Branching Minds

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Branching Minds Online Autism Assessments (UK)
Helping parents get clarity sooner
NICE aligned
Ages 2-18 years

Special interests Girls & Masking

18/10/2026

At the time, there seemed to be a reason for everything.
Clare Canale shares an honest parent perspective of her daughter's late diagnosis.
Looking back you can see things differently but it doesn’t mean you should have known.
Some autistic children/young people mask their difficulties, appearing comfortable while working hard to manage. For others, different needs or experiences may help explain what’s happening. The difference between home and school is worth exploring with curiosity.
If something isn’t adding up, your observations deserve to be heard. You don’t need a perfect explanation before asking for support. 💚
Watch the full conversation htps://www.branchingmindsasd.co.uk

12/10/2026

My calm might not be your calm 💚 What is your calm? What fills your bucket?

We have returned from a fantastic experience at TES SEND Show London. It was awesome to meet so many passionate, like mi...
11/10/2026

We have returned from a fantastic experience at TES SEND Show London. It was awesome to meet so many passionate, like minded professionals, all sharing the same goal, to make real differences to the lives of children/young people and their families. We are returning feeling inspired, motivated and excited by the connections we have made and what might come next Samantha Rushton

“Young people aren’t snowflakes.”A recent BBC article exploring the independent review into mental health, ADHD and Auti...
03/10/2026

“Young people aren’t snowflakes.”

A recent BBC article exploring the independent review into mental health, ADHD and Autism has raised some important questions about what is happening for our children and young people.

Professor Peter Fonagy, who is leading the review, argues that the increasing distress we are seeing in young people is real. And perhaps that is where the conversation needs to begin.

At Branching Minds ASD, we meet children and young people who are struggling every day with school, friendships, sensory environments, anxiety, expectations and simply trying to navigate a world that can sometimes feel overwhelming.

The review is also looking carefully at the significant rise in referrals and diagnoses of Autism and ADHD, and at how support is currently accessed.

Better recognition of Autism and ADHD matters. For many children and families, diagnosis can provide an important framework for understanding a child's needs, help a young person understand their own identity, and inform the right support.

But children should not have to struggle unsupported while they wait for a diagnosis either.

We can respond to a child's needs now, while still recognising when a thorough neurodevelopmental assessment is appropriate.

Perhaps one of the most important messages from this discussion is a simple one:

Our children are not “snowflakes”.

When behaviour changes, school becomes difficult, anxiety increases or a young person's world begins to get smaller, we need to be curious about what is underneath it.

Ask how, not why...

28/09/2026

Understanding children’s sensory needs...

I was delighted to be joined by Amanda Hunter, Occupational Therapist, for a podcast conversation all about sensory processing and understanding children’s sensory needs.

Amanda works across both NHS and private practice and spends a great deal of time working in and around schools, giving her valuable insight into how sensory differences can present across home, school and everyday life.

This is just a short clip from our conversation, where we begin to explore why it is so important to look beyond what we might initially see as behaviour.

For autistic children and young people, everyday experiences such as noise, clothing, smells, food, touch, busy environments or simply having too much happening at once can sometimes become overwhelming.
When we begin to understand how a child is experiencing their world, their behaviour can start to make much more sense and that understanding can completely change how we support them. 💚

And this is only the beginning…

🎧 There’s lots more coming from our conversation with Amanda, where we’ll explore sensory processing, sensory differences and what these can actually look like for children and young people in everyday life.

At Branching Minds ASD, we want to keep bringing these conversations to families and professionals.
Follow along, there’s much more to come. 🌿

23/09/2026

💛 When school feels too hard to attend…

This week is School Avoidance Awareness Week, and I wanted to share this short clip from Educational Psychologist Sharron Harper.

In this clip, Sharron talks about reframing the way we think about school avoidance and helping us become curious about what a child may actually be communicating.

You may hear this described as school refusal, but we much prefer Emotionally Based School Avoidance (EBSA)

Anxiety, sensory overwhelm, social demands, masking, exhaustion or unmet needs can all sit underneath difficulties with school attendance particularly for neurodivergent children.

💛 Sometimes the first step isn’t getting a child/young person back through the school door. It’s understanding why that door has become so difficult to walk through

https://branchingmindsasd.co.uk

16/09/2026

A little snapshot of what’s coming…

A huge thank you to Clare Canale, Occupational Therapist and mum to an autistic daughter, for sharing such an open and personal conversation with me.

Clare’s daughter was diagnosed as autistic at 17. In this short clip, Claire talks about the moment she began to realise that her daughter might be autistic and the complicated emotions that came with that realisation.

At school, her daughter was masking so successfully that so much of what she was experiencing wasn’t visible to those around her.

This is only a tiny part of Clare’s story. 💛

Over the coming weeks, I’ll be sharing more short clips exploring masking, late identification, what was happening beneath the surface, and Clare’s experience as both a professional and, most importantly, a mum.

The full conversation will be part of the Branching Minds ASD podcast, coming in January. 🎧

13/09/2026

What Changes When We Get Curious About Behaviour?

Thank you to Sharron Harper, Educational Psychologist for joining Branching Minds in the podcast about behaviour (full podcast, coming soon).

In this short conversation, we talk about something we feel strongly about at Branching Minds ASD: behaviour needs to be understood in context.

What if, instead of asking “How do we stop this behaviour?”, we became curious about what is the young person trying to communicate to us, as behaviour does not happen in isolation💛

When we understand the environment around the young person, the routines, relationships, sensory experiences, and support they need, we can respond with greater compassion.

Are we expecting young people to cope in an environment that is already using up all of their capacity?

Sometimes the most powerful change isn’t asking the young person to change. It’s changing what’s happening around them.

Understanding the environment around the young person helps us respond with empathy and enables us to provide the support they need to feel safe, regulated and ready to learn.

🌿Curiosity changs everything

Sometimes, lining things up is the calm. 💚The order.The repetition.The predictability.The need to finish.It might not ma...
05/09/2026

Sometimes, lining things up is the calm. 💚

The order.
The repetition.
The predictability.
The need to finish.

It might not make sense to us but it may be helping a child feel settled, regulated and safe ❤️

02/09/2026

Spot Early Signs: Emotionally Based School Avoidance - full podcast, coming soon.
Sharron Harper, Educational Psychologist

It’s only one day a week… But what if it’s an early sign?

One day off school here and there can be easy to brush aside.
But when it starts becoming a pattern, it may be a child/young person’s way of showing us that something about school is becoming too difficult.
The earlier we notice the pattern, the earlier we can get curious about what’s underneath it before one day becomes two… and getting through the school door becomes even harder.

💭 Don’t just ask, “How do we get them back into school?”
Ask: “What is making school feel so hard right now?”

Early signs matter. ❤️

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