What are the characteristics of additional needs for children in the early years, with specific consideration of neurodiversity, speech and language, and mental health interventions?

Background

Our goal is for the early years sector to provide the foundations for children to have happy, healthy and successful lives, and to enable parents to work. The sector has some challenges in common with our other sectors but it faces a different local and systemic context. We are interested in evidence that will help us enable a healthy and sustainable early years market which maximises the valuable outcomes of the sector.

Next steps

If you would like to discuss previous, ongoing or potential research into any of the areas in this document, please contact research.engagement@education.gov.uk.

Source

This question was published as part of the set of ARIs in this document:

Df E Areas of Research Interest 2024

Related UKRI funded projects


  • EN-REACH: Every Newborn - Reach up Early Education intervention for All Children in Bangladesh, Nepal & Tanzania

    The Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) target the unfinished agenda for child survival with 5.3 million deaths of children before their fifth birthday. Importantly, the SDGs also reflect families' and national governme...

    Funded by: MRC

    Lead research organisation: London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine

    Why might this be relevant?

    Addresses characteristics of additional needs for children in the early years, specifically focusing on neurodiversity, speech and language, and mental health interventions.

  • Trajectories and transitions in the cognitive and educational development of disabled children and young people

    This project brings together academics from the Institute of Education (IOE) researchers from the National Children's Bureau (NCB) and campaigners and policy-oriented practitioners from NCB's Council for Disabled Childre...

    Funded by: ESRC

    Lead research organisation: London School of Economics and Political Science

    Why might this be relevant?

    Focuses on cognitive and educational development of disabled children and young people, providing insights to inform policy in relation to disabled children.

  • The Early Year Analytics (TEYAN): A Wellbeing and Development Management Decision Support System for Early years Providers

    Early years development sets solid foundation for lifelong learning, performance, behaviour, and wellbeing. Scientists established that newborns start with similar brain structure, but events during sensitive period of c...

    Funded by: Innovate UK

    Lead research organisation: LITTLE WONDERS (EARLY YEARS) LIMITED

    Why might this be relevant?

    The project provides a comprehensive decision support system for early years providers, addressing the characteristics of additional needs for children with a focus on neurodiversity, speech and language, and mental health interventions.

  • Understanding Children's Lives and Outcomes

    Understanding Children's Lives and Outcomes, led by Morag Treanor and Fiona Mitchell, will provide new insights to help better understand and deliver the best possible outcomes for children, utilising existing datasets n...

    Funded by: ESRC

    Lead research organisation: University of Edinburgh

    Why might this be relevant?

    Partially relevant as it focuses on educational exclusions, absences, and kinship care, but does not specifically address neurodiversity, speech and language, and mental health interventions.

  • The Millennium Cohort Study Sweep 6 (Age 14) Survey

    The Millennium Cohort Study (MCS) is a unique, multidisciplinary research resource. Following the lives of over 19,000 children born across the UK around the turn of the millennium, it builds on the UK's rich, and unequa...

    Funded by: ESRC

    Lead research organisation: University College London

  • Harnessing the power of global data to support young children's learning and development: Analyses, dissemination and implementation

    The 2017 Lancet Series, Advancing Early Childhood Development: From Science to Scale, estimated that 43% of children under 5 years in LMICs (250m children), were at risk of not reaching their potential because they had s...

    Funded by: GCRF

    Lead research organisation: University of Oxford

  • Designing innovative screening methods for neurodevelopmental conditions using BERRI

    Founded by a consultant clinical psychologist with specialist expertise about the mental health of vulnerable children, BERRI is a digital toolset that can identify and support children's psychological needs, across the ...

    Funded by: Innovate UK

    Lead research organisation: EVOLVING FAMILIES LTD

  • Born talking: using birth cohort data on speech, language and communication to inform policy and practice

    An individual's speech, language and communication (SLC) abilities affect almost every aspect of their life - for example, their access to information, their participation in activities that involve engagement with other...

    Funded by: ESRC

    Lead research organisation: University of East Anglia

  • Improving curriculum and teaching methods to influence policy and increase the quality of ECDE provision for children with disabilities in Malawi.

    The University of Birmingham (UoB) and Sightsavers International have invited researchers and academics from leading institutions working in the areas of early childhood development and education (ECDE) and special educa...

    Funded by: ESRC

    Lead research organisation: University of Birmingham

    Why might this be relevant?

    The project focuses on improving curriculum and teaching methods for children with disabilities in Malawi, including those with neurodiversity, speech and language needs, and mental health interventions.

  • Growing Up in Digital Europe Preparation Phase (GUIDEPREP)

    The Growing Up in Digital Europe Preparatory Phase (GUIDEPREP) project further develops the research infrastructure (RI) necessary to implement the GUIDE birth cohort study. This preparatory work will take place across 2...

    Funded by: Horizon Europe Guarantee

    Lead research organisation: MANCHESTER METROPOLITAN UNIVERSITY