We have enclosed within this pack a great deal of information about Autism Spectrum Disorder. We hope that this letter will help steer you through the maze of information enclosed and point you towards the information that will be of help to you. Please do not let this information overwhelm you. Don’t feel that you have to read it all at once, keep it handy, the likelihood is that you will want to revisit it at a later date.
NHS Highland and the Highland Council have recognised the need to enable families to access multi agency diagnostic and assessment services as near to them as possible and to have access to a range of support thereafter. This includes commissioning services from the range of Voluntary Sector Partners outlined in this letter and in the pack. The Integrated Autism Pathway is a useful guide to how multi-agency services operate across Highland. It can be found at: www.highlandschools-virtualib.org.uk
CHIP+ provides information, advice and support to children with additional support needs, their parents and the professionals that work with them.
CHIP+ has an extensive collection of information, which may be helpful either now or in the future. This includes details of support groups, information about syndromes and conditions, trust funds, education, respite care and many, many more topics. CHIP+ has a Resource Library from which books and videos can be borrowed. CHIP+ also produces a quarterly newsletter. Our service is completely confidential and free to all.
Just pick up a phone, e-mail or call in to the CHIP+ office. We can post material to anywhere in the Highlands.
Contact details here
The Scottish Society For Autism’s Autism Advisory Consultancy Service (AACS) is available for advice, information and support. You will find more information and contact details regarding this service in this pack.
You may already have an understanding of Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) or this may be your first introduction to autism. Either way there is a lot of new terminology to understand, many questions to be answered about your child’s condition and many different organisations and services which can support you. Some of these may be answered on the ‘Frequently Asked Questions’ page. If not you may wish to contact one of the agencies mentioned to support you.
Due to the nature of the condition, you and your family will come into contact with various professionals. The Parent Information Pack you received prior to diagnosis contained a guide to this.
If your child is of pre-school age the National Autistic Society EarlyBird parent education programme may be of interest, see support for families page. This offers a 3 month programme for parents/carers of pre-school children with ASD.
If your child is older you may have questions regarding their education. There are a number of useful education specific resources in this pack that may help. Another valuable service is the Autism Outreach Education Service.
In addition, the NAS offers other parent support programmes. You will find information on the help! And EarlyBird Plus programmes on the support for families page.
There are many different approaches and therapies that you will hear of that are utilised for people with ASD. A useful explanation of these can be found in a booklet published by the National Autistic Society (NAS) called ‘Approaches to Autism’. (ISBN 1 899280561) Copies of this are available to borrow through CHIP+. To help you evaluate any of the therapies you may be interested in, included within this pack are pages on important points to consider and questions to ask.
This pack offers information and support that is specific to Highland. You will also find more localised support that may be of interest. The CHIP+ leaflet ‘ASD Support for families’ has information on support groups in local areas. These include opportunities to meet with other parents in similar positions to yourself. Another useful contact may be the Parent to Parent line run by the NAS, their number is 0800 9520 520.
You or your child may require support in the form of advocacy: contacts are on the ‘ASD Support for families’ leaflet. If you are interested in dietary issues and ASD, some valuable information can be found within this pack.
You may wish to find out more information on ASD and related issues; we have compiled a list of contacts and websites that may be useful. We hope that this pack proves useful for you and your family.