Specialist Mental Health Service for Children & Young People (CYP) with a Learning Disability and/or who are autistic.
The service supports the mental health needs of CYP who have complex needs and present with significant communication challenges, as a result of their Learning Disability and or autism that require specialist approaches to mental health support. These often do not appear in isolation and many of CYP will experience co-occurring difficulties, such as:
• Emotional dysregulation
• Behaviours of concern[2] (includes CYP with LD and/or ASD that may show behaviours of concern that seem unrelated to mental health at first but underlying mental health needs often become clearer once support begins)
• Sleep difficulties, feeding difficulties, and toileting difficulties
• Withdrawal from usual activities significantly impacting activities of daily living (ADL)
• Sensory processing difficulties
In addition, Mental Health Support Teams (MHSTs) provide early help mental health support for pupils (reception to year 13*) with mild to moderate difficulties who are on roll at education settings within Hertfordshire.