The initial grant of £4,000, in the spring of 2020, helped to cover the costs of adapting and delivering autism and benefits advice services, including workshops and courses, online during the lockdown period. A further grant of £5,000 in March 2021 helped fund the charity’s social groups for autistic adults.

One-to-one family advice and counsel

The charity saw a surge in demand for advice about heightened anxiety and related effects on mental health, as well as how to address challenging behaviour in children. Social distancing rules meant that Home Visits to advise families one-to-one had to move to video calls. One parent emailed after a session to talk about her autistic daughter to say: “It was so useful and helped me understand more why she does things, which has helped me help her!”

Workshops and courses

Places at autism advice workshops were in high demand from the beginning of the pandemic. More fathers attended than was the case pre-pandemic, with several saying that home working allowed them more control over how they used their time, so they could fit a 90-minute workshop into their day with the agreement of their employers.

Feedback from those taking part was overwhelmingly positive. Said a mother: “I can’t thank you enough. Lockdown has been the most challenging time I have experienced so far as a parent and the online seminars I have attended have changed life at home. I finally feel like I understand my son.”

Support for teenagers and their families

Autism Berkshire became the first training organisation approved by the National Autistic Society to run its Teen Life course for parents and carers online, with senior family support worker Julia Cox then advising other trainers across the UK to help them also make the switch.

Benefits and financial advice

The Benefits Service advisers moved from face-to-face advice appointments to video calls and ran online versions of Understanding Your Benefits Rights workshops, which help parents, carers and autistic adults to apply for benefits and explain how the service can support appeals, including at hearings held by telephone conferencing, due to court closures during the pandemic.

Social and sport activities

The charity’s social groups for autistic adults – the 197 Club in Reading and the Bear with Me group in Maidenhead – continued to meet online throughout the pandemic and lockdowns, providing the only regular social contact for a number of their members.

In subsequent lockdowns, when government guidance permitted some indoor activities for children with disabilities, Autism Berkshire provided trampolining sessions for children with autism. These were hosted by Bracknell Trampoline Centre and the Pinewood Centre near Crowthorne. Alongside the social aspect, these boost motor skills and core body strength.