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3 FREE Services you can Access WITHOUT a Diagnosis!

Mar 28, 2023 Posted by: CareGen Ltd Autism, CareGen

One thing that parents always ask us is…where can they go to find support? Especially whilst waiting on a waiting list for an Autism Assessment! There appears to be very little support services in the UK even after getting the diagnosis, however there are even less services available for families that are still waiting for an assessment. This is why we at CareGen have compiled 3 services that you can access without a Diagnosis.

Need support? Why not book into one of our FREE Clinical Appointments at CareGen to speak with an Autism Specialist? Just click here!

SENDIASS

SENDIASS are an amazing service and have supported lots of families in getting support at school. They are a nationwide service so there should be a branch within your local authority that you can access. Many families access this service if they feel like their child is struggling at school. This is regardless of if they have a diagnosis or not as it is based on the child’s needs. Therefore, this is a service that we always recommend to families if they are struggling with getting the support they need for their child at school.

The main thing about accessing support from SENDIASS is that if your child is recognised by school as having additional needs (not diagnosis specific) then you can access this service. If you’re finding it difficult to get school to listen to your concerns then it might be time to get SENDIASS involved by accessing their website and finding your local branch.

Clinical Appointments with CareGen

This is a relatively new service that we at CareGen have started offering. As we are a clinician led service, we have always wanted to be as accessible to families as possible. This is why we started offering FREE Clinical Appointments with an Autism Specialist to families that are struggling. Families get a 30-minute appointment with a specialist at CareGen where they can discuss any concerns they may have, like your GP’s telephone clinic. All you need to do is go on the CareGen website, go to the make a booking page and choose a date and time that suits you for a clinician to call you.

These appointments could be used to talk about any difficulties that you may be experiencing with your child. This can range from sensory difficulties to emotional regulation issues. All our clinicians work within Autism service in both NHS and private services so have the experience and knowledge to help you in whatever you need. The only requirements are that you are UK based and your child is over 4 years old.

National Autistic Society Helplines

This is another service that you can access that could offer support. At the time of writing this article, there were a lot of helplines that had been shut down, however they are still running in some areas of the UK. Nevertheless, you don’t need a diagnosis to access the support offered by the National Autistic Society, especially within their website.

We always recommend exploring the events that the National Autistic Society put on in different areas of the UK. This offers parents access to speak with other families in similar situations and to get that sense of community that can almost be lost whilst fighting for your child. In addition, we always find that by having a network of other families in your situation, this provides some level of comfort as the worst part about being on a waiting list for your child is feeling alone. By accessing support from the National Autistic Society, these feelings will hopefully subside.

Need support? Why not book into one of our FREE Clinical Appointments at CareGen to speak with an Autism Specialist? Just click here!

What happens in an ADOS Assessment?

Mar 21, 2023 Posted by: CareGen Ltd Autism, Autism Assessment, CareGen

This is a question that every parent asks when coming for an Autism Assessment! What happens in the ADOS part of the assessment? Well, we at CareGen are here to give you the inside scoop on what to expect in this assessment. And for those that don’t know what an ADOS is, it’s basically the part where the clinician will need to speak with the individual completing the Autism assessment. In fact, ADOS stands for Autism Diagnostic Observation Schedule, which mean that there are a series of tasks that we as clinicians will ask you to complete.

Need more support? Why not book into a FREE Clinical Appointment to speak with an Autism Specialist at CareGen? Just click here

Conversational Interaction

Now one element of the ADOS is for the clinician to get to know you a bit better and this is usually done through chit chat conversation. Within this part of the assessment, we just want to see how your child copes with conversing with a new person in a social environment. Of course, we don’t just look for how well your child can verbally articulate themselves, but we also explore their non-verbal social skills. Clinicians may look out for appropriate eye contact usage and if the individual uses gestures during conversations.

Conversations aren’t always focused solely on your child. The clinician may attempt to engage your child in different activities and weave in conversations whilst focusing on these tasks. This might help your child become more relaxed during interactions rather than being an intense 1-1 conversation.

Exploration of Friendships

This is a very important part of the ADOS, as the clinician will attempt to understand your child’s friendships and how they feel within these environments. The clinician may explore how your child develops friendship or what their definition of a friend is. All of this is to better understand how your child views these relationships and how they navigate themselves within these situations.

Within this area, the clinician may also ask questions about future relationships and why these may be important. This is to explore whether your child has some insight into different social relationships and if they believe that these are important. The clinician may attempt to explore what your child hopes and aspirations are for the future within this element of the ADOS assessment.

Creativity

This is another element of the ADOS that is crucial. Within this part of the ADOS, the clinician may ask your child to complete a series of tasks that explores your child’s creativity. This may be in the form of playing with some toys or developing a story from different items. All of this is to gain a better understanding of your child and the different difficulties they may be exhibiting.

Now it must be noted that the ADOS should never be seen as a stand-alone assessment. Clinicians will take all the information gathered from the ADOS and add this to the information gathered from different areas. These include, the developmental history gathered from parents and information gathered from different environments such as school. Once the clinician has all this information, they will then be able to make an accurate decision of whether your child meets the diagnostic criteria for Autism or not.

Need more support? Why not book into a FREE Clinical Appointment to speak with an Autism Specialist at CareGen? Just click here

Top 3 Strategies for “MELTDOWNS”

Mar 14, 2023 Posted by: CareGen Ltd Autism, Autism Spectrum Disorder

So this is a topic that we get asked the most! What can parents do to reduce meltdowns at home? There are so many strategies that we could recommend depending on individual circumstances, however there are 3 that seem to work the best for most families. Therefore, in this article, we will be discussing these strategies, along with how you as a parent can implement these in your day-to-day life.

Need extra support? Why not book in to a FREE Clinical Appointment with an Autism Specialist by clicking here!

Social Stories

Social Stories have been a complete game changer for most parents with autistic children. The premise of a social story is to take a social situation and explain this visually to your child. In doing so, you are better preparing your child for the future and reducing their anxiety of the unknown in the process. For example, let’s say that your child is worried about going to an activity for the first time. Parents could sit down with their child and draw out a story of a character that is about to go to the same activity. You can then draw out what the child (or character) is to expect from this experience, along with what is expected of the child (or character).

The best part is, there are usually hundreds of ready-made social stories that you can access online for any type of situation. One reason for why this strategy is so effective could be due to your child having difficulties in understanding what to expect in a social environment. Remember, what may be seen as an unwritten rule to a neurotypical person, may need to be spelled out to your autistic child. So, if you know that your child struggles with trying new things and this always leads to a meltdown, using a social story may be a strategy that helps your family.

Visual Timetable

Now this one may sound obvious, but you would be surprised how many parents overlook this as an effective strategy. This is especially true with older children and teenagers as some parents may feel like this is too childish for their child. This cannot be further from the truth as visual timetables have been known to work for anyone at any age. The concept of a timetable is to ensure that you know what to expect from your day or your week. For someone with Autism, this is essential to make the world more predictable and manageable.

A timetable doesn’t have to be visual in the sense of having colourful pictures or images on. Your child’s timetable could be sectioned off into different time-zones (often morning and evening) which also makes it less “childish”. What you’ll find is that it will not only reduce the anxieties of your child, but also reduce the feeling of uncertainty in the rest of the family. Everyone likes to know what is going to happen and what to expect, so by implementing this strategy in your home will hopefully reduce the feeling of uncertainty and therefore reduce the amount of meltdowns.

Sensory Environment

This last point is something that most parents miss when trying to implement strategies. I always say to parents, there is no point in trying out any strategy if the environment isn’t right. What I mean by this is, if your child is not comfortable sensory wise then everything else goes out the window. Therefore, as a parent, you need to be aware of your child’s sensory needs. Do they dislike any food textures, do they pick up on smells that others may not. Having this information, will help to reduce your child’s stress levels and in turn, reduce the amount of meltdowns.

Look at it this way! Could you concentrate on a task if you were surrounded by rotting fish? What about if you had to complete the task in clothing that was super tight or itchy? You wouldn’t be able to concentrate as you would be too distracted or annoyed by your environment. This could be what is happening to your child. What I recommend to parents is to think about any possible difficulties they may have with their senses and make notes on any settings that your child may particularly enjoy or dislike. What is it about that setting that they enjoy/dislike from a sensory perspective? In most cases you’ll be able to identify key triggers to meltdowns in their environment, however if you are still struggling, it may be time to go to your GP and request a referral to an Occupational Therapist for further support.

Need extra support? Why not book into a FREE Clinical Appointment with an Autism Specialist by clicking here!

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