Connected - Parent's Support Group for Autistic Teenagers

07/02/2026

Important information about submitting an EHCP in Warwickshire.

We have heard from a few parents that they were told by their child's school that Warwickshire County Council are no longer accepting requests for EHCPs - this is false (and would be unlawful).

The update below explains the information that was sent to schools. The project was trying to automate the process so that information from schools and families went straight into the database rather than it being on separate documents - this has caused challenges (mainly with the save and complete later function) so the process is reverting to word documents for school requests after half term.

The parent request form is staying online but the save and return function wil be removed and there will be a separate document that explains the questions you will be asked so you can have the information you need together before starting the process.

We tried to use one form for both the parent request and the family views but this has been confusing with SENDAR sometimes ending up with two requests for the same child / young person so these are now going to be separate with the family views for school requests going back to a word document - the school should work with you to do this document as part of the submission but you can send in your views separately if you would prefer.

05/02/2026

Words fail me at this shocking display of ignorance ! Shame on you Amanda Spielman. 😡

Conservative peer and former Ofsted chair Baroness Spielman talks to Sienna Rodgers about the SEND crisis, her time at the regulator and why some p...

02/02/2026

And how many of us have been told otherwise?

Extract from The Essential EHCP Guide for Parents and Carers by Dr Abigail Fisher and Eliza Fricker book out now.

31/01/2026

Join us on Tuesday 10 February for our FREE webinar, 'Appealing to the SEND Tribunal - practical hints and tips'. We'll be explaining the key aspects, including

🔶Submitting the appeal
🔷Local authority response
🔶Further submissions, including the Tribunal’s new Practice Directions
🔷Completing the case review form, including witnesses
🔶Working Documents
🔷Preparing for the hearing, what happens in the hearing, and after the hearing

This training will be interpreted live in British Sign Language (BSL).

Thanks to a donation from the John Horniman's Children's Trust, we are pleased to have a grant to offer this free webinar to parents, carers and young people.

Spaces are limited, so book your place: https://www.ipsea.org.uk/join-our-free-webinar-appealing-to-the-send-tribunal-practical-hints-and-tips-for-parents-and-carers

If you can't attend on the day, you can also request a copy of the webinar recording via the link ⬆️

25/01/2026

Pushing for school at all costs is not the answer. Dr Naomi Fisher has excellent advice - see her upcoming webinar.

When a teenager stops going to school, everyone tends to panic. It can feel like time is running out. What about GCSEs? other adults say. What if they get behind? Surely everyone needs to keep up with the school timetable, and take their GCSEs at 16 and then onto college? What alternative is there?

It all makes it very hard to see the wood for the trees. It makes it hard to give teenagers the time they need to recover from their school experiences, and start to plan a road ahead for themselves. The temptation is to try and enrol them on online courses, or sign them up for tutor groups. The temptation is to keep pushing them, for fear of what might happen if you stopped.

That’s what I’m talking about in this course. Helping Your Neurodivergent Teen Recover from School. It’s about how learning can start again, and what teens need to see a life beyond school. School isn’t the only way to learn, and our teens need to know that.

Half price until Sunday with coupon code HALFPRICEJAN

https://courses.naomifisher.co.uk/

23/01/2026

This is a good comprehensive summary of what Autistic burnout can look like. Autistic burnout is serious and can last months even years so it’s best to take preventative steps to try and avoid it. Thank you Littlepuddins.ie x

19/01/2026

Adolescence can feel like a whole new ballgame. Just as soon as you’ve got used to having a child, everything changes. You’re scrabbling to make sense of what is going on whilst always feeling that you are one step behind.

And when your teenager is autistic, we know that they are more likely to be anxious – and that this often gets worse during adolescence. They show it in different ways to children, and they often get less sympathy. Others may tell them to be more resilient, or that they need to ‘get used to the real world’.

In this course, I talk about what changes when children become adolescents and why so many autistic teenagers are anxious. What’s going on inside their brains and why can it feel like everything is so tumultuous? How can we help them to learn about themselves and the world, and prepare them for the future?

Helping Your Autistic Teen with Anxiety. Suitable for parents of young people aged 12 upwards.

Half price until Sunday with coupon code HALFPRICEJAN

https://courses.naomifisher.co.uk/

19/01/2026

A lovely graphic resource by NeuroWild to support and understand someone in your house who’s Autistic. ☺️

19/01/2026

If you need help with OCD.

I love a good analogy, and the mouse one is about OCD. OCD is like the mouse. It begs for a cookie, and it seems like the easiest thing is to give it what it wants. But when we give a mouse a cookie, it comes back again the next day – and OCD is the same. The more we obey it, the more it comes back.

So how can we do something differently? That’s what I’m talking about in my pre-recorded course on helping your autistic child with OCD.

Our courses on helping your autistic or neurodivergent child are half price until next Sunday with coupon code HALFPRICEJAN

https://courses.naomifisher.co.uk/

12/01/2026

I just saw this, I don’t know anything about it but it sounded good and worth sharing.

Player Ready offers NOCN Accredited & EHCP aligned Post-16 pathways in digital subjects like game development.

12/01/2026

15+ years proven

08/01/2026