The Invest to Save Budget Project:

To Improve Services on the Isle of Wight for Children and Young People with Autistic Spectrum Disorder

Social Services spearheaded a bid for Government funding in March 2001 to help finance this 3 year Project. Education, Health, Social Services are equal contributors to the Project, providing a multi agency focus.

Objectives of the Project

To create systems for joint working between services, in order to provide families with co-ordinated support.
To create a systematic, multi-Agency process of assessment, intervention and diagnosis.
To ensure that parents are involved, in partnership with services, throughout all the processes.
To co-ordinate working between schools, home and the community.
To provide appropriate training for both services and parents.
To continue to evaluate achievements throughout the life of the Project.

Work began in September 2001, with the appointment of the Project Team based at Oak House.

Click here to see the current programme:

Co-ordination of referrals for ASD children, as a one-stop shop, with full assessment of children’s needs taking into account points of view of parents, schools and professionals, before referral to the diagnostic clinic.

Co-ordinated multi agency planning for support for families and schools.

Development of a one way observation suite within Oak House.

Joint support by the Paediatric department, Social Services and the Educational support services for all children with communication and interaction difficulties.

Website which offers information and opportunities for parental feedback.

Use of IT for tracking referrals and intervention processes.

Training, to include parents, for multi agency staff together; focused workshops on particular techniques for ASD, e.g. TEACCH and PECS.

Support to provide support for children with ASD to access leisure activities within the community.

Page last updated on: 08/02/2002