7 Quick Wins: Neurodivergent Children and Grief

The child who asks the same question about Grandad for the tenth time that morning, who seems fine for six weeks and then falls apart, or who disappears into Minecraft the day after the funeral is very often grieving, just not in the way the adults around them expect. This session looks at why grief can look so different in neurodivergent children, and why the losses nobody died in, such as a key adult leaving, a house move or a placement ending, count too. It’s full of small, practical things to try straight away, whether you’re at home, in school or anywhere else in a child’s life: plain words about death, a steady answer to the question that keeps coming, and noticing the routines and comforts that disappeared along with the person.

• Why grief in neurodivergent children often shows up as anger, repetition or no visible reaction at all
• How to talk about death in plain words, and give the same calm answer to the question that keeps coming back
• What the “second losses” are, and why telling a child what’s staying the same matters so much
• How to check in with a child who finds feelings hard to name
• Why a child who seems fine may need you most weeks later, and which dates to put in the diary