Co-operation Ireland through OUR Generation in parternship with Learning SPACE are delighted to offer professionals/practitioners/youth workers a part day training to give them the skills they need to support neurodivergent children and young people.

Who is eligible?

Adults 18+ working with children and young people aged 9-25 in a professional or volunteer capacity. Includes youth workers, communtiy workers, and practitioners.

Overview

In this session, we’ll cover the following key areas, including:

Empathy and Understanding: A deeper empathy and understanding for those who are neurodivergent and/or have additional needs
Accomadations: For it to become more second nature to make accomadations in interactions, processes and environments
Sensory Rooms and Resources: Gain a clearer understanding of your sesnsory and specialised resources, including how to maximise their benefits and when and why they are most helpful
Thrive: The ultimate mission is that everyone feels valued, understood, heard and empowered to thrive in their natural being!

About Learning SPACE:

Lorraine is the Founder and Managing Director of Learning SPACE (Special Products Aiding Child Education). Learning SPACE is an educational toy and resource supplier providing everything needed to create an innovative learning environment.

Lorraine has 24 years' experience in the education and sensory world, and a post graduate certificate in Autism with Middletown Center for Autism and University of Limerick. Lorainne is passionate about enabling children so that no matter what their needs are, they feel valued, resilient and happy.

Learning SPACE have developed this training by gathering insights from the neurodivergent community, and individuals of all ages with real-life expersinces of neurodivergence in the home, classroom and workspace. Through close collaboration with these individuals, they have developed a programme which truly reflects their needs and perspectives.

About the PEACEPLUS OUR Generation Project:

OUR Generation is a PEACEPLUS funded project led by Action Mental Health and a cross-border partnership of 9 organisations including Co-operation Ireland, Youth Action NI, Boys & Girls Clubs NI, Donegal Youth Service, PlayBoard NI, Youth Work Ireland, Include Youth, and Ulster University. OUR Generation will focus on delivering impactful initiatives for youth mental health and wellbeing and contribute to peace and reconciliation through cross-border and cross-community initiatives. The project aims to increase mental health literacy, enhance emotional resilience, build leadership skills of CYP and lead research in mental health and the impact of trauma on our communities. The project will incorporate trauma-informed practice and build interpersonal, intrapersonal, and intergroup skills in young people to promote shared learning and diversity. We will work with young people aged 9-25 and key youth workers including any adults working with young people in a professional or volunteer capacity.

Co-operation Ireland's will focus on connecting groups on a cross community and cross border basis based upon common needs and shared interests with the development of activities and training to address issues, specifically around the promotion of emotional resilience, empathy and understanding underpinned by building peace & reconciliation in Northern Ireland and the border counties of Ireland.

Neurodiversity Training for Youth Workers