If your child has recently been assessed and you have learnt that they have social communication difficulties or autism then this area of the website is for you. It has been developed with the help of parents of children with autism, to:

• help you understand what social communication difficulties and autistic spectrum disorders are
• give you a picture of what you and others can do to help your child
• tell you about the support that is available
• answer the questions that many parents have at this time

You may find it helpful to try to inform yourself about social communication difficulties and autistic spectrum disorders when the time is right for you. You may not want to read all of this website at once, you may find it more helpful to refer to different sections over time.

We want to acknowledge that you are an important person in your child’s life and often spend more time with your child than any other person, and therefore we hope this website will go some way in supporting you to access further information and help. Being a parent, carer or family member of a child with autism can be both very rewarding and very stressful. Dealing with the everyday ups and downs of family life and the world around us is hard enough, but doing it as a parent of a child with autism can at times seem near impossible.

Other parents have found it useful to consider joining a local parent support group. Try to attend any training or support sessions offered. For example, parent support/education courses such as SCILS, Cygnet, SLT training sessions. These form the main offer to families from the community paediatric service.