The Original SEN Info Day 2026

The 2026 SEN Info Day, held at the Sittingbourne and Milton Regis Golf Club on the 1st of October, provided participants with an opportunity to learn not only more about autism and the Autism Apprentice, but also a chance to hear from some experts about how autism and ADHD affects children and young people and how they can not only better understand it but perhaps help their own children and themselves when it comes to recognising and dealing with certain things. 

From the open the doors opened at 8.20am, the stylish and storied golf club became a hub of activity. The whole place was set up ready for the event; tables for vendors, chairs set out for people to sit and listen to the public speakers, plenty of refreshments for those there and even a lunch buffet of sandwiches and light snacks. 

Alongside the team from the Autism Apprentice (who were running the SEN Info Day), there were representatives from various different organizations and colleges. Many members of the Ripplevale School & College Rochester’s senior leadership team were there including Mrs Moorcroft, with their stall directly to the right of that of the Autism Apprentice. Other organizations present included Starjumpz, Forest Autism Support, Affirmative Therapy, Kite College, Emerald Bridges, Tam’s Journey and Shaypes among others. 

By 9.20am the area for the public speakers was ready. A table had been set up, covered in a fine black tablecloth. The organisers had prepared several bags of gifts for each of the guest speakers, each containing a bouquet of flowers, a bottle of wine and other goodies. 

The first speaker at 9.30am was Dr Siria Van Zyl. a clinical psychologist. She gave an insightful and engaging talk about understanding ADHD in children and young people with autism. A good part of the talk was about how the two conditions interact with each other; to quote her directly- “Autism and ADHD are like two cats in a bag.”

Afterwards there was a break to allow people to get themselves a refreshment and browse the stalls between speakers. The Autism Apprentice was running a raffle, with guests paying £2.50 a strip to potentially win some luxurious prizes later on in the day. 

Then at 10.30am came the first of two talks by Liz Van Grann, alongside Jaqui Waller from Starjumpz. As experts in OT and SaLT, they’ve been trusted partners of the Autism Apprentice for a few years now. The first of the two talks was about how OT and SaLT assessments can help children and young people in their everyday lives. They spoke of the struggles of getting one and the massive benefits it can have. 

Then after a fifteen minute break between them, they resumed with their second talk, this one focused on how to build regulation for both children and carers. This second talk gave the attendees many insightful takeaways as to how they could improve how they approach their relationship with their autistic child. 

After the hour long lunch break came the prize giving at 1.15pm. As a new feature of the SEN Info Day, The Autism Apprentice handed out prizes to recognise those who’d made considerable donations to the non-profit organisation in the past year. Three prizes in total were handed out; one was awarded to a couple who’s charity fishing event raised over £28,000 for the organisation, and another to a staff member who’d gone on a charity skydive for The Autism Apprentice. 

This was followed by the raffle, where prizes were distributed among the guests who’d gotten the matching ticket strips. 

The final talk of the day commenced immediately afterwards. The talk, given by Dr Georgie Siggers, focused on burnout, masking and the risks of leaving these issues unaddressed for young people with autism. Members of the audience were seen nodding in approval when she spoke of how burnout in autistic young people is often simply dismissed or ignored.

By the time the event officially wrapped up at 2.30pm, most of the refreshments had been happily consumed by the several dozens of people who’d come to attend. As many of them left the hall, they expressed their pleasure with how the event had been run and stated they would very much like to return to the event next year.