A comprehensive review of the peer-reviewed research, clinical guidelines, and systematic reviews that underpin the six principles of the CONNECT Framework for Education, Care, and Workplace settings.
The CONNECT Framework is built on a commitment that every claim, tool, and technique we deliver must be traceable to recognised, up-to-date research. This document provides that traceability.
The evidence base draws from four categories of source:
Where research is emerging or where randomised controlled trials are still pending, we state this explicitly. We do not overstate certainty.
Each principle of the CONNECT Framework is mapped below to its primary research anchor, with a summary of the findings and how CONNECT translates it into practice.
Research Anchor: Sheridan, S. M., et al. (2012). The effects of teacher-family conferencing on student outcomes: A meta-analysis. School Psychology Review.
Sheridan and colleagues conducted a meta-analysis of family-school conferencing interventions. They found that two-way communication—where families and educators exchange information and problem-solve jointly—was empirically validated to strengthen family-school connections and improve child academic and behavioural outcomes. One-way information transmission (newsletters, handouts) did not produce equivalent effects. The quality of the interaction, not the volume of information, was the active ingredient.
CONNECT Translation: Every family or employee touchpoint is designed as a dialogue, not a briefing. We provide structured conversation frameworks that ensure the voice of the family or employee is elicited, recorded, and acted upon.
Education WorkplaceResearch Anchor: Edmondson, A. (1999). Psychological safety and learning behaviour in work teams. Administrative Science Quarterly, 44(2), 350–383.
Edmondson's foundational research established psychological safety as "a shared belief held by members of a team that the team is safe for interpersonal risk-taking." In teams with high psychological safety, members are more likely to admit errors, ask for help, and challenge the status quo—behaviours essential for learning and innovation. Edmondson's work has been replicated across healthcare, manufacturing, and education settings.
CONNECT Translation: Before any compliance or administrative task, we build conditions of trust. Families and employees must feel safe to disclose needs, ask questions, and correct misunderstandings without fear of judgment, blame, or career penalty.
BothResearch Anchors:
Epstein's Six Types of Involvement framework identifies Decision-Making and Collaborating with the Community as critical, yet consistently underutilized, partnership types. Schools that involve families in governance and joint planning report higher satisfaction and better student outcomes. Separately, the Getting Ready intervention (Marvin et al., 2020) demonstrated that joint goal-setting between parents and educators—where goals are co-constructed, not assigned—improves child engagement and developmental outcomes in early childhood settings.
CONNECT Translation: Support plans, accommodation maps, and communication rhythms are built with the family or employee, not for them. We provide structured co-design templates that make shared decision-making concrete and repeatable.
BothResearch Anchors:
Strengths-based practice is a core tenet of Froebelian early childhood philosophy, which emphasises that families and communities are interconnected systems where each member's strengths are resources for the whole. In neurodiversity-affirming contexts, this translates to identifying "spiky profiles"—uneven ability patterns where challenges coexist with significant strengths—rather than deficit-based assessments. Research on parents of neurodivergent children shows that school communications focused on problems and deficits predict higher family anxiety and lower engagement (Underwood, 2010; Montes & Montes, 2021).
CONNECT Translation: Every first conversation begins with what the child or employee does well, what the family or individual brings, and how those strengths can be leveraged. Deficits are addressed only after strengths are established.
BothResearch Anchors (Education):
Research Anchors (Workplace):
Both NICE Guideline 87 and the Australian ADHD Clinical Practice Guideline (2023) emphasise that classroom and workplace accommodations must be explained to families and employees in accessible, non-clinical language. Families and employees cannot partner in what they do not understand. In the workplace, Hartman et al. (2023) identified supportive managers and supervisors as the single strongest facilitator of neurodivergent employment success, followed by flexible, tailored work arrangements and assistive technologies. The primary barrier was lack of supervisor awareness.
CONNECT Translation: In education, we provide plain-language accommodation templates. In the workplace, we train managers in evidence-based behavioural techniques—not just awareness—so they can implement and explain adjustments with confidence.
BothResearch Anchor: CAFE Model (Creating Authentic Family Engagement) — trust is built through predictable, balanced participation, not crisis-driven contact.
The CAFE model, derived from early childhood partnership research, identifies that authentic engagement requires trust, balanced participation, and recognition of families as experts. When communication is only triggered by problems, families learn to associate school contact with negative news. Predictable, structured rhythms—where contact is scheduled and includes positive updates—reverse this dynamic and build partnership over time.
CONNECT Translation: Every family or employee receives a termly or 30-60-90 day communication plan at onboarding. They know when, how, and why the organisation will connect with them. No surprises. No crisis-only contact.
BothThis study found that parents of children with ADHD spend significantly more time on home-based learning activities than on school-based participation types. The authors concluded that schools are not successfully engaging these families in partnership, suggesting a systemic failure in family-school connection strategies for neurodivergent populations.
CONNECT Relevance: Validates the need for a structured, relationship-first onboarding system specifically designed for neurodivergent families.
EducationUnderwood found that parents of children with disabilities in inclusive classrooms reported limited opportunities to participate in decision-making and a lack of genuine collaboration. Parents felt positioned as recipients of professional judgment rather than partners in planning.
CONNECT Relevance: Directly supports the CONNECT principle of Co-Design & Shared Decision-Making. Without structural mechanisms for partnership, families disengage.
EducationA meta-analysis of family-school conferencing interventions. Two-way communication and joint problem-solving were identified as the active ingredients for improving student outcomes. One-way information transmission showed negligible effects.
CONNECT Relevance: Core evidence for Principle 1 (Two-Way Communication). The quality of interaction matters more than the quantity of information.
EducationThe Getting Ready intervention demonstrated that structured joint goal-setting between parents and educators improves child engagement and developmental outcomes. The intervention provided a replicable model for co-design in early childhood settings.
CONNECT Relevance: Core evidence for Principle 3 (Co-Design). CONNECT operationalises the Getting Ready model into termly co-design sessions.
EducationA comprehensive systematic review identifying the strongest facilitators for neurodivergent employment: (1) supportive managers and supervisors, (2) flexible and tailored work arrangements, (3) assistive technologies, (4) neurodivergence-aware organisational policies, and (5) evidence-based behavioural techniques. The primary barrier identified was lack of supervisor and colleague awareness.
CONNECT Relevance: Core evidence for Principles 2 (Psychological Safety) and 5 (Manager Capability). Manager support is the single most important variable; CONNECT trains managers in evidence-based techniques, not just awareness.
WorkplaceAnderson's work identifies specific, evidence-based behavioural techniques that supervisors can use to support neurodivergent employees, including structured communication, predictable feedback rhythms, and joint problem-solving protocols.
CONNECT Relevance: Directly informs the "CONNECT Manager Conversation" and the difficult conversation simulations in Tier 2.
WorkplaceThe largest national survey of ADHD coaching practice found that 96.6% of coaches use motivational interviewing, 99.4% use cognitive restructuring, and 97.8% use solution-focused approaches. However, 90.5% operate without clinical supervision and 85% hold no professional license. The report calls for randomised controlled trials to establish safety and efficacy, and warns against "unsupervised, lay-practitioner treatment models."
CONNECT Relevance: We explicitly adopt the most widely used evidence-based communication techniques (motivational interviewing, cognitive restructuring, solution-focused approaches) while maintaining clear scope-of-practice boundaries. We do not provide clinical treatment.
Both| Guideline | Key Relevant Recommendations | CONNECT Application |
|---|---|---|
| NICE Guideline 87 (2019) UK — ADHD Diagnosis & Management |
Emphasises family-centred communication about accommodations; recommends that schools and families receive clear, accessible information about classroom adjustments. | Accommodation Mapping templates use plain language aligned with NICE communication standards. |
| Australian ADHD Clinical Practice Guideline (2023) AADPA |
Recommends multi-modal support including educational accommodations; stresses the importance of family-school partnership and shared decision-making. | The CONNECT Family-School Partnership Agreement and Co-Design Session directly operationalise this recommendation. |
| Epstein's Six Types of Involvement (2018) Johns Hopkins University |
Identifies Parenting, Communicating, Volunteering, Learning at Home, Decision-Making, and Collaborating with the Community as the six partnership types. Decision-Making and Collaborating are the most underutilised. | CONNECT explicitly builds Decision-Making and Collaboration into every tier, moving schools beyond passive information sharing. |
| CONNECT Principle | Primary Research Source | Guideline Alignment | CONNECT Tool |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1. Two-Way Communication | Sheridan et al. (2012) meta-analysis | Epstein Type 2: Communicating | The CONNECT Conversation; Termly Communication Plan |
| 2. Psychological Safety | Edmondson (1999) | CAFE Model; NICE Guideline 87 | First-contact scripts; safe-to-fail manager training |
| 3. Co-Design | Marvin et al. (2020); Epstein (2018) | Australian ADHD Guideline; Epstein Types 5 & 6 | Family-School Partnership Agreement; Co-Designed Accommodation Plan |
| 4. Strengths-Based Framing | Froebelian principles; Neurodiversity-affirming practice | NICE Guideline 87 (whole-person approach) | Strengths-first conversation protocol; spiky profile mapping |
| 5. Accommodation / Manager Capability | Hartman et al. (2023); Anderson (2021) | NICE Guideline 87; Australian ADHD Guideline | Accommodation explanation templates; Manager scenario bank |
| 6. Structured Communication Rhythms | CAFE Model; Sheridan et al. (2012) | Epstein Type 2 (regular, two-way) | 30-60-90 Day Rhythm; Termly Pulse Survey |
We are transparent about the boundaries of the current evidence base: