For further information please contact
Karen karen@bness-solutions.co.uk
or Anna thegills@btconnect.com
or telephone 01379 740909

Are you the parent of a child with Special or Additional Needs?

Would you like to meet other parents? Would you like to discover with other parents what is out there in the way of support for your family? To find out who can help and where you can find them?

Would you like to have more of a say in the planning of the services your child receives? Would you like to be able to understand more of all that confusing jargon?

Would you like to hear and share ideas about enjoying life with your whole family how ever challenging that may seem at the moment?

We are both parents of children with disabilities and we have received special funding from the County Council and the PCT to lead a series of workshops for parents in YOUR area.  (Currently in Central and West Norfolk Areas)

These workshops were written by parents, for parents and will be delivered by parents.
These are four separate sessions that follow on from each other at Bowthorpe and West Earlham Sure Start Children's Centre, Humbleyard, Clover Hill, Norwich, NR5 9BN on Tuesdays; 2nd December, 13th January, 10th February and 10th March.

They are FREE and we provide a FREE crèche on site and a nice lunch too of course!

For further information please contact
Karen karen@bness-solutions.co.uk
or Anna thegills@btconnect.com
or telephone 01379 740909

Workshop Content

Parents' Workshops

Who should take part in these workshops?
These are a series of four workshops aimed at parents, carers and their wider families.

• These workshops will introduce the Early Support materials and demonstrate how they can be used to help families work in partnership with the professionals they meet. They will provide a chance to meet other parents in similar situations, to work together to identify ways to achieve best possible outcomes through informed choice and increased confidence in tackling the every day challenges of bringing up a disabled child. They will provide opportunities for families to consider what support they need in order to participate in activities other than caring for their child. They also provide a "safe" opportunity for parents to experience a break whilst their child is cared for - often for the first time.

How the course is structured
The four workshops were written by a small group of parents commissioned by Early Support and included both 'Business Solutions' trainers. Many stakeholders were consulted and the contents were developed in direct response to these requests. The workshops interlink and follow the 'parents' journey'. They can however be used as stand alone sessions as required. They are fully interactive sessions building on the knowledge and skills of the both the trainers and the participants themselves. They are entitled:

Workshop 1: Understanding this new world.

This workshop will cover:

1. Why supporting parents matters, building good relationships from the start.

2. National and local services, who you might meet and what they can offer.

3. Early Support and the Early Support materials for families

4. How to find information and support to find relevant services.

Workshop 2: Changing relationships.

This workshop will help parents to:

1. Understand the implications and benefits of working more effectively with service providers.

2. Begin to work more effectively with service providers.

3. Improve their confidence in dealing with multi-agency meetings and make best use of the Early Support family service plan.

4. Appreciate different views & different positions, including understanding medical/social models of disability.

Workshop 3: The child beyond the disability

This workshop will help families to:

1. Explore the individual process of adapting to the news of a child's additional needs

2. Have confidence in knowing they are not alone

3. Enjoy their child and develop strategies for having fun as a family

4. Focus more on their child, not the disability

Workshop 4: Understanding the importance of the ordinary

This workshop will help parents to:

1. Consider how things might be different in the future.

2. See the importance of looking after themselves and focusing on the wider family.

3. Understand what needs to change in order to achieve their goals.

4. Acknowledging where services including short breaks can help to free time to allow fulfillment of other family needs/work/leisure or allow involvement in disability issues.