Supporting families across the UK
Transforming understanding. Strengthening practice. Creating environments where neurodivergent children can thrive.
ACE-SEN Consultancy delivers specialist SEN and SEND training for schools, SENCOs, teaching assistants and families, in partnership with SENDSTATION Ltd. Every session is built on professional expertise and lived experience of neurodiversity, with a particular specialism in Pathological Demand Avoidance (PDA) and the hidden profile of autistic girls and young women.
Training is delivered live online or in person, and every session is tailored to the setting or family asking for it rather than run from a fixed slide deck. Whether you need a twilight INSET for the whole staff team, a SENCO briefing, or a one-off family session, training starts with a free 30-minute consultation to work out what your school or family actually needs.
Training is delivered by specialists who understand neurodiversity both professionally and personally, including as parents of neurodivergent children. That combination is what separates this training from a generic INSET slot: staff and families get strategies that have been tested at home and in the classroom, not just in theory.
Every session ends with strategies staff and families can use the same day, rather than a framework to file away. Sessions draw on real classroom and family scenarios, not hypothetical ones.
Training is built around connection and safety rather than compliance, helping staff and families read behaviour as communication and respond calmly rather than escalate.
No two schools or families have the same pupils or pressures, so every session is adapted to the specific needs in the room, whether that is a mainstream primary, a SEND unit, or a single family.
ACE-SEN has a particular depth of knowledge in PDA and in the profile of autistic girls and young women, who are frequently missed because their masking and burnout look different to the more commonly recognised presentation of autism.
How to spot the signs of PDA, why it is driven by anxiety rather than defiance, and the practical, low-demand strategies that help, from reframing instructions as choices to spotting the early warning signs of a meltdown before it happens.
A session for parents and carers on what PDA is and why strategies such as star charts and consequences tend to backfire, along with what to try instead at home.
How masking, social camouflaging and burnout show up differently in autistic girls and young women, why this profile is so often missed or misdiagnosed, and what staff and families can do to recognise and support it.
Practical, trauma-informed strategies for helping children manage anxiety and big emotions, reducing the demands and pressures that tend to trigger dysregulation in the first place.
A session for SENCOs and leadership teams on the SEND Code of Practice, the graduated approach of assess, plan, do, review, and how it connects to your school’s EHCP support processes.
How to spot the early signs of dyslexia in primary-age children, the difference between a struggling reader and a dyslexic one, and when to refer for a dyslexia assessment or tuition.
Every school and family is different, so sessions above can be combined, shortened, or built entirely around your own setting and pupils. Get in touch to talk through what you need.
Schools and SENCOs, looking for whole-staff CPD on PDA, autism, emotional regulation or the SEND Code of Practice
Teaching assistants and pastoral staff, who are often first to see a child escalate and need practical, in-the-moment strategies
School leadership teams, wanting a consistent, staff-wide approach so a child’s support does not depend on which adult is in the room
Families and carers, looking to understand a diagnosis or working through PDA support or EHCP support and wanting practical strategies at home
Training rarely stands alone. Schools that book PDA training often go on to use our PDA support service for individual pupils, while SENCO training on the graduated approach frequently leads into EHCP support for children going through assessment. Families new to a diagnosis can also draw on our 0 to 5 years and 5-plus years support, our dyslexia assessments and dyslexia tuition, and our DLA and PIP application support.
Nicola Durrant · Founder, ACE-SEN Consultancy & SENDSTATION Ltd
Training is led by Nicola Durrant, founder of ACE-SEN Consultancy and of SENDSTATION Ltd, with over 25 years’ experience supporting neurodivergent children and young people. Nicola specialises in PDA and in female autism presentations, and is also a parent of a child with a PDA diagnosis, which shapes the practical, lived-experience approach behind every session.
Read more about the wider team on our meet the team page.
Sessions run live online via Zoom through SENDSTATION, or in person for schools that prefer a face-to-face INSET, staff meeting or twilight session. Length and format are agreed in advance, so a session can be a focused hour for a small team or a half-day whole-staff CPD day. Notes and materials from each session can be kept for your school’s CPD records.
A free 30-minute consultation to talk through what your school or family needs, so the training that follows is built around your pupils rather than a standard template.
Get in touchNo obligation, just a friendly chat about your child and how we can help.
Schools, SENCOs, teaching assistants, leadership teams and families across the UK.
PDA training explains Pathological Demand Avoidance, an anxiety-driven profile of autism, and gives staff or families practical, low-demand strategies for supporting a PDA child in the classroom or at home. Sessions are led by trainers with professional and lived experience of PDA, and are shaped around your pupils rather than delivered from a generic slide deck.
PDA, autistic girls and young women, emotional regulation, the SEND Code of Practice, and recognising dyslexia, among others. Every session can be tailored to your setting.
Yes. Sessions are adapted to the specific pupils, staff team or family asking for them, rather than delivered from a fixed slide deck.
Both. Sessions run live online via Zoom through SENDSTATION, or in person for schools that prefer a face-to-face INSET or staff meeting.
