Getting help and support

Getting help and support.

When our daughter was first diagnosed with autism, I was given a piece of paper with a list of barely-legible links that had been cut and pasted off the internet and were all over a line long.

None of these links actually stated what they were to, and only half of them worked. No electronic copy was ever issued, so one mistake in painstakingly typing out these endless lines would result in a 404 error. That’s assuming I had time to go looking in the first place. I had essentially been given a sheet of A4, a pat on the head and sent out the door with my nonverbal child and no support.

Being a parent is hard enough, being a parent to a fae child is whole new ball game; there are rules but no one tells you what they are and if you are lucky you stumble into some on the way.

There are people who can help (with links where possible)

Autism society https://www.autism.org.uk

A national charity with a lot of information regard help and advice pertaining to autism.

SENDIASS https://www.kids.org.uk/sendiass

(Special educational needs and disabilities information advice and support services) SENDIASS is like a one stop shop for information, they can advocate on your behalf or signpost you to where you need to go next for your fae. They can coordinate the MAAT teams for your or just listen when you about to break down. In any event they are worth knowing about.

Short break teams
These you will need to google for your local council; they work within the local authority social worker dept. and once you have your fae officially diagnosed they can help you find short term support and placements for you and your family.

Health visitor
If your fae is under 5, they are still entitled to a health visitor and ours was amazing; she pointed us in the direction of DLA funding and carer’s allowance, and liaised with the social worker team to bring in SENDIASS and short breaks. I wouldn’t have survived moving house without ours. (Oh point of reference don’t relocate from one end of the country to the other if you can avoid it with a young fae – it’s a nightmare).

SALT
Speech and language teams – you will need a referral for these but if your fae is not talking (I mean not a word) by age 2 push your GP/health visitor for a referral.

Portage
Again you will need a referral but portage can support your fae’s development and help you find and access other services, they can also help you apply for and be successful with obtaining places for schools that meet the needs of your fae. They can support applications for EHCPs.

Don’t be shy; like, comment or share – it’s good to know we’re not alone with our struggles