We seek to (1) develop a bilingual screening tool to quickly and accurately identify children with complex needs who are referred to the Miles Dyslexia Centre, allowing them to be immediately referred to an appropriate practitioner for a full assessment; (2) scope the current situation and measure waiting times for local children with social difficulties with a level of precision, taking a look at the impact of the pandemic on both waiting times and how assessments are carried out (e.g., remote assessment, bilingual assessment); (3) build and coordinate a group of researchers, educational practitioners, and clinical practitioners with the aim of moving towards an integrated assessment and care system for children with learning difficulties and ASD. Including clinical practitioners is essential, since a complete assessment would need to be a team effort between community, educational, and clinical (NHS) services. Our longer-term aim is to establish a BU Neurodevelopmental Centre that would not only push forward cutting edge translational neurodevelopmental research, but would also service the needs of children locally and nationally (via remote assessment and intervention) and which we hope will serve as a blueprint for excellence in provision within both “remote” rural areas and bilingual contexts.

Funding awarded through the Bangor University Innovation and Impact Award (Research Wales Innovation Funding). Value = £46,582