Puzzle Centre Information

The Puzzle Centre charity promotes and delivers early intervention for very young children (2-5 years) with autism or similar communication difficulties. We have an OFSTED 'Outstanding'​ specialist nursery and provide training and outreach to families and practitioners throughout the UK. Our vision is that every young child with autism or similar communication needs is offered prompt, appropriate and high quality education, therapy and support. Puzzle Centre has provided its unique and pioneering service for very young children with autism and related disorders and their families since 2001. Our expert multidisciplinary team of teachers and therapists helps to equip children with skills they need to enhance their life chances. To date, the Centre has worked with over 260 children age 2 to 5 years. Each child has made positive progress in communication, learning, play skills and behaving appropriately. Through Puzzle 500 parents and carers have also developed specialist parenting skills, confidence and ability to care for and support their child. Parents better understand the statutory educational system and are stronger advocates for their child’s education needs. We have helped over 1,500 early years professionals to increase their confidence in caring for and educating young children with autism, particularly supporting communication needs. We are one of the pioneers of the SCERTS assessment framework in the UK. SCERTS is a rigorously evaluated, research-based educational approach and multidisciplinary framework, which directly addresses core challenges faced by children with autism and their families. Many schools and organisations from around the UK and internationally have visited Puzzle Centre to understand more about implementing SCERTS, including the National Autistic Society, who have now integrated SCERTS into their schools'​ 'MyProgress'​ model. We provide training for practitioners about the use of SCERTS at our centre.