Turn experience into evidence

Parents and carers often hold a wealth of information about their child, but turning months or years of experiences, observations, meetings and correspondence into a clear picture can be difficult.

CounterNarrative ASN helps families understand how to record, organise, collate and analyse information so that important patterns, changes and gaps are easier to identify.

Our resources explore practical ways to document observations, record your child’s experiences and views, build chronologies, organise correspondence and assessments, track requests and responses, and bring together information from different professionals and services.

We also look at how evidence can be analysed rather than simply collected. This means identifying patterns over time, comparing what was recommended with what was provided, recognising inconsistencies between records and experiences, and considering the impact that decisions or gaps in support have had on your child.

Evidence does not only come from professional reports. The child’s voice, parent and carer observations, records of what happened and evidence of its impact all contribute to the wider picture.

By bringing that information together in a structured way, families can move from knowing that something is not working to being able to clearly demonstrate what has happened, what has changed and where the evidence points.