Supporting Neurodivergent Pupils: What We Heard at BBC Children in Need's Unite, Energise, Flourish
Supporting neurodivergent pupils was the question at the heart of BBC Children in Need's Unite, Energise, Flourish event, and it's exactly the challenge we spend our working days trying to help schools answer. Here's what we heard, and what it means for how we design acoustic spaces for schools.
On the road again: Unite, Energise, Flourish
This is the second entry in our new On The Road journal, following last week's stop at the Fortis Education Conference at Stowe School. This time it took us to City St George's, University of London, on Wednesday 1 July 2026, for BBC Children in Need's Unite, Energise, Flourish: Taking a Strengths-Based Approach to Support Neurodivergent Young People to Thrive.
The day was chaired throughout by Prof. Trudi Edginton, Professor of Clinical Psychology at City St George's, and closed with remarks from Tricia Young, Director of Impact and Influence at BBC Children in Need. In between was a genuinely packed agenda of research, lived experience and practical innovation, all pointing the same way: towards strengths-based, neuroaffirmative approaches to supporting neurodivergent children and young people.
A day of strengths-based, neuroaffirmative thinking
Carrie Grant opened the day with a keynote on flourishing during a time of great change, followed by a panel on intersectionality in practice, chaired by Prof. Catherine Loveday, exploring how culture and identity shape neurodivergent mental health experiences alongside panellists Atif Choudhury, Carrie Grant, Hazel Lim, Khurram Sadiq and Tumi Sotire.
The afternoon turned to practical innovation: Zillah Watson on how VR is being used to create safe spaces in schools through Phase Space, and Prof. Gillian Forrester on the Babygrow Project. It was a reminder that supporting neurodivergent pupils well takes research, technology and design working together, not any one discipline alone.
On the panel: Helen Roberts on The Invisible Barrier
Our own Helen Roberts joined the "What Works? Innovation, Practice and Emerging Solutions" panel, chaired by Prof. Trudi Edginton, alongside Cathy Wassell of The Haven, Dr Tiffany Nelson, an educational psychologist, Zillah Watson and Prof. Gillian Forrester. Helen shared insight from The Invisible Barrier, our own look at how the sound of a classroom shapes whether every child can listen, learn, attend and thrive.
“If we break down barriers for our most vulnerable children, we break down barriers for every child, and everyone thrives.”
Turning insight into action
As with Stowe, it would be easy to leave a day like this with a notebook full of ideas and nothing to show for it. Here's how it's actually landing in our work:
- Hearing how VR is being used to build safe, low-arousal spaces reinforces our own thinking on sensory environments that reduce overwhelm before a pupil even needs to ask for help.
- The intersectionality panel was a reminder that a neurodivergent-friendly space can't be one-size-fits-all; culture, identity and individual experience all shape what genuine inclusion needs to look like.
- Every conversation reinforced the same principle behind The Invisible Barrier: acoustic design isn't a nice-to-have bolt-on, it's foundational to whether a neurodivergent pupil can access a lesson at all.
Thank you to BBC Children in Need, City St George's and Prof. Trudi Edginton's team for a thoughtfully organised day, and to every speaker who shared their research and experience so generously.
That's the second stop in our On The Road journal. If you missed the first, catch up on our visit to the Fortis Education Conference at Stowe School, and stay tuned, we'll keep sharing what we learn as we go.
Talk to us about inclusive classroom design
If you're thinking about how acoustics and sensory design can better support neurodivergent pupils, get in touch or book a free acoustic survey.
