Latest news with #Minds
BBC News
05-05-2025
- Health
- BBC News
Bristol app helping families navigating ADHD and autism launches
A new app has been launched which uses Artificial Intelligence (AI), to give carers who suspect their children are neurodivergent, "a better picture of what's going on" whilst waiting for a company Spicy Minds' app called Hazel gave users access to a series of tests where AI then interpreted the results and compiled personalised strategies for things such as school or Minds CEO Ben Cosh said: "Parents shouldn't have to wait years to understand their child's needs and get practical support."Nicola Bennett from Almondsbury, who waited five years for her son's autism diagnosis, said having access to the app would have been "amazing" for the family. "If I had access to the app in those five years I would have used it. I think it's really really good to have," she said."An app like that that gives you some guidances on how to plan your day and work with sensory needs is amazing."As a parent you need to learn about the neurodiversity to be able to support the child in the right way especially if you've never come across it before. "I didn't know anything about autism. "Five years is a long time and they had to deal with x amount of things in school until he got it."Anything that can help why would you not use it."Ms Bennett said if the app linked users up to a support network or charities and local services, that would also be an added benefit. According to the company, around 7,000 children in Bristol were currently waiting for an NHS autism assessment whilst waiting lists continued to Cosh said while the app did not provide a diagnosis, "it does give parents a much better picture of what is going on"."[It] crucially, provides strategies that work, reducing family stress and improving day-to-day difficulties while they navigate the long wait for NHS services," he said.
BBC News
04-03-2025
- General
- BBC News
York council free meals program extended with breakfast club
A council-run free school meals trial, which is funded by donations, has been expanded with the launch of a breakfast club. The York City Council Hungry Minds program was rolled out at Fishergate Primary school last teacher Tina Clarke said the school had previously offered cereals to students who came to school hungry but it came from funds which could have been used elsewhere in Labour-run council said it hoped to extend the scheme to other schools in the city if the funding allowed. Ms Clarke told BBC Radio York: "I'm really grateful that our school was chosen because I know the levels of need some of our families have."It's something that as a school, with funding as it is at the moment, we wouldn't have been able to offer."Ms Clarke said in addition to getting breakfast, students were also given a chance to socialise before lessons. Teaching assistant Claire Stenson, who runs the program, said: "We've had good feedback from some of the teachers that these children have been a lot more settled first thing in the morning."She added: "They're a lot more able to learn." Councillor Bob Webb, executive member for children, young people and education, told the Local Democracy Reporting Service he hoped to extend the scheme further this year, but the existing funding model needed to expand to support those plans."It's a soft start between home and school that offers children a little bit of social time and if a child's had a tough time at home it gives them a space to talk about that too," Webb said the scheme, which has already been rolled out in Clifton's Burton Green Primary School and Acomb's Westfield Primary Community School, was funded through a partnership between the council and local philanthropists. Westfield began offering free lunches to pupils in years three to six from January 2024, with the scheme later extended to a breakfast club offer in Burton current ruling Labour administration pledged to provide every primary pupil with a free school meal when it came to power in comes alongside a government-run national free breakfast clubs early adopter scheme which is funding trials in 750 schools including York's St Paul's Church of England Primary School from said: "If that gets fully rolled out we could look at using our resources to top it up." Listen to highlights from North Yorkshire on BBC Sounds, catch up with the latest episode of Look North.
