SEND Support Service (SSS) - WNC

West Northamptonshire Council's SEND Support Service (SSS) offers advice and support to children, young people, families, carers, and education settings for children with special educational needs or disabilities (SEND) aged 0 to 19 years.

Support Available Without a Referral:

•  You can request a consultation or access courses/workshops without a referral.

Courses and Workshops

The SSS offer a range of virtual and face-to-face courses and workshops to help parents understand and support their child's special educational need or disability (SEND).

•  Anger and Emotions Course

Type: Virtual or face-to-face course. Length of course: Two 90-minute sessions over two weeks.

Learn how social communication difficulties affect anger. The course will cover how to:

• • evaluate behaviours,
  • teach relaxation techniques,
  • teach your child to understand what anger is and other different emotions,
  • communicate emotions,
  • create individualised plans that are specific to your child’s needs.

You can find dates of the next available course and sign up using Eventbrite, here.

•  Anxiety Course

Type: Virtual or face-to-face course. Length of course: Two 90-minute sessions over two weeks.

Support with anxiety in children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD).

The course aims to improve your confidence in recognising and managing your child’s anxiety. It will help you to:

• • make an action plan,
  • look at different strategies appropriate for your child,
  • look at ways that you can introduce these at home.

You can find dates of the next available course and sign up using Eventbrite, here.

•  Food Course

Type: Virtual or face-to-face course. Length of course: Two 90-minute sessions over two weeks.

The course aims to help you:

• • understand more about difficulties surrounding food and ASD,
  • explore strategies and visual resources to support overcoming food and eating difficulties,
  • create bespoke resources to support positive change.

You can find dates of the next available course and sign up using Eventbrite, here.

•  Puberty Consultations

Type: One-hour telephone consultation. 

Puberty and adolescence can be challenging times for young people and those who care for them. Talking about changes in the body, how to keep yourself safe and understanding the sometimes tricky ‘do’s and don’ts’ of being a teenager can be difficult for parents and carers. In this session, we share specific strategies and approaches to support challenges related to puberty.

• • Topics covered will include:
  • physical changes
  • personal care
  • examples of visual supports to aid understanding

Please note: These consultations are not suitable for children or young people.

To book a puberty consultation please email [email protected] providing:

• • your name,
  • the age of your child,
  • a brief description of their needs.

•  Sensory Workshop

Type: Virtual or face-to-face workshop. Length of course: One 90-minute session.

The workshop is designed to help you:

• • gain a basic understanding of sensory processing,
  • consider how sensory processing relates to you and your child,
  • understand the formula of sensory circuits and how to set one up.

You can find dates of the next available course and sign up using Eventbrite, here.

•  Spectrum and Reflections Courses

These 6-week courses are for parents and carers of children with social communication difficulties and/or autism.

Each session is 90 minutes long and held once a week for 6 weeks. Sessions will enable you to develop a range of support strategies for your child.

• • Reflections Course: For parents and carers of children with social and communication difficulties and / or autism aged 7 years and under.
  • Spectrum Course: For parents and carers of children and young people with a confirmed diagnosis of autism aged 8 to 19 years.

You can sign up for the next available course using Eventbrite, here.

•  Toileting Workshop

Type: Virtual or face-to-face workshop. Length of course: A single 90-minute workshop with an option for an individual follow-up consultation appointment.

The workshop will cover:

• • the sequencing of toileting,
  • strategies to try and bridge the child's gaps or sticking points (including sensory),
  • show ways to move the sequence on from the child's starting point

The course covers the sequence from start to finish. It breaks down each step, discusses the barriers that might be encountered, and looks at ways to try and overcome them.

You can find dates of the next available course and sign up using Eventbrite, here.

Availability

If no dates are showing or bookings have closed, email [email protected], providing the course or workshop title and your contact details.

The SSS will add you to a waiting list and contact you with details of the next available sessions.

All courses and workshops will be arranged subject to demand. If there are insufficient numbers to make a course viable, the event may be cancelled, and you will be informed in advance of the start-date.

Consultations

Anyone seeking advice for an individual child can request an SSS consultation.

•  Parent or Professinal Consultations: Consultations for parents/carers are usually held over the telephone and last around an hour. Follow-up consultations are available on request after families or professionals have implemented the initial advice and strategies.

Request a Consultation

Email [email protected], providing:

•  The child's name, •  The child's address, •  The child's date-of-birth, •  a brief background and what you hope would be the outcome of a consultation.

You will be contacted within a week to make arrangements for the consultation and this will normally take place in the following four weeks afterwards. 

Referrals 

Access to the SEND Support Service is not based on diagnosis.

Referrals will need to show that the child is showing areas of need either at home or in their mainstream setting, school or educational establishment.

To make a referral for support from SEND Support Service, as a parent or as a professional please follow the links on the Send Support Service webpages.