Kim Russell (mother of 2 autistic children) shares the services that have helped her and her family.

Catherine Swan (Developmental Paediatrician), Helen Wagstaff (Autism Coordinator) and Sharyn Gousmett (Educational Psychologist) acknowledge the services for families, talk about the gap in services for autistic individuals and make some suggestions to help families. They talk about what to do when a family doesn’t gel with a provider.

Resources

Resources for families

Facebook groups

- Autism in NZ – Parents and Caregivers

https://www.facebook.com/groups/22057177435/?ref=share&mibextid=NSMWBT

Networking and sharing site for parents and caregivers, caring for someone with autism spectrum disorder.

- iFUNZ

https://www.facebook.com/groups/ifunz/

This is a non-affiliated group for users of Individualised Funding for disability support in New Zealand where members can discuss issues, share experiences and support each other.

Patient information websites

- KidsHealth https://kidshealth.org.nz/tags/autism-spectrum-disorder

https://www.kidshealth.org.nz/listing-nz-information-support-resources-autism-spectrum-disorder

https://kidshealth.org.nz/understanding-autism-spectrum-disorder-cartoon-drawings

https://kidshealth.org.nz/autism-spectrum-disorder-videos

KidsHealth is a joint initiative between The Paediatric Society of New Zealand and Starship Foundation. Supported by the Ministry of Health

- Raising children – https://raisingchildren.net.au/search?query=autism

Raising children is the Australian parenting website

- National Autistic Society - https://www.autism.org.uk/

National Autistic Society is a UK website

Support organisations

- All Together Autism / Parent 2 Parent https://parent2parent.org.nz/services/altogether-autism/

- Autism NZ https://autismnz.org.nz/community-links/canterbury-west-coast/