Autism support for everyday family life
For parents and carers in Kent and Medway, before or after a diagnosis. Start with the part of today that feels hardest. You do not have to read everything or tackle it all at once.
What would help your family today?
Choose a starting point. The practical suggestions are options to adapt to your child, with free support routes and links to the original guidance.
My child is overwhelmed
Quieter surroundings, less talking and time to recover.
Communication or changes are hard
Small changes for routines, communication and the end of the school day.
Sleep is difficult
Prepare a sleep plan and questions for your child’s healthcare team.
Eating is very restricted
Understand food restriction and when to ask for professional help.
School is getting harder
Plan one useful conversation with the teacher or SENCO.
We need something enjoyable to do
Explore local activity ideas and check arrangements before visiting.
Money and paperwork feel overwhelming
Check the DLA application route and record everyday support needs.
I need support too
Start with one manageable request for help for yourself.
New diagnosis? Use the first-steps guide at your own pace. Looking for local support? Check Kent and Medway routes while you wait.
How we check sources and explain the limits · Urgent support
Diagnosis & Assessment
Understand the assessment routes, current eligibility checks and support you can ask about before or after a diagnosis.
NHS vs Private Autism Assessment in Kent
Compare the NHS pathway, private assessment and Right to Choose, including how to check current waits and provider eligibility.
Read guide →Right to Choose: Check the Current NHS Route
Learn when NHS patient choice may apply, what to ask your GP, and how to verify current providers and waiting times.
Read guide →First 100 Days After Diagnosis
A parent-paced starting point: what helps at home, support at school, money questions and looking after yourself.
Read guide →Rights & EHCP Support
Your child has legal rights to educational support. These guides walk you through the EHCP process from start to finish.
EHCP Application — Kent
The usual statutory timetable, exceptions, what to submit and how to challenge a refusal.
Read guide →EHCP Application Checklist
Checks for an initial draft or final EHCP, including needs, provision, placement and questions to raise.
Get checklist →EHCP Tribunal Kent
HMCTS 2024/25: 99% of decided SEN appeals favoured the appellant on the majority of issues; decided cases were 71% of recorded outcomes. This is not an individual prediction.
Read guide →Benefits & Funding
Explore the care, mobility, caring and scheme-specific rules for benefits and grants. An autism diagnosis alone does not establish entitlement.
DLA for Autistic Children
Rates, eligibility, and a step-by-step application walkthrough with example phrases.
Read guide →5 Fictional DLA Claim Illustrations
Fictional examples showing how to describe frequency, duration and help needed. They are not real claims or predicted awards.
See examples →Carer's Allowance for Parents
How to claim, eligibility rules, what it pays, and how it interacts with Universal Credit and DLA.
Read guide →SEND Grants & Funding in Kent
Check named grant programmes, current application routes, permitted costs and eligibility.
Find funding →Free DLA Criteria Reflection Tool
Organise care and mobility evidence topics without an eligibility score or rate prediction. Runs in your browser.
Use the tool →Find Specialists in Kent
Use the directory as a starting list of NHS and private services. Check the named professional’s registration, experience, scope, fees and availability directly; a listing is not an endorsement.
Speech & Language Therapists
NHS and private speech therapists in Kent who work with autistic children. Costs, referral routes, and what to expect.
Browse directory →Occupational Therapists
Explore children’s OT services for everyday participation, with questions about referral routes and relevant experience.
Browse directory →Educational Psychologists
Find EP services and check whether existing or local-authority advice addresses the question before commissioning a private report.
Browse directory →EHCP Solicitors
Explore SEN legal services and confirm relevant expertise, scope, fees and any current legal-aid contract directly.
Browse directory →Research & Interventions
Editorial summaries of research findings, limitations and relevant UK guidance. They do not establish which intervention is appropriate for an individual child or replace qualified professional advice.
New Autism Treatment Research in 2026
What was positive, negative or uncertain, what remains experimental and the separate UK licensing, NICE and NHS status.
Read the overview →Autism DNA Test & Genetic Testing
When NHS genetic or metabolic assessment may help, what results mean and why no DNA test can diagnose autism or select a cure.
Read the UK parent guide →L1-79 and Autism
The registered main result, the positive secondary signals, safety uncertainties and why this medicine remains experimental.
Read evidence check →Leucovorin (Folinic Acid) and Autism: Evidence Review
The small language-study finding, why no autism dose is established, side effects, the retracted paper and current UK guidance.
Read evidence guide →Medical Cannabis and Autism UK
CBD studies, product differences, side effects, UK prescribing restrictions and the claims parents should question before paying a clinic.
Read evidence guide →AST-001 and Autism
The Phase 2 signal, the Phase 3 miss and why L-serine supplements are not a substitute.
Read evidence check →Arbaclofen and Autism
The 2026 trial missed its main outcome. Here is why uncorrected secondary findings do not overturn that result.
Read evidence check →NTI164 and Autism
One small Australian trial reported a positive primary result with important limitations; the exact extract is not interchangeable with shop-bought CBD.
Read evidence check →Social Stories & Autism
What the latest UK research found, when a personalised story may help, and how to avoid pressure, masking and false promises.
Read guide →Stem Cell Therapy & Autism
Trial findings, safety uncertainties, unregulated-clinic claims and why experimental research does not establish routine treatment.
Read guide →Bumetanide for Autism
The GABA theory, why early results looked positive, and what the Phase 3 evidence actually showed.
Read guide →Sensory Processing & Autism
How sensory differences can affect everyday activities, the limits of intervention research and current routes to ask about support.
Read guide →Dietary Interventions & Autism
Gluten-free, casein-free, supplements — a balanced look at the evidence behind dietary approaches.
Read guide →Activities and optional product comparisons
Plan activities around your child’s interests and support needs. The product-comparison cards below are ads and link to guides containing Amazon affiliate links; SENDPath may earn commission from qualifying purchases. See our disclosure.
Autism-Friendly Activities in Kent
Free and low-cost days out, sensory-friendly venues, and SEND-accessible activities across Kent.
Browse activities → Ad — affiliate guideSensory Toys: Comparison and Safety Checks
Compare sensory-product categories, evidence limits, free alternatives and safety questions before buying.
Read comparison → Ad — affiliate guideNoise Cancelling Headphones
Understand the differences between hearing protection and audio headphones, with fit, volume and appropriate-use checks.
Compare options → Ad — affiliate guideWeighted Blankets for Children
Evidence limits, individual risk assessment, supervision and questions to consider before buying a weighted product.
Read guide → Ad — affiliate guideSensory Product Comparisons
Optional product comparisons and free alternatives, with evidence limits, affiliate disclosures and safety checks. Confirm the exact model and current seller information.
Browse all →