‘Path of the Little People’ is an expansive interpretative trail that combines themes of nature, history, music and renewable energy which are underpinned by stories of the ‘Little People’.
Since January 2017, over 2000 children and young people with Additional Support Needs, predominately Autism Spectrum Disorder, have helped construct a unique sensory path in the forest.
“I’ve never seen them (the young people) talking and encouraging this much before!”
ASN Teacher
Lanark Grammar School
The trail engages two distinct groups in our local community
Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) Children aged 6-12 years
The trails activities help ASD children have fun while overcoming challenges with social communication and cognitive learning.
Learn more about Autism
Young People Aged 12-24 years referred to Wiston Lodge
These may be individuals looking to gain additional experience which could support them into the world of work or further training. The young people have built many of the path structures, giving them ownership over the project whilst learning valuable life skills.
EnquireGroups have helped to build a drum circle, percussion play zone, Viking boat, giant mud kitchen, gold panning zone, replica Crannog and a beautiful performance stage. The path is also dotted with woodland animal structures and glow-in-the-dark fairy houses!
Through support from our funders BBC Children in Need, Tesco: Bags of Help and The National Lottery Community Fund: Young Start; we have engaged children with ASN in educational programmes based around our new trail. These programmes are both bespoke to the groups and child-led; allowing children’s imagination to flourish in this unique sensory environment. The programmes we run are based around the Curriculum for Excellence with a focus on nature discovery, history, music and renewable energy.
A good balance between encouraging the young people to take part and push themselves and accepting when they did not want to have a go. The activities were suitable for them and accessible to all. We returned to see the path that we contributed towards last year. They had a stage in the woods so a few of our Angels took the chance to entertain us – FANTASTIC – what else needs said!!
Befriending Coordinator
Covey Befriending
If you have a group who you think you think would benefit from experiencing the Path, do get in touch with us to find out more. Additional information on accessing the Path can be found in the document below.
They had the freedom to make their own decisions and communicate with peers to help solve problems. I think this freedom allowed the children to operate outside their comfort zone and interact with others in a meaningful way. As a teacher working with autistic children it was fantastic to see the quality and quantity of interactions between children who would normally find this difficult in a classroom or school setting.
ASN Teacher
Hareleeshill Primary School
The Path of the Little People couldn’t have happened without funding from BBC Children in Need and Tesco Bags of Help as well as ongoing funding from The National Lottery Community Fund’s Young Start.
