Pathway for parents or carers of children aged 6 months to 19+ years
Join our learning pathway for all parents, carers and grandparents: a journey of understanding children who may be neurodivergent, have a disability or face other additional challenges.
Pathway stages
Bitesize stages for daily steps towards confident parenting and connected relationships.
1. Being a parent (Level 1)
1.1 Welcome!
1.2 How do you currently feel about parenting?
1.3 How parenting makes you feel
1.4 How parenting makes you feel on a bad day
1.5 Finding out more
1.6 Developing your relationship with your child
1.7 Behaviour is communication!
1.8 Feelings and behaviour
2. Our feelings (Level 1)
2.1 Understanding our feelings
2.2 How we know we’re happy
2.3 How we know we’re sad
2.4 How we know we’re tired
2.5 How we know we’re anxious
3. Understanding how your child is feeling (Level 1)
3.1 Understanding when your child feels happy
3.2 Understanding when your child feels sad
3.3 Understanding when your child feels tired
3.4 Understanding when your child feels anxious
3.5 Sensory processing and feelings
3.6 Your child’s feelings
4. Reading behaviours (Level 1)
4.1 Reading behaviours
4.2 Other parents’ examples
4.3 Reading your child’s behaviour in these situations
4.4 Look, think, say!
5. The challenge of reading behaviours (Level 1)
5.1 How our behaviour affects our children
5.2 Your feelings make a difference
5.3 The challenge of reading behaviours
5.4 The three key questions
5.5 A recap
5.6 Time to have a go!
6. Tuning into what your child needs (Level 1)
6.1 The story so far…
6.2 Feeding back on Time to have a go!
6.3 What’s coming up
6.4 Tuning into what your child needs
6.5 Developmental stages
6.6 A reminder about brain development
6.7 Reflecting on your child’s brain development
6.8 Helping your child learn new skills
6.9 What it takes to learn new skills
6.10 Switching shoes
6.11 Understanding developmental stages
6.12 What would you do?
6.13 A recap
6.14 Time to have a go!
7. Processing feelings (Level 1)
7.1 Developmental stages
7.2 Some other parents’ observations
7.3 Feeding back on Time to have a go!
7.4 Feeling worse and feeling better
7.5 Containment: the basics
7.6 Containment: parent and child
7.7 Containment: learning more
7.8 What can happen when we have our own worries
7.9 Making space in your mind
7.10 How feelings are communicated
7.11 The feelings
7.12 Doing things differently
7.13 Thinking about how we say things
7.14 Developing a containing relationship
7.15 Time to have a go!
8. Different styles of parenting (Level 1)
8.1 Welcome and recap
8.2 Feeding back on Time to have a go!
8.3 Review
8.4 What’s coming up
8.5 Approaches to parenting
8.6 What you might like to pass on to your children
8.7 Styles of parenting
8.8 Different kinds of parenting
8.9 Authoritative parenting: Getting the balance right
8.10 Time to have a go!
9. Having fun together (Level 1)
9.1 Reflections
9.2 Feeding back on Time to have a go!
9.3 What’s coming up
9.4 Learning by playing
9.5 Learning through play with adults
9.6 How play can benefit relationships
9.7 Ideas for playing
9.8 Different ways of playing
9.9 Another look at the play sequences
9.10 The wider benefits of play
9.11 A recap
9.12 Time to have a go! Adult
9.13 Time to have a go! Child
9.14 End of Level 1
10. Rhythm of interaction (Level 2)
10.1 Welcome and reflections
10.2 Feeding back on Time to have a go!
10.3 The Dance of Reciprocity: The basics
10.4 Communication between adults
10.5 Understanding the Dance of Reciprocity
10.6 The 7 steps of the Dance
10.7 Understanding babies’ actions
10.8 Noticing the Dance with your children
10.9 Development is not a straight line!
10.10 The Dance
10.11 Self-regulation and the Dance
10.12 The look-away
10.13 A recap
10.14 Time to have a go!
11. Why sleep is important (Level 2)
11.1 Welcome and feedback on Time to have a go!
11.2 Recap
11.3 Sleep
11.4 Separating from a child
11.5 Overcoming separation difficulties
11.6 Common causes of sleep disturbance
11.7 Why do we need to sleep?
11.8 What helps us to get to sleep
11.9 Sleeping difficulties
11.10 Having a routine to go to sleep
11.11 Recap
11.12 Time to have a go!
12. Self regulation and anger (Level 2)
12.1 Reflections and what’s coming up
12.2 Feeding back on Time to have a go!
12.3 Anger and independence
12.4 Coping with anger
12.5 Seeing anger in a different way
12.6 When can anger be helpful?
12.7 What are the kinds of things that might make a child feel angry?
12.8 How to help a child who feels angry
12.9 Learning emotional containment
12.10 Helping your child learn to manage their anger
12.11 Anger and self-regulation
12.12 Parent child interaction examples
12.13 Alternative approaches you could take
12.14 Managing anger
12.15 Recap
12.16 Time to have a go!
13. Communication and tuning in (Level 2)
13.1 Reflections
13.2 Feeding back on Time to have a go!
13.3 What’s coming up
13.4 The Dance of Reciprocity: Recap
13.5 How to recover when things go wrong: rupture and repair
13.6 Example of a rupture
13.7 How the situation could be improved: a repair
13.9 Repairing relationships
13.10 What happens after a disagreement
13.11 The importance of apologising
13.12 Helping your child learn rupture and repair
13.13 Time to have a go!
14. Looking back and looking forward (Level 2)
14.1 Reflections and what’s next
14.2 Feeding back on Time to have a go!
14.3 What have you managed to change?
14.4 Quiz Time
14.5 Doing things differently
14.6 Recap of Resources
14.7 Further resources
14.8 Post-course questionnaire
14.9 Solihull Approach acknowledgements
14.10 The end of this course: continuing your journey
About this pathway
The important relationships in your child’s life can help shape their emotional wellbeing and enable them to thrive. Parenting a child with additional needs can bring unique rewards and unique pressures—we’re here to help you feel more confident and supported in your parenting. This pathway is designed to offer you space for reflection with some expert insight from practitioners and other parents like you, shaped into practical ideas.
Developed by our team of psychologists, psychotherapists, and health practitioners, this pathway draws on years of experience supporting families with diverse needs. It is grounded in the Solihull Approach model, which helps us understand emotional containment, reciprocity, and behaviour as a form of communication.
In short, interactive steps, you’ll explore:
- How your child’s brain develops and what this might look like for neurodivergent children
- Emotional regulation and behaviour
- Sleep and sensory needs
- Your own wellbeing as a parent or carer
- How to build strong, attuned relationships at home
Parents who have completed this pathway tell us they feel more equipped to support their child’s emotional health, better able to manage stress and conflict, and become more connected to their child’s unique way of experiencing the world.
90% learners said they found the pathway helpful
90% learners said they would recommend the pathway to friends and family
“I have learnt so much throughout this pathway and I will always recommend this pathway to any family that is struggling with parenting their children. As a father, the way I see my children now is different; before I make a decision, I always carefully consider their ideas and my opinions and look at the best possible ways to deal with the issue, unlike before when I looked at things from my own perspective.”
Father from the pathway
“The brain is so complex and to understand how emotions work in different children is quite remarkable.”
Parent from the pathway
“It was great information and easy to follow, adding the tasks to try was a great way to see how a different approach can work.”
Parent from the pathway
“This pathway has been really insightful and helpful and I have most definitely made changes when trying to understand my child’s feelings and behaviours.”
Parent from the pathway
