Puzzle Centre - a specialist early intervention nursery

While working for Buckinghamshire local authority in 1998, Alex Stanyer – founder of Puzzle, became involved in a working group set up by the child development team to look at the support offered to children on the autism spectrum following a positive diagnosis. At the time, there was no autism specific provision in place for families, and as such the clinical psychology service set up a six-week pilot project for pre-school children diagnosed to be on the spectrum. The project group met once a week and carried out small group intervention, working very intensively in a structured setting.

The project received very positive feedback from the families involved and it was felt that the pilot had real value. With no local authority funding available in the years to come, Alex Stanyer decided to open an independent provision in 2001. After a year of planning, Puzzle opened with places for six children, four mornings a week. There were two key staff members – a specialist teacher and a speech and language therapist. In 2004 Puzzle became a charity and moved to new premises in 2006.

“I’m so pleased we got Puzzle going – we have been able to help so many people. Puzzle’s model of working is very much a team effort. We pool expertise from specialist teachers and therapists to deliver a communication-enabling curriculum for children who find that communication and interaction present real challenges, and the process is incredibly rewarding for everyone involved.” Alex Stanyer, director of Puzzle

Puzzle is based in Buckinghamshire, but takes children from any locality. It is not far from the border with Oxfordshire, Milton Keynes, Hertfordshire, Bedfordshire and Northamptonshire, so children also come from these local authorities as well as occasionally from London boroughs.

The nursery’s main purpose is specialised and targeted intervention for pre-school children with autism or other communication difficulties. Some special education schools do take children from three years old, but many parents are not ready to make the decision to send their child to a special school so soon after diagnosis. Puzzle provides an autism specific provision for the whole family, at an age that is critical for children with autism.

Puzzle is open Monday to Friday. It runs nine nursery sessions a week, with each session taking no more that eight children. The sessions are staffed on a one to one basis with a specialist teacher, speech and language therapist, nursery coordinator and a number of special learning assistants. An occupational therapist is also present once a week. Puzzle also runs a ‘play & say’ toddler group in conjunction with Sure Start for six weeks of the term. The group is for parents who have concerns about their toddler’s communication development and aims to model activities that they can also do at home. Some of the toddlers are referred through Sure Start, while others attend while they wait for a place to become available at Puzzle. Through the nursery sessions and toddler group, Puzzle provides for around 30 families a year, with an average of 20 to 25 children on the roll at any one time.

“We chose to send our child to Puzzle because it offered a wonderful structured environment with staff that were fully conversant with all aspects of ASD.  The fact that (our child) received one to one help and received regular speech therapy were also key factors.” The parent of a Puzzle pupil

Many of the children who attend Puzzle also attend a mainstream setting, and Puzzle staff provide support to other carers and staff in these nurseries and pre-schools, and to teachers when the children transfer on to primary education. Puzzle also provides support for parents and runs training throughout the year for both parents and professional groups.

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“ It is not just the child who goes to Puzzle – it is the whole family. Being able to draw on the experience of the staff is a great source of strength… and being guided on how best to deal with a situation certainly made family life easier for us.” The parent of a Puzzle pupil

Puzzle works hard to support the families of the children who attend, working with the parents as well as the child, and this outreach service has grown significantly over the years.

Puzzle visits each family at home once a term to offer support for the child’s home life. It also responds to parents’ daily requests for support as a priority. Parents call and email about a range of issues such as the statementing process, their school placement choice or their child’s behaviour at home. For parents of children who have just received a diagnosis, support is often required to help them through the huge emotional adjustment that they are going through as well as the steep learning curve they face.

In addition to this, Puzzle runs around eight workshops a year for parents. Workshop topics include PECS, play, managing behaviour, visual structure at home, understanding the statementing process, sensory difficulties, and communication. And parents are asked to contribute ideas for future workshop topics that they would find useful.

To complement the support provided by staff, Puzzle set up a parent support group, providing an area where parents can sit and meet during their child’s session. Puzzle has made information available about a wide range of issues, including benefits, other useful organisations, and the various approaches used to help the children. Parents have also added to this information. An excellent source of information is the Department for Education Early Support materials and resources which are free to download or your can order free hard copies. The National Autistic Society also offers an invaluable and extensive range of resources for parents and professionals.

Puzzle has also set up a mentoring scheme for parents. When a child leaves the pre-school parents are asked if they would be willing to mentor a new parent, and they are matched with a suitable partner. It can be incredibly helpful for a parent to have access to support from someone who has been through similar experiences or decisions such as which school to choose or how to cope with sleep difficulties.

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Most children who attend Puzzle also spend time in a mainstream setting. One of the principles behind Puzzle’s approach is that if everyone working with the child uses the same strategies, then appropriate behaviour will be better maintained and the child will better integrate and access the curriculum in mainstream settings. Enabling children to integrate successfully in mainstream settings, whenever this is most appropriate for an individual child, is a key goal for Puzzle.

Puzzle provides crucial support to mainstream staff to ensure that this continuity is achieved. Puzzle staff visit and support staff in the mainstream settings, and also invite the staff to spend time at Puzzle to observe the techniques and approaches used.

Alex Stanyer carries out a number of training courses for Early Years practitioners and professionals throughout the year and also gives University and school lectures on autism, widening the footprint of Puzzle’s impact. Puzzle held its first national conference specifically for professionals working with under 5s on the autism spectrum in July 2010 and hopes to repeat this event in 2012. Puzzle also works hard to publicise its learning model and encourages people to come and see what they’re doing.

DOWNLOAD: Puzzle training brochure

Puzzle receives consistently positive feedback from the courses it offers both in-house and across the county, as well as from the 100+ visitors that come to the nursery each year. It has also forged strong links with the wider autism education professional group and has received affirmation of its work from the research community.

“The structure at Puzzle is exactly what (child) needs to reduce her anxiety, and enable her to learn new skills in a predictable, safe environment.” Specialist Speech and Language Therapist, Buckinghamshire

Puzzle continues to build relationships with authorities that aren’t familiar with its approaches, with the aim of helping them to better understand the benefits of this early intervention.

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