Many parents find that joining a parent-to-parent support group is a life-saver, especially in the early days when your child has just been diagnosed. This might be a general group for parents of any child with special needs or a group for parents of children with a specific condition or disability. There are also groups that are run by and for particular members of the community.

General special needs groups

There are a number of regular support groups in Brighton and Hove for parents of children with special needs. Sweet Peas parent and toddler group takes place on Fridays at Tarner Children's Centre in on Ivory Place. They have also recently developed a follow on group for school age children called Pebbles. Little Darlings is another regular group for parent carers and children with special needs. They meet on Wednesdays at Hollingdeam community centre. Kaleidoscope is a group specifically for parents of children under 5 with physical disabilities and they meet on Thursdays during term-time in Preston Circus.

Amaze runs a regular Parents with Teens group for any parent with a child who is 13 upwards. It's a chance for parents to get together and discuss things that are important to them.

For full details of these groups see our Regular groups page.

Nationally, Contact a Family operates an online forum at www.makingcontact.org. The forum enables families affected by disability to make contact safely online and talk about issues that affect them.

Groups for specific conditions

People with children who have similar needs can be a great source of support and information, and they may also become good friends. There is a regular parent-led Autistic Spectrum Condition Support Group (ASCSG) which meets monthly at Emmaus in Portslade. The Worthing KiDS Down Syndrome Support Group is for families across Sussex with children up to 12 and they meet in Lancing every six weeks. Get full details about these and other groups.

Amaze also has details of many other support groups for specific conditions, both local and national. You can search for national and local organisations for specific disabilities in the Contacts section of our website. 

Community support groups

There may be parent groups in your area that are not specifically for parents of children with special needs. For example, single parents and parents from minority ethnic groups may benefit from support that takes account of their particular needs. There are several local groups; for example, the Black and Minority Ethnic Community Partnership, and MOSAIC that are there to provide support and information to people from different ethnic backgrounds. If you are a single parent, Gingerbread and Single Parents Information Network may be able to put you in touch with other parents in similar circumstances.

Working Families may be another useful group. They produce a factsheet, 'Waving Not Drowning', for parents trying to combine paid work with caring for children with disabilities.