Wednesday 30th September 10-11.30am (Face to face at the Northern Health Centre)
Monday 14th December 10-11.30am (online)
Next Steps After Diagnosis
Support After Diagnosis
The role of the Social Communication Team is to help parents and carers become confident in supporting their autistic child. The SCT will help families learn about their child’s development and about strategies for supporting different aspects of their child’s behaviour. After diagnosis the SCT offers primarily an ‘advice and consultation’ service for pre-school children and their parents/carers which includes video learning and parent consultation sessions.Introduction to Autism Support
We understand there is a lot to process and consider after diagnosis, so we invite all families to an initial guidance session: Introduction to Autism Support. You will be given an invitation to attend this session at your child’s assessment feedback meeting.
What to expect:
This is a group session, together with other parents or carers who have also recently received a diagnosis of autism for their child. Two of SCT’s specialists will explain how our team can support you. They will guide your thinking about your own family’s autism journey; and help you to identify a first step or goal you may wish to work towards with your child.
Social Communication Team Therapy and Play sessions
These Therapy and Play sessions are a welcoming, inclusive place for children with social communication differences, who are not yet in school, and their parents and carers. Sessions offer an opportunity for you and your child to play together in a relaxed, friendly setting. You will be able to ask questions, get support and meet other parents and carers. Each session is supported by the Social Communication Team and delivered by the Bright Start Team. The Therapy Assistant from the Social Communication Team will be at each session with speech and language therapy and occupational therapy support available alternate weeks.
For further information, please click here to view our information leaflet.
Videos
Following diagnosis, you will have been sent the links to all of the SCT videos (we are gradually moving to make all these available on this website).
Parents and carers should explore the website content and watch the videos to help them develop necessary background knowledge, to get the most out of the later sessions. The videos tend to work best if watched in the following order: those at the beginning of the flow-chart are watched before those at the end.
1. Start Here
2. Then watch these
3. Then watch any of these relevant to your child's needs
Pacing
When choosing which videos to watch or sessions to attend, try to be kind to yourself and think what you have capacity to address at any one time. It can be tempting to feel the need to do everything at once. You are more likely to see progress if you focus on just one or two topics at a time.
Next Step Sessions
After watching the video on a particular topic, you may have more thoughts and questions or wish to problem solve challenges you are facing. Our Next Steps sessions offer the opportunity to speak to two members of our team who can answer your specific questions. The Next Steps sessions are held in a group forum, either in person or online, which gives you the chance to share ideas and experiences with other parents or carers. You will have a chance to talk about the video and discuss how to apply this at home with your child. Sessions will usually last between 60 and 90 minutes.
If attending an online session, these will take place via Microsoft Teams (please download the free App in advance of your session).
A list of topics, with details of how to book and a list of upcoming dates are below. Please note these sessions are only open to families who have an open referral to the Islington Social Communication Team and their child has a diagnosis of autism.
Next Step Session Dates
Communication
This session will explore different ways your child may be communicating with you already. We will think together about how you can further support your child with understanding, communicating and interacting with others.
Eating Skills
The focus of this session will be to explore the reasons behind differences and difficulties with eating and drinking including selectiveness and intolerances with foods. We will think together how you and your child can make steps towards making mealtimes a more positive and fun experience.
Monday 5th October 10-11.30am (Face to face at the Northern Health Centre)
Monday 23rd November 10-11.30am (Face to face at the Northern Health Centre)
Sensory Processing and Co-regulation
The focus of the session will be on supporting children’s sensory needs, emotional regulation and how to co-regulate with your child. There will be a short presentation at the beginning followed by an opportunity to discuss any challenges and share strategies with each other.
Wednesday 16th September 10 - 11:30am (online)
Wednesday 11th November 10 - 11:30am (Face to face at the Northern Health Centre)
Sleep
The focus of this session will be understanding sleep and common sleep difficulties, and why these might be more challenging for neurodivergent children. The session will consider different strategies that parents can try to support their child's sleep, including routines, environment, and regulating sleep hormones.
Tuesday 6th October 10 – 11.30 (online)
Thursday 10th December 10 to 11.30am (Face to face at the Northern Health Centre)
Toileting
The focus of the session will be on supporting young neurodivergent children’s development of toilet skills.
Friday 25th September 10 to 11:30 am (online)
Monday 16th November 10 to 11:30am
(Face to face at the Northern Health Centre)
(Face to face at the Northern Health Centre)
Understanding Your Child’s Behaviour
The focus of this session will be the journey through the assessment process, with early ideas about understanding behaviour that can be challenging to manage and support and resources available.
Monday 12th October 10-11:30am (Face to face at the Northern Health Centre)
Please note: we recommend that any parent/carer struggling with their child’s behaviours attend other ‘Developing Skills in…’ sessions, especially Communication and co-regulation and sensory. These sessions will help parents have a better understanding of the possible reasons behind the behaviour and how their child may be trying to communicate their feelings.
Interpreters
We would be happy to book an interpreter for you if this would help you access the session. We would need at least 4 weeks’ notice to ensure we can book an interpreter in your language. If you require an interpreter, we would recommend attending a face to face session if possible. If you prefer to attend an online session, you would need to have access to two devices to attend the session with an interpreter. This could be a phone, laptop or iPad. This is because you will use one device to speak to the interpreter and one to access the online session.
How To Book
Once you have watched one of our topic videos you can book a place on the “Next Steps” session relating to the same topic. To book your place, please complete the form below.
Please note, the booking email will be checked once a week and places allocated on a first come first served basis. For this reason, please make sure you send your request at least a week before the session you wish to attend otherwise your request may not be received by the Team in time. If you require an interpreter, we need 4 weeks notice (please see below).
Last updated05 Aug 2026