Provide mentoring (pairing young children with older peer or adult or acts as a positive role model) and to support with personalised goal setting. The Education Endowment Foundation (EEF) provides a free toolkit to guide implementation in schools.

Ensure regular staff briefings centred around the young person’s strengths and support needs (e.g. A One Page Profile may help communicate this, as well as the editable young person overviews).

Provide Social Stories as needed; short descriptions of a particular situation, event or activity, which include specific information about what to expect in that situation and why. Wherever possible and appropriate, you should include the young person in the creation of the social story.

Comic strip conversations can be used to help young person’s understand social interaction by visually showing them (using symbols, stick-figure drawings and colour) the different levels of communication – including thoughts, feelings, words and actions – that take place in a conversation.

Provide additional support at transition and unstructured times if these are particular difficulties (e.g. pass to avoid crowds, inclusion in a range of break time clubs).

Please also see the Social, Emotional and Mental Health section.