The Incredible Years programme

The Incredible Years programme is for parents and carers of children aged 3–10 years. It runs for 14 weeks and is designed to help you understand your child's behaviour and feel more confident in responding to it.

The programme teaches simple, practical strategies that help to strengthen positive behaviours and reduce behaviours that are more challenging. 

What the programme helps with

During the programme, parents learn how to:

• use positive strategies like play, praise and rewards to build good behaviour and strengthen relationships
• use tools such as limit-setting, selective ignoring and clear routines to reduce unwanted behaviours
• understand what helps children learn new skills and positive habits over time

Parents are encouraged to share experiences, reflect together and explore what works well for their family.

Although not a SEND-specific group, the strategies used in the Incredible Years programme are known to help children with a range of needs, including those who are neurodiverse. 

The programme has tools shown to support children with conditions such as ADHD, autism, social communication needs and emotional regulation difficulties. 

Many of the core strategies - clear routines, visual supports, praise, modelling and predictable responses - can be especially beneficial for neurodiverse children. 

The Incredible Years programmes are used internationally and have been shown to help reduce challenging behaviour, improve parent–child relationships and build children's emotional and social skills across many different cultures and settings.

How to access

Parents: Contact the Children's Front Door on 01275 888 808.

Professionals: Complete the Request for Support form and email it to childrens.frontdoor@n-somerset.gov.uk.