Autism Together

Who we are

Our Background
At Autism Together it is our mission to bring richness and joy into the lives of those on the spectrum. No two people with autism are affected in the same way, so we work with every single individual to help them lead fulfilling and meaningful lives. 
We started life in 1968, when a group of forward-thinking parents, concerned at the complete lack of services available for their children, decided to stand up and be counted. 
Since then, we have grown and developed into one of the country’s leading providers of services for people on the autism spectrum, offering a wide range of residential options and day services. As a highly specialist provider, we recognise that each person has a right to live their life as they determine. Being person-centred is one of our core values and we live and breathe it.
Our highly-trained staff work with each individual to create a shared understanding of their strengths and needs, and to ensure that their preferred way of communicating is respected and implemented by all staff. Not only do we care for those on the autistic spectrum, we also engage with our community to highlight understanding and awareness too. 
Our Autism Champions project trains organisations and employees – from football club stewards to shopping centre staff - in awareness of autism and how they can make small changes to make life a bit easier for the autism community.

Our Ethos
Our philosophy remains firmly rooted in a belief that:
We begin with what people can do, not with what they can’t do, by listening to the person with autism and acknowledging that they are the expert in their autism.
Our support begins with the person and a shared understanding of what is important to them, and what their strengths and needs are.
Our support approaches are individualised so that staff can communicate in different ways depending on each person’s communication needs. Staff are  all consistent in the way they use communication strategies with individuals.
People with autism can and do learn and change and our support approaches are focussed on developing lifelong learning.

Our autism strategies help people develop skills by taking into account their communication needs, thinking patterns, social understanding and sensory differences.
No two people with autism are affected the same way and everything we do is person-centred. At Autism Together we work with each individual person to help them overcome or soften the impact 
of these difficulties, to enable the person to lead a fulfilling and meaningful life.
As a specialist provider of support to individuals with autism, Autism Together recognises that each person has a right to live their life as they determine. In recognising this right we create a shared understanding of each person’s strengths and needs, and ensure that the individual’s preferred way of communicating these is respected and implemented by all our staff.