Established in 2001, Autism Early Support specialise in supporting autistic children and children with communication, sensory and social interactive differences using specialist education and therapies.
They also work closely with families to offer practical strategies, peer support and guidance. This summer, they launched their brand new service, The Parent’s Portal – an innovative online platform offering a resource library, parent support groups, discussion forums and interactive workshops.
How the Portal came into being
The Portal has been designed and curated by the AES team. Their CEO, Sarah Sweet-Rowley, explains how it was realised:
“Every day we were taking calls from parents and carers who had nowhere else to turn. At best, we could listen, signpost and add them to a waiting list.
“Meanwhile, the parents we were working with every day were sharing their frustrations about the information they had access to. It was too often out of date, poor quality, conflicting and inconsistent – and overall just too difficult and time-consuming to navigate.
“The Portal was created out of our drive to be able to offer a more immediate and robust solution and continuous support.”
What the platform offers
Through funding from the CAF Resilience Fund in 2021, AES were able to create a unique, online platform offering:
1. Access 24/7 – it’s been designed to be flexible and to fit around family time
2. Trusted guidance – it contains reliable knowledge from AES practitioners who have worked with autistic children and their families for over 20 years
3. An expanding resource library of content that has been curated and categorized to make things easy to find, store and read or watch again
4. A programme of live interactive workshops delivered by AES practitioners with lived experience and autistic advocates from across the UK
5. Signposting and advice and guidance on funding EHCPs and the SEN process
6. A community of members – the platform is interactive and it allows parents to talk to our practitioners, meet other parents and join discussion forums
7. It’s a non-judgmental space where ideas are exchanged freely and parents can feel affirmed, listened to and supported.
Find out more
For unlimited 24/7 access to all features there is a charge of £10 per month* per household. There is no joining fee and parents can cancel at any time.
To register or find out more, go to: https://autismearlysupport.org.uk/parents-portal/
Or to join a 30-minute online demo, click to book: September 14th at 1pm or October 5th at 12.30pm.
Or call us on: 01296 733900
