Our support team

We have an experienced ASSIST (Autism Spectrum Service for Information, Support and Training) Team. The Team oversees the development of local ASC (Autism Spectrum Condition) services, and works with people with ASC, and with practitioners who work with people with ASC.

We provide:

• Information, support, advice and signposting to other services.
• Resources such as symbols, photographs and timetables.
• Support to leisure providers to include children with ASC.
• Support to parents, siblings and carers to look at issues in the home environment and move towards solutions.
• Support to school staff to look at issues in the school environment and move towards solutions.
• Consultation support to professionals to look at issues and solutions.
• Autism Awareness Workshops.
• Coordination of the National Autistic Society EarlyBird and EarlyBird Plus parent programmes.

EarlyBird programmes

The EarlyBird Programme is overseen by the National Autistic Society and managed locally by the ASSIST Team. It is for families with a child with ASC who is pre-school age. EarlyBird Plus is for families with children aged from 4 to 8 years. EarlyBird is a 3 month course, combining group training sessions and individual home visits. The Programme aims to:

• Support families during the period between diagnosis and school
• Empower parents and carers
• Help families understand their child's autism
• Structure interactions in which communication can develop
• Pre-empt problem behaviours and handle those that occur

Toolkit

Our Autism Toolkit documents, below, are for children and young people who have been diagnosed with autism. The documents also offer guidance for professionals planning a child or young person's transition from one setting to another. It includes appropriate actions for parents and carers which can be given as advice by the professionals who play a lead role in the process. Each transition will be unique to the child, so the timeline can be seen as an example of best practice guidance.