ASD POST DIAGNOSIS WORKSHOPS

Following diagnosis, parent/carers have many feelings and thoughts and conflicting emotions. No two people are the same, but some of the common themes we often hear include:

• Relief that this is not something we parents/carers have done wrong.
• Relief, that there may be some help for you and or your child.
• Questions about what it will mean for your child.
• Questions about what it will mean for you as parents and any other children
• Sadness, at the loss of the future you may not even have been aware you expected for your child.
• Anger, about people who thought your parenting was causing your child’s behaviour or people who have treated you, or your child, badly.
• Fear for the future
• Vindication – people did not take your concerns seriously.
• Confusion about what to do next.
• There must be some mistake.

We understand that parents and carers need a period of adjustment, but also that there is a need for support, as early as possible, after diagnosis. We are therefore offering parents with a recently diagnosed child the opportunity to attend a workshop. This short session is intended to help those who need it, to understand a little more about the autism spectrum and to sign post you to support that is available locally and on line, if and when you feel you need it. 

This workshop has been designed for parent/carers who live in Bexley. If you live in a neighbouring borough, please contact your local National Autistic Society branch and or your local Parent Carer Forum to find out what is available for you - this information should be available on your area's Local Offer. This should be searchable on the internet. You can find links to some of Bexley's neighbouring Local Offers on the Bexley Local Offer home page.

Who are we?

• Juli Atkinson from Bexley NAS (the local branch of the National Autistic Society) who has a son on the Autism spectrum and
• Karen Upton an ex GP and also a relative of some who are on the spectrum and trustee of Q4 Access(small charity aiming to improve access to education and employment in the digital technology, for those with social communication differences)

When and where?
The workshops are held in various locations and we offer both day and evening workshops.
Refer to the booking form below for dates, times and venues for each workshop.​​​
Please arrive 10 - 15 minutes prior to the start time to allow for registration and refreshments.

Location/Venues:

• Christ Church, Main Road, Sidcup. DA15 7HE
• BVSC, Crayford Manor House, Mayplace Road East. DA1 4HB

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What happens next?
If you would like to attend our workshop, complete the on-line form below.
If you would like more information about the workshop, email Karen@Q4access.org. 

CORONOVIRUS UPDATE 20.3.20
Unfortunately, our venues have advised they are closing for the foreseeable future, so we are not able to offer our planned workshops.
If you book onto a workshop date, I will contact you the week before to confirm if it is going ahead or not - realistically, unlikely before July :(.
Otherwise, please complete the form to say you would like more information and I will advise new dates, when we are able to get going again. 
In the meantime, please see the message on the home page of this website. I would strongly recommend you join Bexley Voice and request access to their closed Facebook to keep up to date with local discussions.
Karen and I are so sorry, not to be able to offer this workshop when you need it, but we are looking at other ways we may be able to make key information available to you.
Please take care, Juli