Aspens’ mission is to provide high quality care and support to individuals on the autism spectrum and with learning disabilities; meeting their needs and aspirations and empowering them to learn and grow through an integrated network of services across the South-East.

We provide support and care to children, families and adults across Kent, East Sussex, West Sussex, Brighton and Hove and the London Borough of Bexley. Our services include registered care homes; supported living; community outreach; day services, including pathways to employment; children and young people’s groups and support; specialist support; a peer education support service offering free support to families and carers across the South-East and online workshops available nationally. 

How we help

Children and young people’s services

Aspens provides care and support to children and young people with a range of disabilities, those on the autism spectrum, and those with complex needs from the age of 8 through to 25, in Brighton, Sussex and Bexley. We support children and young people to develop the skills required to become independent and confident young people.

We do this through Ofsted registered children’s residential care providing overnight stays, after-school and Saturday clubs, community groups for children and teens, holiday activity programmes, a buddy scheme, sibling support groups and family fun days.

Read more here.

Adult services

Aspens offers a wide range of services for adults with learning disabilities, on the autism spectrum and those with complex needs using a holistic, person-centred approach. We encourage all the adults we care for to participate and fully engage in the broad variety of activities that we run, challenging perceptions that might prevent them from realising their full potential.

Depending on the needs of the individual being supported, Aspens offers everything from day services, to supported living and outreach services to residential care. We also specialise in training and pathways to employment.

Our adult services are based in Kent, Bexley, Surrey and Sussex and over the next few years we hope to offer our services in more areas across the South East. 

Read more here.

Family and Specialist Support services

Our Family Support service supports families across the South East of England to care for children and young people with Autism Spectrum Condition, other complex conditions and associated needs. The service aims to empower families, individuals and support professional networks by increasing knowledge and understanding, challenging perceptions and encouraging acceptance. We offer support to family members/carers, including parents, siblings, grandparents or friends of someone with a disability, of any age. The types of support we offer can include (but are not limited to) support in meetings, advocacy for families, signposting, 1-1 clinics and support to provide general advice and guidance. 

Aspens is the regional hub for the South East for Autism Central,  providing high-quality and accessible autism information, education and coaching for families and carers, which is co-delivered by autistic people, families and carers. The regional hub covers Sussex, Kent, Surrey, Hampshire/Isle of Wight, Berkshire, Buckinghamshire and Oxfordshire. Read more here

Our Specialist Support Service is a comprehensive, professional, high-quality Positive Behaviour Support provision. This service is for individuals with Autism Spectrum Condition and other related conditions (and their parents/carers), who demonstrate behaviours of concern. We know that all behaviour, including the most challenging to manage behaviours of concern, happens for a reason. Positive Behaviour Support is a way of understanding what help individuals need and what can be done to provide this (through a bespoke assessment/action plan), so the person experiences a better quality of life. Our Behaviour Specialists (who complete the initial assessment process) and Specialist Intervention Advisors (who provide the follow up tailored intervention sessions), operate in West and East Sussex and Kent.

 

Read more here.

Positive behaviour support

As a member of the British Institute of Learning Disabilities, Aspens believes that to improve the quality of life, independence and autonomy of the people we support, Positive Behaviour Support (PBS) must be a cornerstone of our ethos and values. PBS is a framework for understanding and supporting those that are vulnerable to displaying
behaviours that concern, enabling us to enhance all areas of an individual’s life.

Aspens’ PBS team is made up of Specialists, Leads and Support Workers. It is the PBS Specialist’s job to communicate effectively with staff, implement strategies, assess and analyse behaviours and provide insight into how we at Aspens can improve the quality of life of the people we support across all our services.

Read more here. 

The impact our work has

The highly personalised support and care Aspens provides is time-consuming and intensive, using a great deal of staff expertise, but the impact is immeasurable and the results life-changing. 

The graphic below shows the impact of our work during the year 2021-2022. 

Read our full Annual Impact Report for 2021-2022 here. 

The Report tells the story of how Aspens is emerging stronger following on from the extremely challenging months of the pandemic, highlights the positive impact of our work, how our dedicated team continue to transform the lives of the people we support, our achievements throughout the year and our hopes for the future.