Learning Disabilities and Autism Support | Providence Centered Care

What it is

The environment causes most of the difficulty, so we start there

Support for autistic children and children with learning disabilities goes wrong most often when it is built around making the child fit a setting. Our starting point is the reverse. A great deal of what gets called challenging behaviour is a child in an environment that is too loud, too bright, too unpredictable or too fast, without a way of saying so that anybody is listening to.

So the first work is understanding the child. How they communicate, whether that is speech, signing, symbols, a device or behaviour. What their sensory profile is, what overwhelms them and what settles them. What their routine is and which parts of it are load bearing. What they actually enjoy, which is asked far less often than it should be.

From that we write a support plan covering communication, sensory needs, daily routine and activity choices, and then we work to it consistently. Consistency matters enormously here. A plan followed by one worker and ignored by the next is worse than no plan, because the child learns that the rules depend on who turned up.

Support can be one to one or in a group, at home, in the community or at our day service. Where a child needs a higher ratio we staff two to one rather than stretching one worker and calling it support.

All Providence staff working with children and young people are trained in line with the Oliver McGowan Code of Practice on Learning Disability and Autism, which became statutory for CQC registered providers in September 2025.

We are a care and support provider, not a diagnostic or therapy service. Assessment, diagnosis and speech, occupational and behavioural therapy come from health services, and we work to their plans rather than writing our own version.

This is likely right if

A child has a learning disability, is autistic, or both
Communication needs are not being met consistently across settings
Sensory needs are driving distress that is being read as behaviour
A family needs support at home, in the community or during holidays
A higher staffing ratio is needed for a child to take part safely

Something else may fit better if

What is needed is assessment or diagnosis, which comes through health services
Speech, occupational or behavioural therapy is what is being sought
Support is needed in school, which is arranged through the school and local authority

In practice

How we work with a child

Slowly at first, and then very consistently. Both halves matter.

Learning how they communicate

Speech, signing, symbols, a device, or behaviour. Whatever it is, we learn it and use it rather than expecting the child to meet us halfway.

Sensory profile

What overwhelms and what regulates. Noise, light, texture, crowds, smell. This goes in the plan properly rather than as a note at the bottom.

Protecting routine

Knowing which parts of a routine are load bearing, and giving proper warning before anything changes. Most avoidable distress comes from unannounced change.

Consistency between staff

The same approach from every worker. A plan that only some people follow teaches a child that the rules are arbitrary.

Real choices

Choosing the activity, the order, the ending. Children with high support needs are given very few genuine choices and it matters more than almost anything.

Working with everybody else

School, therapists, the social worker and the family. A child supported four different ways in four settings does not do well.

The detail

What is included, and what is not

Set out plainly so there is nothing to discover later. Anything not listed here can still be discussed, and often arranged.

Included as standard

A bespoke support plan covering communication, sensory needs, routine and activities
Staff trained in line with the Oliver McGowan Code of Practice
One to one support, and two to one where the assessment calls for it
Access to our day service in Dagenham, including a sensory room
Support at home, in the community or at the day service
Joint working with school, therapy services and the social worker
Enhanced DBS checked staff, trained before working alone

Arranged separately

Diagnosis and clinical assessment
Speech and language, occupational or behavioural therapy
Education, which is the school responsibility

Getting started

From first call to first visit

Referrals come from local authorities, health teams and schools, and directly from parents.

01

Referral or enquiry

From a social worker, a health professional, a school, or a parent ringing us directly.

02

Getting to know the child

Time spent with the child and the people who know them best, before any plan is written. Rushing this produces a plan that does not survive week two.

03

The support plan

Communication, sensory needs, routine and activities, agreed with the family and shared with everybody who works with the child.

04

Gradual start and review

Introductions rather than a new adult appearing. Then review, because the first plan is never quite right.

Cost

How this is paid for

Usually funded by the local authority through the children with disabilities team, or through an Education Health and Care Plan where the support is part of that plan. Short breaks funding is a common route for group and holiday activity.

Direct Payments are widely used and let families choose the provider and shape the support themselves. Ask about them by name if nobody has raised it with you.

Read the full guide to funding

Questions

What families ask us about this

What is the Oliver McGowan Code of Practice?

A statutory code requiring CQC registered providers to ensure staff are trained in learning disability and autism at a level appropriate to their role. It became statutory in September 2025. All Providence staff working with children and young people are trained in line with it.

Do you provide two to one support?

Yes, where the assessment says it is needed. Stretching one worker across a situation that genuinely needs two is unsafe for the child and for the staff member.

Do you have a sensory room?

Yes, at our day service. For a lot of children a sensory space is not an extra, it is what makes the rest of the day possible.

Can you support a child who is non speaking?

Yes. Communication is the first thing we work out, whatever form it takes. A child who does not use speech is not a child without communication.

Do you provide therapy?

No. Speech and language, occupational and behavioural therapy come from health services. We work to their plans consistently rather than inventing our own approach alongside them.

Will the same staff work with my child?

The same small team, protected as far as the rota allows. Consistency is central to this work and we treat it as part of the support rather than a scheduling preference.

Also worth reading

Services that often go together

Day Activities for Children and Young People

A structured programme of activities outside school hours and through the holidays, with transport and meals included.

Tell us about your child, not their diagnosis

What they like, what they cannot bear, how they tell you things. That is where good support actually starts.

Make a referral Talk to someone first

Emergency placements are answered 24 hours a day, seven days a week.