement And Wonder

postal lending library, sensory toys

Mum Victoria tells us their story: Can you tell us a little about your family? Our twins Charlie and Daisy ...

a young boy sat at a desk looking at an iPad

Have your say: Reforms to Assessment and Safeguarding procedures

legal rights, University of Leeds School of Law | 1 Comment

A strong sense of despair and hopelessness comes over me whenever I am asked to respond to (yet another) Government ...

Brain injury after severe illness and sepsis

brain injury, CL Medilaw, sepsis

Childhood viral and bacterial illnesses are common, and usually are easily treated. Sometimes, however, if the symptoms are left too ...

Is all this research actually doing anything?

research, University of Warwick

This post is a summary of the conversation between the researchers and two undergraduate interns hosted by the Centre for ...

Videos of our Annual Conference are online!

conference, research

On 14th June 2023, we hosted our in-person conference in Birdcage Walk, Westminster. The conference theme was Barriers to Breakthroughs: ...

Books in the Library on Pathological Demand Avoidance

Autism, Library, Pathological Demand Avoidance, PDA, postal lending library

The library has been getting a lot of requests to borrow books on Pathological Demand Avoidance in recent months, so ...

Exploring the Benefits of Lifestyle Interventions in Pregnancy

fetal medicine, University of Barcelona

Pregnancy is a critical period where the health and wellbeing of both the mother and the developing baby are of ...

Covid 19 and Digital Inclusion

CEDAR, CEDAR Seminar Series

This seminar, delivered by Dr. Sue Caton, explores the findings of the study titled "Coronavirus and People with Learning Disabilities ...

Breaking Waves and Breaking Barriers

cerebra innovation centre, CIC, surf, surfboard, surfing

Cerebra recently helped a New York schoolboy to build one of the first custom adaptable surfboards in the United States! ...

Hospital Saturday Fund donates to Cerebra at 150th anniversary event

fundraising, hospital Saturday Fund

Huge thanks to The Hospital Saturday Fund for their wonderful gift of £4,500 as part of their 150th anniversary celebrations ...

BBK’s Free ENS Legal Clinic

legal rights, Legal Social and Financial

BBK’s specialist Child Brain Injury solicitors are launching a dedicated and free of charge legal Clinic for parents of babies ...

We’ve just added some new items to our e-library!

borrowbox, e-books, Library

Our BorrowBox library has a selection of e-books and a-audiobooks that parent/carers can borrow to read or listen to and ...

Advice, Support and Information – A Family Story

postal lending library, Sleep Advice Service

“Our son J is three years old. He’s a little firecracker with a vibrant personality and he loves to play ...

Struggling To Get To Sleep With Tourette Syndrome

Settling to sleep, Sleep Advice Service, Tourette Syndrome

Our Sleep Advice Service is there to help your child - and you - get a good night's sleep. In ...

We’ve just added new books to the Library!

Legal Rights Service, school transport

New books in the library from May 2023 L6977- Sensory Parenting for Sensory Children by Tanya van Dalen L6978- For ...

Advice On Accessing School Transport

Our Legal Rights Service was recently able to help a family to access school transport for their daughter. Mum D ...

Dealing With Nightmares

Getting to sleep, Nightmares, Sleep Advice Service

“Our son is 11 years old and has Asperger's syndrome. He is an animal lover and seems to know everything ...

A Good Night’s Sleep Has Transformed Our Family Life

Sleep Advice Service, Sleep problems, sleep support | 2 Comments

“Annabelle loves being active - running, jumping, climbing, swinging etc. She also loves water, whether it be in a bath ...

Introducing Wizzybug – the fun way to get around for children with physical disabilities

Cerebral Palsy, CL Medilaw, Designability, Wizzybug

The Wizzybug is an innovative powered wheelchair modelled on the ‘Little Tikes’ car, aimed at younger children with limited mobility ...

England: Important Consultation for Disabled Children and Young People

Consultation, England, Social Care | 3 Comments

The Government is carrying out a consultation on its vision of how to reform children’s social care in England. This ...

Wales: Implementation of the ALN Act Extended Until August 2025

ALN, Wales

On March 20 2023, Jeremy Miles MS, Minister for Education and Welsh Language, issued a written statement announcing that the ...

What is HIE and how is it linked to Cerebral Palsy?

Cerebral Palsy, CL Medilaw, HIE

What is hypoxic-ischemic encephalopathy (HIE)? Hypoxic Ischaemic Encephalopathy, otherwise known as “HIE”, is a technical term describing brain damage caused ...

Helping Lu and her parents with those sleepless nights

Sleep Advice Service, Sleep problems, sleep support

Lu is 3 years and 8 months old and we recently had the pleasure of helping her and parents, Katherine ...

Seminar Review – Stigma and People with a Learning Disability

CEDAR, CEDAR Seminar Series, University of Warwick

The first CEDAR seminar of 2023 was by Katrina Scior, Professor of Clinical Psychology and Stigma Studies at University College ...

Bertie Learns How To Sleep On His Own

Sleep Advice Service, Sleep problems, sleep support

Mum Chante got in touch with our Sleep Advice Service for some help with her son’s separation anxiety and nightmares ...

Cerebra Legal Entitlements and Problem-Solving Project Conference

Cerebra Legal Entitlements and Problem Solving Project, University of Leeds School of Law

On 18 October 2022, the University of Leeds School of Law hosted the Cerebra Legal Entitlements and Problem-Solving Project Conference: ...

Accessing School Transport for Disabled Children – Progress

LEaP, school transport, University of Leeds School of Law

Local authorities have a duty to make travel arrangements for all eligible children. Cases referred to our Legal Entitlements and ...

Practical approaches to resolving commonly occurring health and social care difficulties

Cerebra Legal Entitlements and Problem Solving Project, LEaP, legal rights, University of Leeds School of Law

John Furlong and Derek Tilley work within our Legal Entitlements and Problem-solving Project. They help families to understand what their ...

Digital Wellbeing Interventions For Family Carers

CEDAR, family carers, systematic review, University of Warwick, wellbeing

Joanna Griffin, project lead, family carer and Assistant Professor, CEDAR, introduces a new systematic review of digital wellbeing interventions for ...

Cerebra webinar review – Fathers of disabled children: supporting their wellbeing

father, University of Warwick, webinar | 1 Comment

Led by Dr Emma Langley (Assistant Professor, University of Warwick), alongside members of the Fathers Active In Research (FAIR) group ...

Extending the Precision Teaching Framework

CEDAR, CEDAR Seminar Series

Athanasios (Thanos) Vostanis, Lecturer in Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities at the University of Kent, opened the November CEDAR seminar series ...

Making a Noise!

CIC, Sensory Drum

Mum Emese told us that they lost most of her daughter's toys to smoke damage during a house fire earlier ...

Getting Direct Payments For 1:1 Support

direct payments, LEAP project, Legal Rights Service

Ben* is 6 years old and has autism, ADHD and epilepsy. His parents have to work long hours and need ...

Welsh Government Publishes ALN Guidance for Parents and Carers

ALN, SEN, Wales

In September 2021, as part of the Special Educational Needs (SEN) reform the Welsh Government began the phased transfer from ...

An early Christmas present for Henry

Cerebral Palsy, CIC

You may well remember, back in the spring, we told you all about Henry and the super-lightweight crutches our Innovation ...

Our Sensory Drums hit all the right notes!

CIC, Sensory Drum

Our Sensory Drums are wooden crafted with patterned sides that allow children to combine different touches and sounds. There's a ...

Challenging Parent Carer Blame

LEAP project, Parent Blame, Professor Luke Clements, University of Leeds School of Law | 5 Comments

Disabled children and their families are one of the most severely disadvantaged groups in the UK. A major research report ...

1000 Families Study: Relationships And Wellbeing

1000 Families study, University of Warwick | 1 Comment

Caitlin Williams is a Cerebra funded PhD student at the University of Warwick. Her first PhD study used data from ...

1000 Families Study – Latest News

1000 Families study, University of Warwick

The aim of the 1000 Families Study is to explore the wellbeing of children with learning disability, siblings, caregivers, and ...

Advocating For Disability Rights

Student Stories, University of Leeds School of Law

Ketevan Khomeriki gives a fascinating insight into her work as a disability rights advocate in Georgia. She explains how being ...

Positive Family Connections – Latest News

Positive Family Connections, University of Warwick

Positive Family Connections is a new online 6 week programme for families who have a child with additional developmental needs ...

What does anxiety look like?

Anxiety, CEDAR Seminar Series

Dr Hayley Crawford began the June CEDAR seminar by highlighting that autistic people and people with intellectual disabilities are at ...

A response to the SEND Review: Right support, right place, right time.

1 Comment

This is our response to the SEND Review: Right support, right place, right time. This response is prepared on behalf ...

Dr Caitlin Murray – The Importance Of Family Research

My name is Dr Caitlin Murray and I am a Research Fellow in CEDAR at the University of Warwick. I ...

Dr Joanna Griffin – Involving Family Carers in Research

My name is Dr Joanna Griffin and I am a parent carer, Counselling Psychologist, and an Assistant Professor in CEDAR, ...

Dr Paul Thompson – Applying Statistical Methodology To Real World Problems

My name is Dr Paul Thompson, and I am a Research Fellow in Applied Statistics in CEDAR at the University ...

Dr Samantha Flynn – Research That Has Positive Impact For People With Learning Disabilities