Is a comprehensive guide by the Local Authority. It lists services that are available for children and young people with special educational needs and disabilities (SEND) in the area where they live.

Parent / carer support organisations operate across Cambridgeshire and Peterborough. Below are the two lead organisations in each area.

Advice and guidance for families about Special Educational Needs and support to navigate through the process. 

Little Miracles is a local charity operating in several areas across Cambridgeshire and Peterborough. They support families that have children with additional needs, disabilities and life-limiting conditions. They also offer a counselling service for young people and their families for those with additional needs. Find out more here.

Community Advocacy with POhWER: This organisation provides advocacy for a range of topics, including parents who have been referred to social services: if parents meet the criteria, they can ask for an advocate, who can at times attend Child Protection and Looked After Child Reviews with the parent. Go to their website and click on Peterborough or Cambridgeshire for more information about what they provide in your area here.

Speak Out with VoiceAbility : This service acts as a voice for people with a learning disability and autistic people aged 14 or above. They run consultations and drop-ins to give people a say on all sorts of issues, and influence decisions; they also talk to professionals and organisations who can make a difference to these issues.

For Cambridgeshire click here.

For Peterborough click here.

Help with asking for an EHC needs assessment: An education, health and care (EHC) needs assessment is a detailed exploration to find out what your child’s special educational needs are and what provision needs be put in place to meet them. IPSEA (Independent Provider of Special Education Advice, nationwide) helps parents understand the EHCP process, as well as gives lots of other information and advice. Click here to go to a page that talks you through the steps to understand what you can ask for and how.

Sibs is a charity that has support and guidance for people – children and adults – with disabled siblings. Find out more here.

Right of access to your information: The Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) explains to parents the process of getting hold of data they feel may be being withheld on themselves or their child(ren) – a Subject Access Request (SAR). If your child’s school is not supportive with the EHCP process, parents can make a SAR to the school. This webpage explains the process, which is very simple – parents can email the school asking for “all handwritten and electronic data where they and their child(ren) are the subject matter.” If the child is over age 13, parents would also need consent from the child.

This page has been co-produced by the All Age Autism Strategy group. Organisations represented in that group include: