Parent Support Project (PSP)

TreeHouse receives hundreds of phone calls and emails every year from parents and carers of children with autism, asking for information, advice and support on different aspects of autism education.

One way that TreeHouse provides support to parents and carers is through the Constructive Campaigning Parent Support Project. The project is based on 'Constructive Campaigning for Autism Services: The PACE Parents' Handbook'. It is a three year project, started in September 2006, funded mainly by the Department for Children, Schools and Families (DCSF) and other charitable organisations. The project aims to empower parents and carers of children with autism to improve the provision of autism education in 10 local authority areas across England.

The project team have been working closely with new and well established groups of parents and carers of children with autism. The groups are devising their own local campaigns, based on the principles of constructive campaigning, with help and support from the team.

Since September 2006 the project team have listened to parents and carers of children with autism, hearing about their experiences and those of their children. We have worked with parent group members to devise the following ways of collecting this information to share with people who can make a difference :

• The Case Study Template which parents and carers can use to record their experiences – good and bad. These are extremely important and we encourage as many parents and carers as possible to complete these and return them to us at TreeHouse. They are used (anonymously) as part of local and national briefings to ministers and MPs and can inform policy and decision making at all levels
• We have also developed a Child with Autism Information Sheet which parents and carers can use to ensure their local authority has accurate information on their child ( name, address, date of birth, school attended). The form also provides the opportunity for parents and carers to express their views on their child’s needs at transition, in the short and longer term. The completed form needs to be sent to the child’s local authority SEN Department
• The Parent's Exclusion Record helps parents and carers maintain a record of their child’s exclusions – including middle of the day exclusions or ‘informal’ exclusions which are illegal. The form encourages positive discussion between the parent and the school and can be used in an annual review, to help identify triggers for a child’s behaviour
• The project is carrying out a national survey of parents and carers who have children with autism, collecting their perceptions of provision on their area. Consultation contributions are welcome from any parent and carer of a child with autism but please indicate your local authority area.
• The Resources Area aims to provide useful and practical resources for people committed to improving education for children and young people with autism. These can include parent and carer campaigners, local authority officers, voluntary organisations and others. We would welcome parents from the Parent Support Project and others to contribute any resources that have helped their child or themselves, and that may prove useful to others

The Constructive Campaigning Parent Support Project web forum gives parents involved in the project the opportunity to share their creative ideas, knowledge and expertise on campaigning and autism education. Access to the web forum is restricted and requires a username and password. Login to the web forum. If you would like to request access to the web forum, please email the Parent Support Team or phone 020 8815 5443.

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