Caring for someone with autism can be a journey full of love, challenges, and constant learning. It’s a path that often brings moments of joy and discovery, but it can also feel overwhelming and isolating at times. Many parents and partners find themselves searching for understanding, connection, and practical support to help navigate the unique experiences autism brings.
Here at Carers Support, we truly understand the trials and tribulations of caring for autistic people. So much so, we developed a dedicated online workshop to help parents and/or partners gain a better understanding of neurodivergent people.
As one carer who attended a previous course put it:
“This course is one of the best I have ever attended. The sessions were split into subject areas and the facilitators were extremely knowledgeable and engaging, clearly having vast experience of the subject matter. I learned so much more about autism from each session, and particularly liked hearing about theories and the most recent thoughts and approaches”
What are the workshops about?
Carers Support West Sussex has partnered with NeuroProsperity to develop the Positive Approaches Partnering Autism (PAPA) workshops. Designed for parents and partners caring for autistic individuals aged 16 and over, these sessions offer a valuable opportunity to learn about autism and engage in meaningful discussions with others who share similar experiences.
To ensure expert insight, the main workshop is led by Bettina (Tini) Reise or Dr. Ruth Millman from NeuroProsperity, bringing specialist knowledge and practical guidance to each session.
- Tini Reise is a neurodevelopmental specialist practitioner with over 20 years’ experience supporting neurodivergent individuals and their families. She has worked in both the NHS and private sector.
- Dr Ruth Millman is a counselling psychologist and existential psychotherapist with more than 16 years’ experience working with neurodivergent individuals and families across NHS and third-sector services.
The course consists of six online workshops, each lasting 2.5 hours and covering a range of relevant topics. Carers have the flexibility to book all six sessions or select individual workshops that best meet their needs.
- Understanding autism and neurodiversity – 27 Sept 10am
- Communication – 27 Sept 2pm
- Change and motivation – 11 Oct 10am
- Relationships – 11 Oct 2pm
- Anxiety and mental health – 25 Oct 10am
- Sensory perception and processing – 25 Oct 2pm
What to expect?
After registering for one or more sessions through our website’s events booking, you will receive a confirmation email followed by a reminder. The meeting link will be sent a day before the session to enable easy online access. Each workshop begins with a warm welcome and brief introduction, followed by a focused presentation with slides, which are emailed to participants afterward. Throughout the session, there will be opportunities to ask questions. At the end, carers are invited to stay online for an informal chat with fellow carers and a Carer Support wellbeing worker, if they wish.
Positive feedback
Over the years, these workshops have received highly positive feedback from carers, including comments such as:
“Love the way it was presented, really enjoyed sharing three Saturdays with the same faces. These workshops have been incredible, lots to get to grips with but I have thoroughly enjoyed your styles of presentation as well as the academic side.”.
“It (the course) has given me a greater understanding of the sensory issues that neurodivergent people have to cope with day to day and how to help in my own situation with my daughter. I have a greater understanding of how difficult it is for her to cope with certain situations, and how I can help to make things easier for her, so she feels less stressed.”
“This has provided extremely useful insights to some of the challenges we have been seeing, provided by caring people with obvious expertise and knowledge in the subject. It has been very supportive to be in the group with others who have similar experiences to ours. We were both able to put our specific challenges to the group chat and received very helpful responses.”
Join us at the workshops
If you are caring for an autistic person and want to deepen your understanding of the neurodivergent mind, we warmly invite you to join our workshops. We’ve carefully designed these sessions to offer a balanced mix of informative content and shared experiences, ensuring you gain valuable insights and support.
To book your place, please visit the individual session dates and reserve the workshops that interest you.
