Using a person-centred approach, involving children and young people and their families is key to planning and reviewing support. Further information about person-centred planning and a person-centred planning toolkit can be accessed here.

Important considerations include:

• Focusing on the children and young people and their families as individuals.

• Enabling children and young people to express their views, wishes and feelings in ways that are meaningful to them.

• Ensuring children, young people and their families are fully included in all discussions, with appropriate support to enable their participation.

• Ensuring that what is being discussed is easy for children and young people to understand, relative to their developmental stage.

• Understanding how individuals prefer to communicate and their level of understanding (e.g. sharing views verbally, or through visual or multimedia resources, use of professional interpreters).

• Identifying who the child/ young person likes to communicate with – is there a member of staff whom they feel most comfortable sharing their honest views with? Consider whether parents/carers might be better placed to share views at home.

• Highlighting the child/ young person's strengths and capabilities.

• Eliciting the child/ young person's interests and the outcomes they would like in the short term and long term.