The National Autistic Society has created a health passport which you can complete by printing and writing on it or typing in responses. The passport is designed to help autistic people to communicate their needs to doctors, nurses and other healthcare professionals, and can be taken with you for appointments and you can ask for […]
Many parents find that information about their child is not shared with their new teacher when they move up a year a school. A sensory profile can be helpful to put down on one page things that your child likes and doesn’t like, and can also be used in other settings such as clubs or childminders. One example of a profile
Some local charities offer regular parent support groups where you can talk to other parents or carers of children and young people with additional support needs. These are normally informal sessions with no set agenda; people may ask for advice on a particular situation or just sit and listen, or talk about things entirely unrelated to their caring role. As
Many child sleeping bags (that can be worn) only go up to age 4. For older children who will not keep a blanket on them as they sleep, the brands below go up to age 6-7 Some parents have also suggested using a fleece all-in-one suit over the top of pyjamas to keep their child warm
Barefoot shoes are recommended by many parents as they have a wider toe box and designed to help children’s feet develop naturally without them being squashed. They can be more expensive than other shoe styles, but there have been more high street stores starting to offer these now which reduces the cost. Other parents searching for
Adaptive clothing is designed to make dressing easier, and so may have easier fastenings (velcro instead of buttons for example), or access or pouches to hold medical devices. Some clothing stores have also moved away from using sewn in neck labels in their clothes to make them more sensory friendly, such as Primark (https://www.primark.com/en-gb/a/inspiration/family-time/sensory-friendly-kidswear) and H&M. The stores below carry adaptive
The agencies listed below can help with benefit checks or completing application forms. Many are free, or ask for a donation to their work if possible (but not compulsory).
You can use one of these independent benefit calculators to find out what benefits you could get, how to claim and how your benefits will be affected if you start work. The information you provide in the calculators is not shared anywhere so will not impact any benefits you currently receive.
