Local youngsters who are neurodivergent, including those with a learning disability or autism, have created and starred in five powerful videos around the key challenges of moving from childhood into adulthood.

The short films cover five fundamental themes: The future, Life as a young person, Relationships, Education, and Health. All are designed to give professional support teams’ valuable insight to help improve the services they offer.

Each interviewee provides frank and insightful reflections which are at times stark in their honesty. The future, and their role in it, feels slightly daunting, but overwhelmingly positive and full of hope. You can view these films here

Funding for the films was provided by NHS England through the Buckinghamshire, Oxfordshire and Berkshire West Integrated Care Board (BOB ICB) which manages NHS health services across our area, to engage with young adults aged 14 – 25 years.

BOB ICB commissioned Reading charity, Starting Point and Realtime Film Company, to co-produce the films with more than 20 young people all keen to learn and manage the storyboarding, filming and editing process. Throughout the project, participants led the topics covered and were responsible (and delighted!) with what was finally produced.

The overall aim of these films is to help other health, social care and education professionals and the general public better understand transitioning to adulthood for these young people.

Patricia Pease, Associate Director of Nursing Vulnerability and Equality at Royal Berkshire NHS Foundation Trust who led the project, said: “Those of us working closely on this project alongside a fantastic group of people are passionate about improving the care and lived experience of all young people with neurodivergent needs.”

Rachael Corser, Chief Nursing Officer at BOB ICB, was keen to tell us why these films are important to both the public and the services which support the young people: “Helping our healthcare professionals understand the issues this group faces as they move into adulthood, and how to better support them in navigating the rocky road to adulthood is an essential strand of our work. ““It aids young people and healthcare teams across the system as well as guiding quality improvements and reasonable adjustments in our local offer: influencing how we commission services to make a positive difference to these young people’s experiences.”

You can view the films on the BOB ICB StayWell website: bit.ly/TTAmovies