Early Birds - Autism Parenting Programme
EarlyBird autism parenting programme
EarlyBird is a 12 week course for parents and carers of children under 5 with a diagnosis of Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) or on the pathway to receiving an autism diagnosis. It was developed by the National Autistic Society to empower, support and improve the lives of families with autistic children.
What will we learn?
These programmes focus on understanding autism and supportive approaches for autistic children under the age of 6 and for children between the ages of 5 and 10. Each session focuses on a different topic:
- Understanding autism – including key areas of difference, individual profiles, processing differences and one-page profiles
- Communication – including autistic communication styles, supporting communication and using visuals
- Understanding autistic experiences – including sensory processing and talking to your child about their autistic identity
- Supporting daily living – including the low arousal approach, sleep, eating, toileting/hygiene and dressing
- Health and wellbeing – including self-esteem, stress and anxiety and understanding feelings
- Connections – including working with professionals, family dynamics, siblings and education/reasonable adjustments
Programmes are delivered by Early Years SEND Practitioners along with colleagues from Kiltonthorpe Academy who are licensed users of the programme and consist of 6 sessions (2 and a half hours long) usually delivered one session per week for 6 weeks. There will be a maximum of 10 families per programme with each family being offered spaces for up to 2 parents/carers plus, if parents choose, a supporting professional.
Each session is a mixture of information, activities, videos and sharing experiences. There is always time to reflect on how the topic relates to the individual child/family.
We have run the EarlyBird course now for a while and have had fantastic feedback from the families that we have worked with. All have said how valuable the course has been and will use their new knowledge and skills to support their children more confidently.