About Zoe
A teacher, a neuroscientist and a SEND parent
Zoe Aspinall has spent 30 years helping children learn in places that weren't designed for their brains. The NeuroInclusive programmes take what she knows and make it practical for home.
Her work
Zoe has worked in classrooms, school leadership and alternative provision, in the UK and internationally. Today she is a SEND and science specialist teacher, and the founder of NeuroInclusive.UK.
She holds an MSc in Applied Neuroscience from King's College London. Her work is about translating research into changes people can actually make: in a classroom, in an organisation, and most of all at home.
She is also a SEND parent, so she knows from home as well as from the classroom what these programmes are trying to change.
MSc Applied Neuroscience (King's College London) · PGCE · PGCert · BA (Hons)
The Ecological Inclusion Framework
Zoe developed the framework by bringing together peer-reviewed research from neuroscience, psychology, communication, stress and regulation, and environmental design. It looks at the environment around a child in six areas, and asks what each one costs their brain.
Sensory and environmental
Light, sound, touch, smell and space: what your child's senses are dealing with at home.
Cognitive and executive
How much the day asks of planning, memory, attention and switching between tasks.
Communication and language
How information reaches your child, and how they can get theirs across to you.
Social and relational
Brothers and sisters, wider family, friendships and the expectations that come with them.
Emotional and regulatory
Feeling safe, coming back to calm, and the recovery time after a hard moment.
Time and predictability
Routines, transitions and knowing what happens next.
Every programme, assessment and printable on this site is built on it. The idea at its heart is simple: change what the child has to cope with, and there is less for them to fall apart over.
The book
Zoe is the author of Designing Homes for All Brains, the parents and carers edition of the Ecological Inclusion Framework. It explains the thinking behind every programme here.
The programmes are where you put it into practice: a short assessment of your own home, a report on where to start, and step-by-step changes for one part of family life at a time.
What the programmes stand for
Every child's behaviour makes sense
When something keeps going wrong, there is usually a reason in the environment. Finding it is more useful than finding fault.
Parents know their child best
The programmes give you a way of looking at your home. You decide what fits your family.
Small changes, one at a time
Most changes take minutes and cost little or nothing. You start with the one that matters most for your home.
Working with Zoe directly
Schools, organisations and families who would like to work with Zoe in person can get in touch. Tell us a little about what you have in mind and we’ll reply personally.
See where your home is now
The free assessment takes about ten minutes and shows which part of family life to start with.