Parent Support Project (PSP)

At TreeHouse we hear from hundreds of parent campaigners dedicated to working in partnership with professionals to transform autism education. Parents and carers across the country are campaigning for better autism services and are making a real difference locally and nationally.  Find out about campaigning in your area and share your experiences and expertise!

TreeHouse ran a successful national campaigning project called the Constructive Campaigning Parent Support Project, a three year project (2006-2009) funded by the DCSF and other charitable organisations.  The project aimed to support parents to work constructively with professionals in mutually respectful partnerships to improve the quality and quantity of services for children and young people with autism across England.

The project worked with ten parent campaigning groups, each in a different local authority area, supporting them to create constructive channels of dialogue with the local authority to enable genuine consultation on the shaping of autism services. 

Project parents have reported amazing successes and achievements over the course of the project including:

• Influencing MPs
• Delivering training to professionals
• Shaping local and national policy
• Speaking at high profile local and national events
• Sitting on strategic decision-making boards
• raising awareness of autism in the local and national media

...and much more!

Read the PSP evaluation report of the project to learn more about the project:

Opening Doors for Change - Evaluation of the TreeHouse Constructive Campaigning Parent Support Project

What some of the parents said about working with TreeHouse on the PSP:

'TreeHouse taught us the true meaning of campaigning.'
'TreeHouse opened the doors for us but we had to walk through.'
'I can’t express enough what an impact TreeHouse has had on me and the rest of our group. We are now fuelled to try our best to carry on without the prop of constant phonecalls and will do our best to take the TreeHouse message far and wide. Thank you TreeHouse.' 

Shaping Children’s Services Together

TreeHouse is delighted that the DCSF are supporting a further piece of work called ‘Shaping Children’s Services Together’ to follow up on lessons learned during the Parent Support Project. The book will be designed so that it can be read in two ways: one side aimed at parent carers wishing to campaign constructively with local authority professionals to improve services.  The other side will be a resource for local authorities wishing to engage constructively with parent campaigners.  The aim is to promote a shared understanding between professionals and parents in relation to autism-specific education and, at the same time, be transferable to the parent carers of all children with additional needs. For more information on this exciting piece of work email Jane Booth on jbooth@treehouse.org.uk