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Autism and social communication: Specialist support

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_What might this look like? _ 

Children and young people who are struggling to manage the environment of school and the social and academic demands. They may be regularly dysregulated when in school and need a lot of time to decompress when they return home. They may be communicating anxiety about school with dropping attendance. 

**Education services ** 

Vulnerable Pupil Panel  

  • The Vulnerable Pupils Panel[External Link] (VPP) is a multi-agency partnership which can be referred into by school staff to provide support, advice and guidance for vulnerable child and young people where there is a concern about risk of exclusion or poor attendance  

  • A range of support is available through VPP including support from The Limes College and STARs and Cognus School Inclusion Service. See more information about referral criteria and VPP processes here[External Link] 

  • Referral onto the Key Stage 4 vocational pathway may be offered to support reengagement with education for a young person  

  • Referral into Limes Primary for the Nurture programme may be recommended for a child struggling to attend  

Sutton Tuition and Reintegration Service  

  • STARS reintegration package where support and intervention has not had the intended impact on school attendance. School staff can make a referral to the VPP, and a multi-agency medical panel will consider the referral and make recommendations, including whether access to STARS support is agreed 

  • All placements at STARS are short term with the aim to returning the pupil to their referring school. A twelve-week intervention will be put in place. Every pupil and family will be offered support from JigSaw4U and STARS Re Think It Project as part of the intervention. STARS will then support a graduated return to the referring school. Please visit the STARS website for more information by clicking this link.[External Link] 

**Social care services ** 

Sutton Therapeutic Hub 

_This service is only available to children/young people and families open to Sutton’s Children’s Services _ 

  • Hub practitioners work with children and young people to assess and understand their needs, and those of the parents/ carers. Where appropriate, they may then offer individual or family therapy  

Children’s services  

**Health services ** 

CAMHS  

  • Tier 3 mental health service to children and young people with severe and enduring mental health problems. Referrals to access CAMHS are made through the Sutton SPA 

 **Other paid services ** 

Autism traded offer 

Cognus Autism Service 

  • Traded work[External Link] is open to settings inside and outside of Sutton and other organisations, as well as to parents. This may include advice for specific students/settings, one-to-one work with pupils, whole school/setting training, planning/policy support, workshops for parents, support/audits to become a more autism-friendly school. 

Educational Psychology traded offer  

  • Assessment, consultation, training and intervention. See here[External Link] for more information and to find a service brochure  

  • SHAPE: Autism-friendly Action Research project for schools is available for schools interested. Please contact ep.service@cognus.org.uk for further information 

Cognus Therapies traded offer  

  • Assessment, training and intervention. See here[External Link] for more information