What support do managers receive during the programme?

Managers receive coaching, supervision tools, and fidelity tracking so they can lead with clarity and reduce daily pressure.

Do we need to overhaul the whole service to implement this?

No. You keep what works and replace inconsistent processes with structured, evidence based practice that reduces workload.

What happens after the six month pilot?

After the pilot, you can continue support, roll out across more homes, or manage the framework internally. The structure stays embedded.

Welcome to AshDHD Learning

Q: How long before we see measurable change?

Most services see clearer routines, better communication, and stronger confidence within eight to twelve weeks.

Stop Inconsistent Care. Start Building Confident, Ofsted Ready Teams

You're stretched, staff are overwhelmed and quality fluctuates. I've been there. I'm Ash Derges and I build evidence-based frameworks that give your residential care teams the structure they need to be consistent and confident.

Book a fifteen-minute discovery call

AshDHD Learning equips carers and professionals with trauma-informed, ADHD-specialist and neurodiverse-smart tools that create consistency, dignity and real change for young people.

Welcome to AshDHD

As a Former Care Professional and Looked After Child, I’ve Lived Your Problem

Managing a residential service is relentless. You're balancing staff turnover, inspection pressures and complex needs while trying to maintain the golden thread of quality. You don't need more generic training. You need a system that embeds good practice into your daily operations.

That’s why I created the SPARK Care and SWIFT+R frameworks. They are the practical, frontline-tested systems I wish I'd had.

A Clear Framework for Measurable Improvement

My programmes aren’t just training. They are structured, repeatable systems designed to fix the root causes of inconsistency.

SPARK Care: A six-part leadership and practice framework that aligns your entire team on how to deliver outstanding, trauma-informed care.
SWIFT+R: A six-step crisis-response framework that unifies your team on how to de-escalate safely, restore regulation and protect dignity under pressure.

Frameworks Designed for Real World Pressure

I provide solutions for leaders at every level of residential care.

Registered Managers: Build a confident, stable team, reduce your stress and get Ofsted ready.
Service Directors: Drive consistent quality and leadership across multiple sites with a single, measurable system.
Commissioners: Partner with an expert who can provide clear evidence of outcomes and improvement.

Discover more

What We Do

01Our Differentiator

AshDHD’s differentiator is simple and powerful: every framework, tool and training pathway is built by someone who has lived the children’s residential care system from both sides. Ash combines neurodiversity expertise with trauma-responsive practice and real frontline experience, turning complex behavioural theory into practical, measurable systems that teams can use immediately. Most providers offer manuals. Ash delivers frameworks that actually change the room.

026 Month Pilot Programme

AshDHD’s 6-Month Pilot Programme is different because it’s built with lived experience at its core. Your team isn’t just trained; it’s coached, supported and transformed through a structured, neurodiversity-smart, trauma-informed framework that actually sticks. You get direct access to Ash, bespoke plans for your young people, environmental audits and real Ofsted-aligned evidence. No generic training. No theory without practice. Just a partnership that drives measurable, cultural change in your home.

Discover more

03SPARK Care™ Framework

SPARK Care™ is the UK’s only Neuro-Smart, Trauma-Informed care framework built from genuine lived experience. It gives your staff a simple, 6-step practice they can use on every shift, helping them support autistic, ADHD, PDA, dyslexic and FASD young people with clarity and confidence. No theory without tools. No scripts that fall apart in real life. Just a practical, predictable system that builds self-esteem, strengthens supervision and gives you real, Ofsted-ready evidence of improvement.

Discover more

04SWIFT+R™ Crisis Model

SWIFT+R™ is the only Neuro-Smart crisis framework built from real frontline experience and lived experience in the care system. Instead of overwhelming an already distressed young person, it gives your staff a simple, low-demand, six-step plan they can follow even in high-stress moments. It strips out the noise, protects dignity, restores safety and ensures every crisis ends with genuine repair. This is crisis management that actually works in residential care – predictable, trauma-informed and ready for Ofsted scrutiny.

Discover more

05Training & Certification

AshDHD isn’t another CPD vendor. Every course, framework and tool is built directly from frontline experience and lived experience in the care system, making the training brutally practical, emotionally intelligent and genuinely “Neuro-Smart.” Instead of giving staff theory they forget in a week, AshDHD gives them predictable routines, shared language and repeatable steps that actually change behaviour on shift. This is training that sticks, improves consistency and builds real Ofsted-ready evidence.

Discover more

Ashley Derges - Founder

Meet Ash, the "Ash" in "AshDHD Learning"

My approach is built on more than half a decade of direct, frontline experience, mixed with my own lived experience as a looked after child with ADHD.

From frontline experience as a Support Worker to becoming an Assistant Manager, I know the daily pressures you face.

I founded AshDHD and created AshDHD to give managers the practical, structured support I knew was missing as an affected young person and later as a professional in the sector.

Ashley Derges

Operations Director

AshDHD Knowledge Hub

View All

Reducing Meltdowns in Autistic Children Through Predictability

You need to know why your current strategies aren't stopping the escalation and how to implement low-arousal predictability that actually works across a multi-staff team.

Barriers to ND Adaptation in Care Staff: Why It Happens and How to Fix It

You can have the best care plans in the file, but they are useless if your floor staff refuse to execute them. Managing a team that clings to "old school" punitive methods while you try to implement trauma-informed care is exhausting. It creates a toxic cycle: the child escalates, staff respond with rigidity, the placement breaks down, and you are left explaining the failure to OFSTED and the LANT

FAQs

Q: What makes AshDHD different from standard residential care training?
A: AshDHD stands out because the frameworks focus on consistency and behaviour change, not one-off training sessions. The SPARK Care and SWIFT+R systems provide a daily structure that your team can actually use.

Q: How do these frameworks help with Ofsted outcomes?
A: These frameworks strengthen the exact areas Ofsted inspects, including leadership alignment, record keeping, daily routines and practice consistency.

Q: Can the frameworks work in homes with high staff turnover?
A: Yes. The frameworks stabilise practice even with turnover by giving new and existing staff the same clear structure to follow.

Q: Do you support multi-site services and regional operations?
A: Yes. The frameworks were built to scale. Directors use them to standardise leadership behaviour and practice across multiple homes.

Q: How long before we see measurable change?
A: Most services will see clearer routines, better communication and more substantial confidence within eight to twelve weeks.

Q: Can AshDHD help us prepare for an upcoming Ofsted inspection?
A: Yes. The frameworks align with inspection criteria and help you clearly and confidently evidence improvement.

Q: Are these frameworks suitable for mixed experience levels or agency usage?
A: Yes. The frameworks remove ambiguity, which helps new starters, agency workers and long-term staff operate consistently.