Ashley Derges

Founder of AshDHD Learning
Creator of SPARK Care™ & SWIFT+R™
Lived Experience Expert | Trauma-Informed Practitioner | Neurodiversity Specialist

I am the architect behind the SPARK Care™ and SWIFT+R™ frameworks, the UK’s first Neuro-Smart, Trauma-Informed care models built from both sides of the system.

But here’s the truth behind the work:

I built the care I needed as a young person and the structured, neurodiverse-smart system I kept searching for as a frontline manager.
Everything I create comes from that dual lens.

My approach brings together three pillars of experience that don’t often live in the same person:

• I grew up in the care system, so I understand trauma, inconsistency and survival from the inside. That lived experience shapes every piece of my training, every SPARK step and every decision I make.

• I’m neurodivergent myself, so when I train neurodiversity in provisions it’s not theory... it’s real. I understand sensory overwhelm, demand avoidance, executive functioning struggles and what “safety” actually feels like for neurodiverse young people and staff.

• I care about measurable, practical change, not surface-level training. That’s why everything I teach is built around sustainable systems, fidelity tools and frameworks that staff can use the very next day.

I’m not here to repeat the same trauma-informed phrases the sector has heard for 15 years.
I’m here to show teams what neurodiverse-smart and trauma-informed care looks like in action, on shift, in crisis and in the tiny moments that actually change a child’s day.

Our Commitment to Measurable, Scalable Improvement

We know that for children's homes and semi-independance results are what matter. Because we're new, we're built on a commitment to proving our impact with you.

Our Approach to Measurable Change

We don't have "decades" of data yet. What we have is a system for delivering measurable change in care quality from day one. Our frameworks are built with Fidelity Tracking at their core. We don't just "train and run"; we provide the tools to monitor how the frameworks are being delivered, ensuring consistent quality across all your services.

Scalable Support for Multi-Site Services

Our frameworks were designed from the start to be scalable. They create a "common language" for quality and leadership that can be rolled out across multiple homes, ensuring every manager and team is aligned.

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)

Q: What expertise does Ash bring to the training? A: Ash brings a unique 360-degree expertise that's impossible to replicate. It's a combination of 5 years of frontline experience in complex care, personal lived experience in the system and a neurodivergent-led approach to building frameworks.

Q: Is Ash qualified in specialist areas? A: Yes. Her professional qualifications include 5 years of frontline experience in various placements including an assistant manager in a local authority children's home alongside her deep, practical expertise in trauma-informed care and neurodiversity which is the foundation of our frameworks.

Q: How do you ensure measurable improvement without case studies? A: We build measurement into the process. Our frameworks include Fidelity Tracking which is a system for monitoring whether the training is being delivered as designed to ensure consistent, high-quality implementation from the start.

Q: Can you support national or multi-site providers? A: Yes. The SPARK Care™ and SWIFT+R™ frameworks were specifically designed to be scalable. They provide a single, consistent system that can be embedded across all your regions and services.