Step Up Speech and Language is launching a brand new autism service called Plymouth Autism Team for children and families in Plymouth.
Step Up Speech and Language has been working on creating a new Plymouth Autism Team for several months. They will be providing expert knowledge and support to parents who are trying to get their child assessed and potentially diagnosed with autism, as well as helping deliver interventions to help children achieve lifelong goals with their communication and development.
Plymouth Autism Team can assess the child at home, their school/nursery or online. After this they will be able to provide a breakdown of the child’s ability to communicate and interact with their surroundings.
Once this has happened they will help to develop the child’s skills with interacting with their family and peers, supply and teach techniques to help get the child talking, help increase their attention span and social awareness and utilise sensory communication aids like Makaton.
Founder Lisa Taylor Jones said:
“Around one in 57 children in the UK is on the autistic spectrum. Lots of parents worry that their child might be autistic, and can find it difficult to get answers quickly due to long waiting lists.
“Often parents are stressed out as they don’t know what they can do to help their child. At Step Up we take away that stress by providing parents with honest answers to their questions and help them to find a way forward with their child.
“ We provide assessment and advice to help children achieve lifelong skills and move forward with their communication.”
Autism services available from the new Plymouth Autism Team include autism assessment by a highly skilled speech and language therapist; clinical reports; direct intervention with one to one therapy sessions at home or school and helping parents learn who to support their child in their ability to communicate at the very early stages.
A parent with autistic child said:
“I’d thoroughly recommend Plymouth Autism Team to anyone – especially those who have been stuck on waiting lists and are wanting a prompt, honest and proactive approach.”
A SENDCo teacher added:
“We were unsure what we could do to help him. Now you work with him – he’s talking in class and now we see him playing with other children at lunchtime.
“That’s really what we always wanted for him. Your input has made such a difference!”
The Plymouth Autism Team has also been working with local schools to deliver sessions with teaching staff to help raise awareness and provide support to children with autism.
Find out more information on the website
www.stepupspeechandlanguageplymouth.com/plymouthautismteam
