Autism Toolbox for parents and carers

Autism behaviours can vary between children of different ages.

If you need help, speak to your health visitor or school nurse. You can also ask your child's nursery, school or college for support.

If your child also has a learning disability, you can ask your GP or paediatrician to refer you to the community nurses team for children with a learning disability.

Ambitious about Autism has an overview of autistic behaviours you may come across and links to organisations that can help you.

You can also use our directory to find local independent services that can help with autism behaviour. You may need to pay for these services.

Some autistic people may have difficulty communicating. These websites can offer help and advice:

• the Curly Hair Project was founded by autistic author Alis Rowe, and supports people on the autistic spectrum and those around them
• the National Autistic Society has tips on how to communicate with children and young people with autism, which will help you to understand how they hear and process what you say

You can search our directory to find local independent services that can help with autism communication and language. You may need to pay for these services.

Some autistic children struggle with sensory issues and have bad reactions to certain sights, sounds, smells, tastes and textures.

Autistic children can be both:

• hyper sensitive, which means they react in a negative way when their senses are stimulated too much (for example, by bright light or loud noises)
• hypo sensitive, where they do not respond to senses such as touch or taste as they don't experience them as strongly as other people

But if you create an environment that is in tune with your child’s senses, this will make them feel more comfortable and avoid anxiety

Buckinghamshire Healthcare occupational therapists can help with sensory issues.

You can search our directory to find local independent services that can help with autism and sensory issues. You may need to pay for these services.

Children and young people with autism may find it harder to make friends.

Ambitious about Autism has a list of 10 reasons why people with autism struggle in social situations, which will help you understand why your child finds it hard to make friends.

Local guidance and information about physical and mental health is available in the health section of the SEND local offer.

You can search our directory to find local independent services that can help with autism and health issues. You may need to pay for these services.

Search our directory to find local independent services that can help with leisure activities for autistic people. You may need to pay for these services.

For reasons outlined in our Autism Toolbox, many children and young people with autism struggle at school.

This can be because they:

• are bullied
• find it hard to leave the security of their family home
• have trouble getting used to daily routines that don’t match their own
• have trouble making new friends

For many children and young people with autism, difficulties dealing with school can lead to disruptive behaviour. In extreme situations, this may see your child excluded from lessons in a mainstream school.

Read about the support your child can get in school, college or early years settings in the education section of the SEND local offer.

If you feel that you, or your child’s education provider, needs help to understand your child’s difficulties, you can speak to the Buckinghamshire Special Educational Needs and Disability Information, Advice and Support (SENDIAS) service.

The Buckinghamshire branch of Mind can also help you with schools and education.

Young Minds has tips to help children and young people with autism who are anxious about school or refuse to go.