• Employment support
• Criminal justice
• Family support
• Support groups»
  • Full list of support groups
• Student support
• Shropshire
• Go up one page

► Family support

Families and carers of people with autism of all ages often need support too, especially around the needs of the persons with autism, education, transition, rights, emotional needs, behavioural and social strategies and techniques. 

Family Training

We offer a range of training for families and foster carers. These include daytime, evening or weekend events and courses on specific topics families have requested. We also run two in depth 6-week courses to help families understand more about autism, develop their own skills and strategies for managing difficulties and coping with challenges. Our aim is that all our families begin to enjoy their family life more and that we have been able to help in this process.

Practical Interventions

We offer a course consisting of six sessions, which takes place weekly over six weeks, aimed at family carers who are having difficulty understanding and managing challenging behaviour. As well as opportunities to share their experiences and meet other families, this course provides information about the underlying reasons for behaviour that challenges, a chance to discuss specific examples of behaviour that is hard to deal with and some practical techniques for positive behaviour management.

Rising to the Challenge

A weekly six session course aimed at family carers who want to understand their child’s autism. The course offers the opportunity for family carers to meet other families. By sharing stories, this helps families to understand they are not alone in having to deal with the challenges they face and they begin to see the joys of their child’s uniqueness too. Topics covered include communication, play, social skills, behaviour and managing stress and anxiety.

If you want us to come to you or your support group and deliver one of these courses, please contact us. We also offer bespoke training tailored to your needs. If you cannot see what you want above or in this list, we will discuss what you want and design a course to suit your needs.

Family days & other events

Our Family Days are an opportunity for all the family, including children, to have fun whilst learning more about autism. Currently we deliver these one off days in Birmingham, Staffordshire and Warwickshire. We vary the topic content of each of these days, but try to keep the structure of the day consistent so that families know what to expect.

Family Outreach

In some areas of the region Family Outreach Workers are available to offer support by working with families mainly in their own home. The Family Outreach Workers can discuss most autism related needs offering advice, information, emotional support strategies and techniques in empowering the parent/carer to recognise where there is a need to be met and offering guidance about how this can be done.