The Open University launched a free ‘Supporting Neurodivergent Children’ toolkit in early February 2026, according to the university. The resource is designed to help parents and carers — including those in Milton Keynes and the wider Buckinghamshire area — find practical advice and signposting for supporting neurodivergent children, and to reduce the time and stress involved in searching for help.
The toolkit, authored by Mel Green and Dr Poppy Gibson for The Open University, was developed by OU researchers with input from local practitioners and parent-carer groups, the university says. The OU describes the resource as a set of modular guides covering topics such as school advocacy, creating sensory-friendly homes, and navigating Education, Health and Care Plans (EHCPs).
According to OU research cited by the university, local work carried out in 2024–25 indicated parents were spending an average of around 15 hours per week trying to find appropriate services; this figure is reported by the OU and should be treated as an OU research finding unless an external data source is published alongside it.
The project follows the UK government’s SEND and alternative provision improvement plan and, the university says, was built using feedback from local parent groups and other local stakeholders. The OU also indicates it has worked with local services to ensure the toolkit aligns with the local SEND landscape in Milton Keynes.
Families can access the toolkit free of charge via The Open University’s ‘Supporting Neurodivergent Children’ site; related resources are also available through the OU’s OpenLearn Neurodiversity Hub. The university says the materials were written to be easy to read and to foreground parents’ lived experience rather than technical or clinical language.
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