Lowri on Mental Health Awareness Week
This week we celebrate Mental Health Awareness week, the theme of which this year, is Kindness. What is Kindness? Kindness ...
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Double Success For Deborah
Kaileigh, who is one of our Sleep Practitioners recently helped Deborah and her daughter Olivia who was experiencing anxiety at ...
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500 Face Visors for Care Homes
Our Innovation Centre team have been pulling out all the stops to help support frontline workers during the Coronavirus outbreak. ...
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Mental Health Awareness Week – Kindness Matters
Samuel Turner is a young man with a passion for supporting Cerebra. His achievements are all the more remarkable as ...
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Lowri on Mental Health Awareness Week
This week we celebrate Mental Health Awareness week, the theme of which this year, is Kindness. What is Kindness? Kindness ...
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Parent Carers Needs Assessments
Our Legal Entitlements and Problem-Solving (LEaP) Project has received a request from a parent explaining that her local authority has ...
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‘Vulnerable’ Does Not Mean ‘at Risk of Harm’
Since the start of the Coronavirus pandemic, we have heard people who are more likely to be ‘at risk’ by ...
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Guidance for Councils and Care Providers During the Coronavirus Crisis
Back in March, the Local Government and Social Care Ombudsman (LGSCO) suspended all casework activity that demands information from, or ...
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Legal Team Shortlisted for Prestigious Award
Supported by the Attorney General, the LawWorks awards celebrate the best pro bono activities undertaken by law students and law ...
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One Family’s Experience of a ‘Child in Need’ Assessment
In England and Wales, local authorities are under a duty to assess the social care needs of children who meet ...
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Children’s Services Duties ‘Relaxed’ in England but not in Wales
England A new set of regulations came into force in England on Friday 23 April which have controversially relaxed some ...
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Face Mask Update From CIC
"Hi Everyone, I hope you are all well and still coping with the lockdown! I will freely admit, it has ...
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Welsh Government Issues New Guidance
On 21 April the Welsh Government issued new guidance on how children’s services should operate during the Covid-19 outbreak. The ...
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Direct Payments and Prepaid Cards Success for LEaP Project
Sophie, our LEaP Project co-ordinator, explains how we helped families with disabled children in one particular English local authority. The ...
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Do Something Fun and out of the Ordinary – Join the 2.6 Challenge!
Cerebra, like many charities across the country, have had to put a lot of fundraising plans on hold and with ...
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New Items Available from our BorrowBox Library
As we aren’t able to send books out at the moment, we have just added lots of new titles to ...
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Disabled Facilities Grant Ruling
In a judgment released on 2 April 2020, the High Court ruled that when processing an application for a disabled ...
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Cerebra funded research at the University of Birmingham
The Cerebra Centre for Neurodevelopmental Disorders (CCND) is headed by Professor Chris Oliver and is based in the School of ...
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Let’s get Artistic Together!
It’s a very difficult and uncertain time at the moment. The Coronavirus pandemic has effected all of us in some ...
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How our Sleep Service helps – Judith’s story
Our family “Our fifteen year old daughter, Rose, has an underdeveloped cerebellum. This affects her muscle coordination, which in turn ...
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Legal Handbook for Families Launched
Legal Action Group has published its 3rd edition of Disabled Children: A legal handbook and is currently offering a 20% ...
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Change in Lock Down Exercise Guidance for People With Health Conditions
On 23 March 2020 the Prime Minister announced that all citizens were only allowed to leave where they were living ...
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CIC Helps Create Protective Equipment for NHS Staff
Hi Cerebra family! I do hope you have all been coping well during lock down. I can tell you, in ...
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We Back Campaign for Coronavirus Act Review
The Coronavirus Act 2020 worryingly relieves local authorities in England and Wales of their duties to provide crucial care and ...
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Factsheet: Complaints, Public Bodies and Government Guidance
The law that parents of disabled children and their supporters may have to deal with can be very complicated. We ...
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Sources of Free e-books and audiobooks
Cerebra’s digital library focuses on neurological conditions, but there are plenty of other ways to get free e-books and audiobooks ...
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Coronavirus Act: an Overview for England and Wales
By now you will probably be aware of the Coronavirus Act 2020 (The Act) and its potential impact on social ...
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Changes to our Library Service
Sadly, due to the current situation we have had to suspend the book and toy library for the time-being. We ...
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Lockdown Lowdown from CIC
Okay, so here I go with my first ever blog - and what a time to start! So, we all ...
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Getting school transport for your disabled child
In October 2019, Margaret contacted our LEaP Project to thank us for the information within our to School Transport Guide ...
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Cerebra and COVID-19
Despite the disruption caused by the current COVID-19 pandemic we would like to reassure you that Cerebra is still operational ...
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Personal Independence Payments (PIP) Signposting
Disability Living Allowance for people aged 16-64 has been replaced by Personal Independence Payments (PIP). This means that if your ...
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Helping Layla get a good night’s sleep
Because of her condition, Layla is also unable to communicate so she can’t explain how she is feeling or tell ...
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An ‘Awesome and Wobbly’ time in aid of Cerebra
On Tuesday 3 March, Leigh Day organised ‘Awesome and Wobbly’ - an incredible evening of music and comedy, all in ...
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New campaign to recruit Everyday Superheroes
More than 500,000 children in the UK have a brain condition, such as autism, and fight challenges every day when ...
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New books in our library
We have received £1000 to spend on specialist books for our postal lending library. This was kindly donated to us ...
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Join our Project Advisory Group
Join our Project Advisory Group to help us improve mental health services for children with rare genetic developmental conditions. Background ...
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Great Feedback for our CIC Fish Tank
Our Innovation Centre (CIC) were extremely busy before Christmas getting some of their sensory fish tanks out to lucky families. ...
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New Mythbusters Available Now
We have a a new range of factsheets called mythbusters available to download now. These aim to dispel common misconceptions ...
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Rockadove Help us with Video Campaign
We are delighted to have been named the winners of the inaugural Third Sector prize which is a partnership between ...
Read More An Introduction to Sophie and Legal Entitlements
Sophie after running the Cardiff Half Marathon Hi- I’m Sophie and I’m the Legal Entitlements and Problem Solving (LEaP) Project ...
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Lisa on Becoming a Family Research Ambassador
Lisa Reakes Lisa is one of our Family Research Ambassadors. She explains why she got involved and what she does ...
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Books in the Library About Giving Birth to a Child with a Disability
General books L6316 Celebrating and Caring for your Baby with Special Needs: uplifting tips and advice to help you through ...
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Born too soon: Claire’s Story
We were going home to enjoy Christmas. I couldn't have imagined for a second what was about to happen... Claire ...
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Implementation of the Welsh SEN/ALN Reform Postponed
Kirsty Williams, Minister for Education, has issued a written statement postponing the roll out of the new special educational needs ...
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Legal Entitlements and Problem Solving Conference
We are holding a conference on "Legal Entitlements and Problem Solving for Disabled People, their Families and Carers". 19 November ...
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Local Government Ombudsman Report on SEND in England
In a new report released on 04 October and called Not going to plan? – Education, Health and Care plans ...
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Joshua’s Transition Part 4 – Direct Payments
This is part 4 in a series of articles that Emma has written for us. You can also read her ...
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Home to School Travel and Transport Guidance Consultation -England
Cerebra’s Legal Entitlement and Problem-solving (LEaP) Project, led by Luke Clements the Cerebra Professor of Law and Social Justice at ...
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Wales International Film Festival
Samuel Turner is a young man with a passion – for supporting us and for making films. He is thrilled ...
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Ruling the World!
Ross Head from our Innovation Centre tells us of the team’s latest design to help children ‘rule’ the world! Whilst ...
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What’s your Experience of Community Physical Participation?
Hello. My name is Karen Visser. I am a physiotherapist, PhD student and Senior Lecturer at Cardiff University. You can ...
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School Transport for Nat
Our Legal Entitlements and Problem-solving (LEaP) Project helped Nat get transport to school and as a thank you he has ...
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LEaP Project Helps Family to get a Continence Assessment at Home
Earlier this year, our Legal Entitlements and Problem-Solving (LEaP) Project supported a family who had been told that their son’s ...
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Building a Better Bedtime Routine
My daughter Avleen was born prematurely at 28 weeks but is now five years old. She was diagnosed with Autism ...
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Our Innovation Centre help Harry to throw a ball for his dog
Cerebra Innovation Centre, with help from ATiC – the University’s integrated research centre – developed the tennis ball shooter for ...
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New books in the library
Check out the new books we have in our library. If you are not already a member you can borrow ...
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A Helmet for Imogen
The new helmet being developed by CIC and UWTSD has been made to measure by using high tech equipment to ...
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School, bullying and mental health
School. Some of us fondly remember our days in school as ‘some of the best days of our lives’. School ...
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Accessing Public Services in Scotland Toolkit Workshop
Scots law provides powerful rights to education and support from other services, but this alone isn't enough. The law can ...
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The Embracing Complexity Coalition launches
We have joined leading UK Neurodevelopmental and Mental Health Charities to Launch The ‘Embracing Complexity Coalition’ The Embracing Complexity Coalition ...
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SEND funding in England: the Government needs your views!
Last week the Department for Education (DfE) in England made a call for evidence about SEND funding. As many of ...
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New Switch Toys in our Library
We have some exciting new switch toys in the library. Switches are accessible for all abilities, making them perfect for ...
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CIC develop new sensory fish tank
CIC have developed a great new sensory fish tank. Fish are a great addition to a sensory experience, but are susceptible ...
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The long-term effects of unreliable, inconsistent support in CAMHS
Unreliable and inconsistent support from CAMHS "When we discuss the high staff turnover, lack of reliable support, and other issues ...
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Specsavers donates almost £20,000
Staff at Specsavers opticians have helped donate nearly £20,000 to us, following a year of fundraising. 39 Specsavers stores across ...
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Joshua’s Transition: Part 3
Emma tells us about the challenges of transitioning from child to adult services. You can read part one here and part ...
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We won! Innovation Centre success
The Cerebra Innovation Centre (CIC), a partnership between Cerebra and the University of Wales Trinity Saint David (UWTSD), has won ...
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Have you been told that your child is too young to have a continence assessment?
Has your local continence team told you that your child isn’t old enough to have a continence assessment? Our new ...
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Christine Bunting takes on her biggest challenge yet as she prepares to trek to Mount Everest Base Camp
Christine with her equipment to get her to base camp Christine Bunting, a lawyer from specialist Court of Protection law ...
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Amelie gets transport to school, with help from our LEaP Project
Karen, who lives in Surrey, contacted our LEaP Project in January for help with a school transport problem. Her daughter, ...
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Cerebra Innovation Centre shortlisted for a St David Award
The Cerebra Innovation Centre (CIC), a partnership between Cerebra and the University of Wales Trinity Saint David (UWTSD), has been ...
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World book day in our library
Thursday 7th March is World Book Day and we have lots of story books that are suitable for children of ...
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Joshua’s Transition: Part 2
Emma tells us about the challenges of transitioning from child to adult services. You can read part one here. It ...
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Meet our new Sleep Practitioners
We're thrilled to introduce you to the two newest members of our sleep team, Carwyn Tywyn and Claire Cox. Carwyn ...
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Has your child been refused a continence assessment at home?
Has your local continence team told you that they can only assess your child at a school/hospital, rather than at ...
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Designing a better future for children with brain conditions with help from South Wales Freemasons
Our Innovation Centre and the work they do to help children take part in and enjoy life alongside their friends ...
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Samuel discovers freedom with his Oxy-gem
Samuel's mum Joceline recently contacted our Innovation Centre. As a member of a parent group on Facebook, she had seen ...
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Can you guess our most popular post from 2018?
We've crunched the numbers, we've checked them twice and now we can reveal our most popular posts from 2018. 5. ...
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Cerebra to benefit from Co-op Community Fund
Vanessa with Dylan, Ryan and Taran This year we have been chosen to benefit from the Co-op Local Community Fund. ...
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Cerebra and Cardiff University collaborate to advance support available to families
Hello, I’m Lowri and I’m really happy to be joining Cerebra to work on an exciting and new Welsh Government ...
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Joshua’s Transition Part 1
Emma tells us about the period of transition that her son, 17 year-old Joshua is about to face and the ...
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Imogen draws our Christmas raffle winners
Imogen with (L-R) our Head of Income Generation Terry Osborn, Neil form Specsavers and CEO Chris Jones We held our ...
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The twelve days of Christmas with our Innovation Centre
Christmas is a time for joy and for making dreams come true. At our Innovation Centre we believe that all children ...
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Is your child getting unsuitable continence products?
Have you been told that your child can’t have the type of continence product that she needs? Are you concerned ...
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That dog has got a beard!
We've got a great new children's book in our library that explores the consequences of being different. 'That dog has got ...
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Accessing Public Services Workshops
Are you interested in hosting a workshop to help families access services for their disabled children? We are taking bookings ...
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Making dreams come true this #GivingTuesday
#Giving Tuesday is on November 27th and this year we’re celebrating the amazing work our Innovation Centre do to help ...
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Soaring high
Our Innovation Centre are proud to make products that help disabled children to enjoy and experience life alongside their friends. ...
Read More CIC come up with clever 3D printed solution
The Cerebra Innovation Centre (CIC) were recently asked for help with a small project, which really emphasises the usefulness of ...
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Book reviews
Our librarian Jan reviews two new books you can borrow from our postal lending library. ‘There are Things I ...
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An introduction to us
My name is Emma and I am married to Michael – it is our 23rd wedding anniversary today – and ...
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Cerebra surfboard goes global
The team at CIC designed the surfboard in partnership with Roger Cooper for children with limited mobility and brain conditions. It ...
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Alex rides the waves
The team at the Cerebra Innovation Centre are dedicated to designing and making bespoke products that enrich a child’s life, ...
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Special Educational Needs reform in Wales
The special educational needs (SEN) reforms in Wales are now a little under a year away from their introduction. The ...
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Our LEaP Project helps change the Welsh Government’s guidance on continence products
Have you been told that you can’t have more than 4 continence products a day, even if your child needs ...
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Improving the mental health of children with brain conditions
We are launching a new project to help families of children with brain conditions access timely and appropriate mental health ...
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What can I do if my child needs me to be there in order for them to sleep?
For some children, falling asleep without an adult with them seems impossible. Perhaps your child is used to you sleeping ...
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Caldicot girl with cerebral palsy climbs South Wales’ highest peak
Specsavers directors, team members and Cerebra staff with Imogen at the Pen y Fan summit Six year old Imogen Ashwell-Lewis, ...
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Joint Statement on PenCRU by Cerebra and University of Exeter Medical School
The following joint statement concerns termination of funding from the charity Cerebra for the Academic Chair and PenCRU childhood disability ...
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Big Thankxx to TKMaxx!
Terry, Cheryl and Amanda We would like to say a huge thank you to Cheryl Phillips, the Store Manager at ...
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Support in the Early Years Survey
We are working with the Family Research Group at the University of Warwick, as well as with Mencap, Ambitious about ...
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Get a good night’s sleep with help from our library
Join our librarian Jan (and teddy) as she talks through the different books and sensory equipment we have in our ...
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Partnership pioneers better support services
We have forged a partnership with Cardiff University to improve services for families of children with debilitating brain disorders. The ...
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Understanding and reducing sleep disorders in children with development delay
The Sleep Project at the Cerebra Centre for Neurological Disorders at Birmingham University is studying sleep in children with neurological conditions. ...
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Difficulty settling at night
One of our Sleep Practitioners recently helped a family who were struggling to get their daughter to bed, and to ...
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Object of comfort helps Poppy sleep
Poppy, Simon, Bella, Gigi and Rachel Mum Rachel contacted our Sleep Service to get some advice about daughter Poppy who ...
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My child just won’t go to sleep
This article takes a look at what you can do if your child just won't go to sleep. It's taken ...
Read More Cara smashes duathlon challenge
Cara Readle One of our Ambassadors, Cara Readle, recently completed a duathlon and raised over £500 for Cerebra! This was ...
Read More Innovation Centre’s spinning pod a big hit with Curtis
Curtis and his spinning pod Louise recently contacted our Innovation Centre after seeing a post on our Facebook page about ...
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Engage to Change
We're delighted to welcome Kyle Davies to our team following his Engage to Change placement with us. We were very ...
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We have a new Chair of Trustees
We are pleased to announce that Sean Taggart will be joining the Board of Trustees on the 1st of September ...
Read More Jonas enjoys sensory toys from our library
Jonas with fibre optics Jonas' parents recently contacted our postal lending library to borrow some sensory lights. Mum Jolanta and ...
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Summer Reading
Are you looking for ways to entertain the children this summer? Did you know that you can borrow children's books ...
Read More Handy tips for summer holiday sleep
During the summer holidays the change in routine and light, warmer nights can often make sleep difficult. It can be ...
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Travel insurance covering children with disabilities
At this time of year, one of the questions coming in to our helpline is about travel insurance that ...
Read More Cara draws winning summer raffle tickets
Cara with CEO Chris Jones and some of our fundraisers On 25th July actress Cara Readle, who is one of ...
Read More Cara to take on duathlon challenge
Cara Readle Swansea born actress Cara Readle, famous for her role in ‘The Story of Tracy Beaker’, will be taking ...
Read More Epilepsy and getting a better night’s sleep
Louise recently contacted our Sleep Service for some advice to help 9-year-old Jonah get a good night’s sleep. Jonah has ...
Read More Delivering legal rights through practical problem solving
In this article we explain our Legal Entitlements and Problem-Solving (LEaP) Project with the Centre for Law and Social Justice, the ...
Read More The accessibility of Disabled Facilities Grant application forms
A survey has found that about half of local authorities in England do not make application forms freely available for ...
Read More Disability related expenditure and pets care costs
A survey has found that many disabled people are unable to afford to keep a pet dog or cat due ...
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Knowledge Transfer Partnership success!
We are delighted to announce that we have been successful in our Knowledge Transfer Partnership (KTP) bid with the Institute ...
Read More Effective interventions for long term change
At the Cerebra Centre for Neurodevelopmental Conditions, University of Birmingham, the aim is to identify the causes of the most pressing ...
Read More Our innovation team design the Boccia ramp of the future
The CIC team have been working hard to create a high tech Boccia Ramp. Boccia is a ball sport, similar to ...
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Borrow fiction from our BorrowBox library
BorrowBox is great new service we offer that means you can now borrow ebooks and audiobooks from us. You can read ...
Read More Ask, Listen, Do
Do you care for a child or young person with a learning disability, autism or both? Have you ever raised ...
Read More Overcoming sleep terrors
In this article we take a look at what sleep terrors are, give advice on how to overcome them and ...
Read More Innovation Centre help Livia gain independence
Mum Alanah recently approached our Innovation Centre with a challenge that would help maintain her daughter's independence while keeping the ...
Read More Six year-old Jake-Junior to run for Cerebra
Jake-Junior When Jake -Junior cheered his dad from the side-lines as he completed the London Marathon, there was only one ...
Read More Arctic Ride Alaska!
Gordon with his brother Robbie This summer Cerebra Ambassador Gordon Stuart will attempt his latest epic charity motorbike challenge. He ...
Read More Tiny hats for tiny babies
One of our dedicated fundraisers, Sam Elliott, has just knitted 39 baby hats for premature babies on the Neonatal Ward ...
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Preventing neonatal brain injury and childhood disability
The main objective of the Cerebra Perinatal Research Centre at the University of Leeds is to make a difference in ...
Read More Parents, researchers and charities join forces to create new resource for parents of children with learning disabilities.
The University of Warwick, Mencap, Cerebra, and the Challenging Behaviour Foundation have teamed up with parents of children with learning ...
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Team Imogen smash the Swansea triathlon
The 2018 UWTSD Swansea Triathlon has come and gone for another year, but for Team Imogen this has been an ...
Read More Creating the Urdd Eisteddfod Crown
Daniel Cuthbertson, who is a designer at the Cerebra Innovation Centre, has created the crown for this year’s Brecon and Radnorshire ...
Read More How to look after yourself
We know from research that parents of children with a learning disability can be twice as likely to experience high ...
Read More Autism and mental health – one family’s journey
"My daughter, Mair, is autistic with severe and enduring mental health difficulties. She was diagnosed with autism 6 years ago ...
Read More Working to improve children’s mental health
We are working on a joint funding bid with the Institute of Psychological Medicine and Clinical Neurosciences, Cardiff University for ...
Read More BorrowBox is coming soon!
We're delighted to announce that BorrowBox is coming soon to our library. With BorrowBox you'll be able to borrow e-books ...
Read More Storytelling evening raises funds
Paul Raven with Box Coordinator Melanie Clark A new Carmarthenshire business has raised funds for Cerebra through a series of ...
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Samuel cheers buddy to marathon glory!
Dustin with Samuel and his parents and Cecilia Bufton On Sunday 22nd April, American Dustin Erhardt ran the London Marathon ...
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Tom’s writing slope makes him the envy of his classmates
Our Innovation Centre team recently helped a young boy with his writing skills - and made him the envy of ...
Read More Running, cycling and donuts!
Ross Head sneaking a donut The Cerebra Innovation Team are officially 5 weeks away from competing in the Swansea Triathlon ...
Read More Understanding and Reducing Sleep Disorders in Children with Developmental Delay
Dr Caroline Richards and Professor Chris Oliver from the Cerebra Centre for Neurodevelopmental Disorders talk about the Sleep Project which ...
Read More Accessing Public Services Workshops for Professionals
Following on from the huge success of our Accessing Public Services Workshops, we are launching sessions specifically for professionals. The ...
Read More Star Volunteers Take on Fun Run
Samuel and Angel after the race On 24th March our star volunteers Samuel Turner and Angel Jolly took part in ...
Read More Adapting life – a family’s story
One of our families has written a blog post about the many adaptations families with children who have disabilities have to make. "Several ...
Read More Captain Imogen and her brave triathlon crew!
Captain Imogen The Cerebra Innovation Centre design team will be embarking on a triathlon adventure this year with their very ...
Read More Improving the well-being of young children with learning disabilities: A Parent’s Guide
We're looking for people to take a look at a brand new booklet on improving the well-being of young children ...
Read More Research Advisory Committee – Call for applications
We are recruiting to our Research Advisory Committee. In this article you can find out more about what Cerebra does, ...
Read More New Books on Autism in the Library
We have had a lot of requests to borrow books explaining autism recently, so we have purchased some brand new ...
Read More Countdown to Marathon Glory!
Dustin is running the London Marathon in April American Dustin Erhardt is making his final preparations for this year's London ...
Read More Delivering legal rights through practical problem-solving
In this article we take a look at our Legal Entitlements and Problem-Solving (LEaP) Project - why we started it, ...
Read More Dr Ross Head to talk at Naidex
Naidex is Europe’s largest disability and independent living event and will take place at the NEC on 25th and 26th ...
Read More Accredited workshops on Accessing Public Services, DLA and Sleep
We are delighted to announce that our workshops on Accessing Public Services, DLA and Sleep have been accredited by the ...
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Fetal Medicine Barcelona – University of Barcelona
Why our research is important for families? We are a research group focused on Fetal Medicine. Our main goal over ...
Read More Students Raise Funds With Performance
A group of second year BA Acting students at the University of Wales Trinity Saint David recently held a week of fundraising ...
Read More Ollie’s Story
Ollie with his mum and brother We are extremely excited to have been named Specsavers' charity of the year for ...
Read More Imogen’s Story
Imogen with mum Catherine We are extremely excited to have been named Specsavers' charity of the year for Wales this ...
Read More Ryan’s story
Ryan and Taran Hooper at our Specsavers partnership launch event We are extremely excited to have been named Specsavers' charity ...
Read More Specsavers Name Cerebra as their Charity of the Year for Wales
Imogen Specsavers has donated £10,000 to Cerebra to mark the start of a year-long fundraising partnership. The optician's 39 stores ...
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Why Our Research is Important – Cerebra Family Research Group
Centre for Educational Development, Appraisal and Research (CEDAR) University of Warwick Cerebra Family Research Group “Strengthening families” Why our research ...
Read More New look library lists
Take a look at our great new Library Lists. We've made some changes to make them more user friendly. We ...
Read More DLA Workshops for Professionals
As part of Cerebra’s programme of information workshops we have developed a Disability Living Allowance workshop for professionals. This is ...
Read More Samuel is our Star Volunteer!
Samuel and Angel In 2017 we welcomed Samuel Turner to team Cerebra as a volunteer and Samuel, his family and ...
Read More New Toys for Our Postal Lending Library
We recently received some funding from Children in Need to purchase some new toys for our Postal Lending Library. Check ...
Read More James’ trike ride is a winner!
James on his trike Nine year old James Miles is our latest fundraising Superhero! James raised an incredible £512 for ...
Read More Cerebra Innovation Centre’s Rocket Shelf Finds a New Home
Eve and her rocket shelf The Cerebra Innovation Centre recently designed these rocket shelves. This cool piece of equipment was ...
Read More New books in our library
We've got lots of great new books on a range of topics available to borrow now from our library. Autism ...
Read More Dustin to Run London Marathon for Cerebra and his Buddy
Dustin is running the London Marathon in April We're very excited to welcome Dustin Erhardt on to team Cerebra for ...
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Our LEaP project helps Rhiannon get the continence supplies she needs
Our LEaP Project helps Rhiannon get the continence supplies she needs and our template letter could help you to write ...
Read More Birmingham Experts Launch Pioneering Autism Research
Leading researchers from Birmingham are today (25th October 2017) launching a major, new UK study into autism and mental health ...
Read More New Book on Autism in Our Postal Lending Library
We have a new book available from our Postal Lending Library. ‘Through the Eyes of Me’ by Jon Roberts ISBN ...
Read More Cerebra Research Support Network – Help us make a difference
We are looking for people with lived family experience of childhood brain conditions to join our Research Support Network. Can you ...
Read More Books on ADHD in the library
Check out the books on ADHD that you can borrow from our postal lending library for free. For parents L6329 ...
Read More My Experience of Applied Behavioural Analysis
Razwana Mushtaq, whose 5 year old daughter has autism, discusses her experience of getting a diagnosis for her daughter, recent ...
Read More Impact of Headbanging and Sensory Issues on Sleep
One of our Sleep Practitioners explains how she helped a family struggling with head banging problems: "Mary came to one ...
Read More Sleep Practitioner Sarah Tells of her Own Experience of Sleep Training
Sarah and Theo Our Sleep Practitioner Sarah Coldrey is used to helping families with their sleep difficulties but, as she ...
Read More Support for Potocki-Lupski Syndrome
Mum Lisa, who's son Kyle has Potocki-Lupski Syndrome, tells us their story. "Kyle was born by natural birth on June ...
Read More The Arctic Rider Takes on New Alaska Challenge
Gordon Stuart When Cerebra Ambassador Gordon Stuart first started his Arctic Rider project, he couldn't have imagined the distances he would cover ...
Read More Team Cerebra at the Superhero Series!
Rob and Poppy with Anthony, Rhys and Kevin On Saturday 19th August two very special Superheroes joined team Cerebra for ...
Read More School Transport Report
The school of law team at the University of Leeds Our student researchers at the School of Law, University of ...
Read More Your Average Jo
In the latest of our series of articles from young people talking about growing up with a disability, Jo tells ...
Read More Rhys and Anthony Take on Superhero Triathlon
Rhys, Anthony and Kevin When Rhys watched his sister take part in her first sports day, he wanted nothing more ...
Read More Christine Braves Wing Walk
We would like to say a massive well done and thank you to Christine Bunting who completed a wing walk ...
Read More Josh Nurse Becomes an Ambassador
Josh receiving his Ambassador certificate Joshua Nurse from Pontiets, Carmarthenshire is celebrating his 16th birthday by becoming an Ambassador for ...
Read More Disabled Facilities Grants
The school of law team at the University of Leeds Our student researchers at the School of Law, University of ...
Read More How behaviour problems can affect family life
Jane Raca, whose son James has learning disabilities, autism and challenging behaviour shares her story and explains how you can ...
Read More Social Care Guides – England and Wales
One of the results of devolution is that in a number of areas of the law England and Wales are ...
Read More SEN Reforms in England and Wales
In England, the special educational needs (SEN) reforms introduced in September 2014 continue to be rolled out. Although all SEN ...
Read More Innovation Centre Test New Surf Boards
Our Innovation Centre has been doing some pioneering work with surfing equipment for disabled children over the past couple of years ...
Read More Alex Completes 60 Mile Trek
Alex and Ezra at Mwnt Beach We would like to say a huge well done to Alex Elsaesser who recently ...
Read More Anne and Brian Make Fantastic Donation
Mrs Pearce hands her cheque over to Laura MacDonald The story of one little boy inspired Anne Pearce and her ...
Read More Massage Helps Improve Bedtime Routine
Our Sleep Practitioner Pattie Everitt was recently able to help Freddie and his mum Abbie build a better bed time ...
Read More Samuel and Angel Bake Some Sweet Treats to Raise Funds
Samuel, Angel and Jacky On Saturday 1st July 2017, Samuel Turner and his friend Angel raised £50 for Cerebra at ...
Read More Night Waking and Building a Better Bedtime Routine
James James' family were struggling with his bedtime routine and night waking. Our Sleep Practitioners, Pattie Everitt explains what sleep ...
Read More Life online for young people with SEN
Dawn Cavanagh Dawn Cavanagh, whose teenage son has autism, considers the benefits and challenges of life online for young people ...
Read More New books in our library
In recent months the library has had less money to buy new books and it's been hard to choose which ...
Read More Sleep Seminar Gives Advice on Aromatherapy, Mindfulness and Massage
We recently held a Sleep Seminar in Leeds at the Mencap Centre. The theme of the day was supporting sleep ...
Read More Brody, Me and Global Development Delay
Brody Laura is mother to 5 year old Brody who, despite having lots of health issues, has no definitive diagnosis. ...
Read More Better Bedtime Routine
Our Sleep Practitioners provide support for families on a range of sleep issues. One of our Sleep Practitioners, Sarah Coldrey ...
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Poppy to Take on Second Triathlon Challenge
Rob and Poppy Last year, eleven year old Poppy Jones realised her dream of competing in the Cardiff Triathlon. This ...
Read More Improving early intervention for children with autism
Zarbanoo Rajput Zarbanoo Rajput BA (Hons), mum to a 15 year old with autism and an active member of ABAAccess4all ...
Read More 1000 Families Study – Age Range Extended
Are you the mother, father, or caregiver of a child aged between 4 and 15 years, 11 months who has ...
Read More Leah Makes Sense of Her World
The whole family! "Leah turned 5 in February and she has a diagnosis of severe global development delay, vision impairment, ...
Read More Sleep Walking to Success
The walkers before they set off On Saturday 6th May we held our second walk to the top of Pen-y-Fan ...
Read More Book Review: Parenting your disabled child
Our librarian Jan reviews a new book you can borrow from our free postal lending library. ‘Parenting Your Disabled Child: ...
Read More An End to Sleepless Nights
Our Sleep Service gives support to families when their child is having sleep difficulties. Sleep Practitioner Catherine Stone recently helped ...
Read More Help with night waking
Mum Tammy was struggling to cope with her daughter's night waking. Our Sleep Practitioner Claire Varey describes how she gave ...
Read More The Effect of Delay in Autism Diagnosis
We've been asking parents to share their experiences with obtaining an Autism diagnosis for their child and the effects that ...
Read More Support for our Problem-Solving Toolkit Workshops
We are very grateful to The Santander Community Fund, via the Community Foundation in Wales, and The Boshier-Hinton Foundation who ...
Read More Books in the library on growing up
Check out the books we have in our postal lending library on growing up. Going through adolescence How to be ...
Read More Why should I take part in research about families of children with learning disabilities?
The CEDAR research centre at Warwick University needs 1000 children with learning disabilities and their families to help with a ...
Read More Why timely diagnosis of autism is important
Tracy Elliott, our Head of Research and Information explains why timely diagnosis of autism is important and tells us her ...
Read More Research and Information Request Service
In a survey we carried out in 2016 (with 1937 respondents), less than 41% of parents receive written information when ...
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Cameron Gets Around on His New Scooot Seat
Louise French recently got in touch with us after she saw a Scooot Seat in action and knew it would ...
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Holly’s Rocking Dinosaur!
Holly and her rocking dinosaur "We contacted the Cerebra Innovation Centre (CIC) after realising the first birthday present we had ...
Read More Isaac’s Story – A Little Houdini!
Claire, Isaac and the whole family Claire is mum to eight year-old Isaac. Here's her story: . "Isaac is 8 ...
Read More Top Ten – The most popular children’s books in the library
Find out which are the 10 most popular books for children in our postal lending library. C0031 & C0092 Hands ...
Read More Welsh SEN ALN Reforms
The Welsh Government has been working on reforming the special educational needs system in Wales since the summer of 2007 ...
Read More Barcelona Team Complete Half Marathon
Five members of Fetal i+D team at the University of Barcelona took on the challenge of running the Barcelona Half Marathon on ...
Read More Jonathan’s Story – Eye Can Talk
Jonathan's perspex spelling board which helps him to communicate. Jonathan Bryan tells us his remarkable story and how he's doing ...
Read More Sleep Practitioner Helps Nelli
Nelli and Iveta Our Sleep Service gives support to families whose children are having problems with their sleep. Claire Varey, ...
Read More Learning disabilities: Identifying and managing mental health problems
The role of the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) is to improve outcomes for people using the ...
Read More Uniquely Human: a different way of seeing autism
Uniquely Human: a different way of seeing autism by Dr Barry M Prizant ISBN 9780285643338 £20.00 We all have different ...
Read More Sleep and Head Banging
Head banging is just one of the issues that our Sleep Practitioners can help families with. It's a difficult behaviour ...
Read More Teenage Sleep
Back in 2015, Sarah Coldrey, our Sleep Practitioner in the South West met with the Hunter family from Brixham. The ...
Read More Sleep Forum Addresses Sensory Difficulties
On the 10th November, Sleep Practitioner Claire Varey held a sleep forum at Burton Street Foundation, Sheffield. Claire, who is ...
Read More Disabled Facilities Grants Project
The school of law team at the University of Leeds Joseph is one of the students working on our Legal ...
Read More Magical Christmas at Covent Garden
On 22nd December, we held our ‘Christmas at Covent Garden’ concert at St Paul's Church in London. Guests were treated ...
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Becca’s fab rocket design!
Becca Becca Davies recently joined our Innovation Centre team for a month long internship. Becca wanted to gain some design ...
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Poppy’s Dream Comes True
Go Poppy! On 24th June Poppy’s dream finally came true – she completed the Cardiff triathlon in style! The weather ...
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Chris Oliver – My Journey into Research: the Boy at the Pillar
Professor Chris Oliver explains his journey into research as well as the pioneering work of the Cerebra Centre for Neurodevelopmental ...
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Mr Nigel Simpson: My Journey into Research
Nigel Simpson For most mothers pregnancy is a safe and straightforward process but for 1 in 5 unexpected complications can ...
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Innovation Centre Create High tech horse riding helmet for young boy with unique head shape.
Tommy-Lee in action The Cerebra Innovation Centre (CIC), along with the help of BSI (British Standards Institution) have taken the challenge ...
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Prof. Richard Hastings: My Journey into Research
Professor Richard Hastings Professor Richard Hastings is Professor of Psychology and Education and Cerebra Chair of Family Research in CEDAR ...
Read More Survey finds local authorities failing to comply with their legal obligations to parent carers/young carers
A survey of over 40% of English social services authorities by the Cerebra Legal Entitlements Research Project at Cardiff Law ...
Read More Communicating with Music
Our Parent Support Consultant Gill Gleeson takes a look at communicating with music. "Because music is a way of communicating other ...
Read More Autism and Mental Illness: a Teenager’s Perspective
Mair Elliott Mair Elliot shares her experience of living with both a mental illness and Autism. "Since 14 years old ...
Read More Sexuality, Autism and Young People – Families Study
The Sexuality, Autism, and Young People- Families study (SAY-Families) is a joint project between Warwick, Bangor and Glasgow Universities. Researcher Stacey ...
Read More Cerebra Family Research Ambassador Project
At Cerebra we believe in listening to families and using what they tell us to inspire research, innovation and information. ...
Read More Cerebra’s Sleep Service Helps Caroline and Dylan
Caroline and Dylan Caroline is mother to six year old Dylan who is thought to have high functioning Aspergers although ...
Read More “CleverstiX” – a clever way to bring fun to the dinner table!
CleverstiX Dr Ross Head, from The Cerebra Innovation Centre (CIC) recently came across a novel little product at the OT ...
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CIC Test Their Surf Access Vehicle (SAV)
The CIC team recently tested their new surfing products at Poppit Sands in Pembrokeshire. The team has developed a Tandem ...
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Innovation Centre work on new surf products
Surf access vehicle: SAV One of the new products being pioneered by CIC this summer has been the new Surf ...
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Difficulty Sleeping Alone or Night Waking
Our useful checklist gives tips for what you can do if your child is finding it difficult to sleep alone ...
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GoTo Seat is a hit
Sales of the brilliant GoTo seat are raising money for Cerebra. We have kept you up to date with the ...
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Cerebra and Leckey’s GoTo Seat
Cerebra have teamed up with James Leckey Design to develop and design a new and exciting lightweight portable postural support ...
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