Support Sought for Neurodiversity Education Centre in Memory of Teen

An initiative offering support services for neurodiverse children is being established in remembrance of a 13-year-old girl. Lilya Coleman Jones, who passed away in 2019, garnered a significant social media following as she shared updates about her leukaemia. Her older sister, Mica Coleman Jones, has since been dedicated to founding a schooling centre designed to assist children with conditions such as autism and ADHD. This Sunday, the Lilya Lighthouse Education Trust is scheduled to host an event aimed at securing backing from local businesses. Lilya, a former student at Wollaton’s Fernwood School who also had autism, received a diagnosis of acute lymphoblastic leukaemia—a rare form of blood cancer—in November 2018. She was the focus of a bone marrow appeal organized by the Anthony Nolan charity, and she posted online about the search. Subsequently, Mica decided to create what is known as Alternative Provision, an educational setting structured to complement mainstream education providers. Mica commented that while some schools handled the issue effectively, the overall service was inconsistent. “The way we really want to work with other schools is to support them with whatever isn’t working for a child currently, to get that right,” she said. “We would take referrals where we are asked ‘Could you provide some education for this student who is currently struggling to access it?’.” “And we also want to work with schools to see if anything could be different in terms of how its environment looks or the approaches they use that might work for the child.” “We see it as a restorative process, because children shouldn’t just be sent off for a set amount of time and expect things to be magically better afterwards.” The trust has extended invitations to various organizations and businesses to attend the open day, seeking to determine how they can contribute to its work. “We want to connect with local employers and businesses who do recognise and celebrate neurodiversity and might be interested in supporting us to get this provision open to create something therapeutic for young people in Nottingham,” she said.