Parent Workshops
Practical support and guidance for families of autistic children and young people
Autism support and information workshops for parents
Autism Hampshire offers workshops for families of autistic children and young people, which are funded by the local councils.
The aim of each course is to provide insight, advice and support to family members of autistic children. Each session will explore a child’s unique experiences and suggest practical ways in which their differences can be accommodated and supported.
What will happen during the course?
The course consists of six workshops, lasting up to two or three hours, providing learning, support and advice on various aspects of being autistic. This can be pre, during or post your child’s assessment/diagnosis. The workshops are open to family members and others closely associated with the care and support of the child. Professionals may only attend in their capacity as parents or carers.
Each session will cover a different area with the aim of increasing understanding of your child’s perception of the world, and how this may show itself in how they react to everyday situations.
Schedule
Session 1 – Introduction to autism
This session will provide some general context for the other sessions.
Session 2 – Thinking
Explores how differences in brain structure can generate some unique and individual styles of thinking, and offers practical advice on how to support some areas of difficulty.
Session 3 – Communication
Discusses autistic perspectives on the use and processing of communication and ideas for adapting interactive styles in order to respect and accommodate them.
Session 4 – Social interaction
The focus is on rethinking social expectations and helping autistic people develop relationships in an authentically autistic way.
Session 5 – Sensory perception
Explores autistic people's unique sensory profiles including strategies to support sensory needs. Also covers how atypical sensory perception is manifested in stims, how to interpret them, and suggests things to try in the absence of viable strategies created by the person themselves.
Session 6 – Behaviour
Demonstrates how accepting, understanding and adapting to how children and young people see the world can dramatically reduce anxiety and behaviours of concern.
Funded by Southampton City Council (SCC), these courses are open to parents/carers who live in the SCC area or whose child attends an SCC school or doctors’ surgery.
Course dates for 2024/25
|
Group 4: Online |
| Via Microsoft Teams |
|
Time: 6pm - 9pm |
|
Tuesday 28th January 2025 |
|
Tuesday 4th February 2025 |
|
Tuesday 11th February 2025 |
|
Tuesday 25th February 2025 |
|
Tuesday 4th March 2025 |
| Tuesday 11th March 2025 |
| Book here: https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/cc/southampton-family... |
Please check your availability for all six sessions before booking.
Course dates for 2025/26
| Group 1 : In person - Bitterne | Group 2: Online |
| Neurodiversity Connections Hub | Via Microsoft Teams |
| Time: 10am - 1pm | Time: 6pm - 8pm |
| Monday 28th April 2025 | Tuesday 9th September 2025 |
| Monday 5th May 2025 | Tuesday 16th September 2025 |
| Monday 12th May 2025 | Tuesday 23rd September 2025 |
| Monday 19th May 2025 | Tuesday 30th September 2025 |
| Monday 2nd June 2025 | Tuesday 7th October 2025 |
| Monday 9th June 2025 | Tuesday 14th October 2025 |
| Book here: https://buytickets.at/autismhampshire1/1530396&nbs...; | Book here: https://buytickets.at/autismhampshire1/1535041&nbs...; |
Please check your availability for all six sessions before booking.
| Group 3: Online | Group 4: Online |
| Via Microsoft Teams | Via Microsoft Teams |
| Time: 10am - 1pm | Time: 10am - 1pm |
| Thursday 6th November 2025 | Thursday 29th January 2026 |
| Thursday 13th November 2025 | Thursday 5th February 2026 |
| Thursday 20th November 2025 | Thursday 12th February 2026 |
| Thursday 27th November 2025 | Thursday 26th February 2026 |
| Thursday 4th December 2025 | Thursday 5th March 2026 |
| Thursday 11th December 2025 | Thursday 12th March 2026 |
| Book here: https://buytickets.at/autismhampshire1/1535080&nbs...; | Book here: https://buytickets.at/autismhampshire1/1535081&nbs...; |
Please check your availability for all six sessions before booking.
The course is open to family members and others closely associated with the care and support of the child. Professionals may only attend in their capacity as parents or carers (except for CAMHS professionals).
Course Dates for 2024/2025
Unfortunately, these dates have now all passed. Please keep checking for new dates for 2025/26. Alternatively, please email trainingadmin@autismhampshire.org.uk to get an alert when new dates become available.
Please check your availability for all six sessions before booking. All sessions will be held online.
Please be aware that we expect participants to attend and actively engage with all six sessions. A certificate will be issued on successful completion of the full course. In the event that you are unable to attend a session, please let us know in advance, where possible, at trainingadmin@autismhampshire.org.uk
These sessions will all be held virtually via Microsoft Teams, so you will need to have access to the appropriate technology, including camera and microphone. If you require any reasonable adjustments in order to attend, please contact us to discuss prior to the start of the course.
Any queries, please email: trainingadmin@autismhampshire.org.uk
This course is only open to parents/carers who live in the Hampshire County Council area or whose child attends an HCC school or doctors’ surgery. For those in Southampton, please see below for courses.
Unfortunately, we do not currently have any courses available for residents of Portsmouth or the Isle of Wight, but if this is you and you are interested in the above course, please contact us at trainingadmin@autismhampshire.org.uk, so we can let you know if anything becomes available in your area.
Course dates for 2024/2025
Unfortunately these dates have now all passed. Please keep checking for new dates for 2025/26. Alternatively, please email trainingadmin@autismhampshire.org.uk to get an alert when new dates become available.
Please check your availability for all six sessions before booking.
Please be aware that we expect participants to attend and actively engage with all six sessions. A certificate will be issued on successful completion of the full course. In the event that you are unable to attend a session, please let us know in advance, where possible, at trainingadmin@autismhampshire.org.uk
All sessions will all be held virtually via Microsoft Teams, so you will need to have access to the appropriate technology, including camera and microphone. If you require any reasonable adjustments in order to attend, please contact us to discuss prior to the start of the course.
Any queries, please email: trainingadmin@autismhampshire.org.uk