Advice, Courses & Support
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Agencies providing advice, support and information
Did you know KCC's SEND Information Hub has lots of information to support you and your child under 5, 5 to 16, or 16 to 25 year-old! The hub also help if you're looking for education, health and care (EHC) plans (including annual reviews and phase transfers) and health or social care advice.
A programme for parents and carers. A support programme for parents and carers of children and young people, aged 5-18, who are autistic. Parents of autistic children face the usual positive and difficult challenges of parenting and quite a few more. Attending a Cygnet autism support programme gives parents and carers an opportunity to develop their understanding of autism and consider ways to support their child. It also provides the opportunity to meet other people in a similar position and hear about their experiences in an informal but supportive atmosphere. Apply here.
Access free online courses from the Solihull Approach at inourplace, designed to support parents, carers and families with emotional health and wellbeing.
Get free, impartial and confidential information, advice and support about special educational needs and disabilities (SEND) for children and young people.
ADDISS – The National Attention Deficit Disorder Information & Support Service
020 8952 2800
People friendly information and resources to anyone who needs assistance.
Action for Neurodiversity
Action for Diversity provides autism specialist counselling to those who live with or alongside Asperger’s syndrome/autism and who are struggling and in need of help, with counsellors who have additional experience (either personally or professionally) and/or additional qualifications in autism.
AFASIC
0300 666 9410
A parent-led organisation to help children and young people with speech and language impairments and their families including a helpline, publications, support groups, online message boards.
National charity for children and young people with autism, provide services including online community and specialist education through the Treehouse School.
Contact a Family Helpline:
0808 808 3555
UK wide charity providing advice, information, support for parents of children with disabilities. Also enable parents to get in contact with other families both on a local and national level.
Registered charity offering free and independent advice to parents of children with special educational needs on local authorities legal duties to assess and provide for children with special educational needs, actions or inaction by local authorities and schools which discriminate against children with disabilities, exclusion of children with special need.
Information, advice, resources, on all issues relating to autism.
Information on Autism and Aspergers including support groups, respite services, diagnosis, therapeutic approaches etc.
Supporting parents and professionals to reduce violent, difficult and dangerous behaviour in children and young people with a disability and/or an additional need. The Newbold Hope - Family Support Group on Facebook is an engaged and supportive digital community, offering support to parents of children with additional needs or disabilities who also display difficult or dangerous behaviours, which includes a risk of actual physical injuries to others, often towards their own family members. They only accept members whose children are under the age of 18, and who have a disability or an additional need, or who are already on the pathway towards assessment. There are also fantastic webinars to purchase from newboldhope.com.
An organisation dedicated to enriching the lives of people with autism. Includes advice, knowledge share seminars, online parent support programme and interactive website about autism - www.understandautism.org
SNAP (Special Needs and Parents)
A registered charity that helps Essex families who have children with special needs and disabilities. Aim to encourage and support parents so that they can grow in strength and knowledge and become better equipped to give positive help to their children.
Support Dogs
Support Dogs (registered charity number 1088281) is a national charity dedicated to saving and improving the lives of children and adults with various challenging medical conditions. They provide, train and support specialist assistance dogs to achieve this. One of their programmes is providing assistance dogs for autistic children. The dogs are trained to provide safety for the child and reduce stress in social environments.
Newbold Hope is a small, parent-led organisation set up by Yvonne Newbold MBE, to work with families and professional staff from education, health care and social services in reducing anxiety-led difficult and dangerous behaviour in children with an additional need or disability. It was formerly known as The SEND VCB Project.
Newbold Hope provide training for parents and professional staff, as well as offering support and resources, which include an online community of 14,000 families on Facebook who can come together for support, understanding and solidarity. Due to their work, there are now well over two thousand children who have successfully moved beyond their extreme behaviour episodes. This group of children and young people are now happier and calmer and have much more hopeful futures to look forward to.
Newbold Hope also supports parents in healing and recovery from the effects of their child’s behaviours, as well as from the effects of the unfair societal perceptions which blame, judge and shame parents when a child has difficult behaviour. This issue is not the parents’ fault and it’s not the children’s fault either. These extremely difficult behaviours are almost always the result of anxiety and trauma. During the autumn of 2022, Yvonne Newbold ran 10 online training sessions via webinar covering a wide range of issues that families of children and young people with SEND VCB find difficult. These webinars were recorded and are now used to support families like ours in their own homes. These webinars can be a fantastic source of knowledge and comfort in difficult times.