Norwood announces collaboration with leading Israeli disability charity

Emma Gray, Norwood’s director of children and family services, introduced Norwood’s new three to five-year strategy, which places early intervention at the heart of the charity’s support for neurodiverse children and their families. She explained that Norwood prioritised early intervention to “counter the prevalent culture of diagnosis-based support, which left many families who failed to meet the threshold without anywhere to turn”.

Leviner said she was “excited” by the prospect of further areas of mutual collaboration with Norwood. “There are so many points of common dialogue and opportunities for mutual learning and development. We’re keen to bring together professionals who speak the same language and share the same challenges and can come together to discuss the best ways to meet them.”

Norwood’s chief executive Naomi Dickson echoed her views, saying: “We’re committed to working with partner organisations domestically and from further afield to share and learn from best practice in the interests of providing the best possible needs-based early intervention and wraparound support to families of neurodiverse children.

"We’re great admirers of Beit Issie Shapiro, who share our commitment to supporting families, and we look forward to continuing our warm relationship with them.”

Founded in 1795, Norwood is the oldest Jewish charity in the UK. It supports neurodiverse children and their families and people with neurodevelopmental disabilities.

Beit Issie Shapiro is Israel’s leading developer and provider of innovative therapies and state-of-the-art services for children and adults across the entire range of disabilities. According to the charity, its work, which includes disability advocacy and knowledge-sharing, impacts more than half a million people annually in Israel and around the globe. It works with people from all sectors of Israeli society.