Bradford Early Advice Team (BEAT) from AWARE

BEAT is a project run by AWARE (Airedale and Wharfedale Autism Resource), a local parent-run group support group for families in the Bradford area whose child(ren) MAY have autistic traits – NO DIAGNOSIS REQUIRED!

BEAT (Bradford Early Advice Team): support for families whose child/young person is on the waiting list for a neurodiversity assessment

We are being funded by the NHS to offer support to families in our area with children/young people who have been on the waiting lists for an assessment for neurodiversity for some time.  Families of children on the waiting lists will be asked by the hospital/CAMHS to contact us so that we can have a chat with parent carers to see how we can help.   We get together in person once a month in central Bradford for BEAT meet ups where we choose a topic (e.g. education, sleep or eating) and have visitors from local services come and talk to our members.  We are currently offering our own BEAT Introduction to Neurodiversity four week courses (four sessions of two hours each) on Zoom; we are offering the same courses in Urdu face to face in central Bradford twice a year.  We are also supporting parent carers by telephone, email and online platforms through FREE AWARE membership, as well as giving access to AWARE clubs and activities.

We know that some of these families have been waiting a long time for the assessment and that they will probably have lots of questions about the process.  Families may also want to know what support is out there for parent carers and their child right NOW, so please DO give contact us if your child/young person is on the waiting list and you would like to find out more about BEAT and AWARE.  

This service is currently open to families identified from the autism assessment waiting list, but ANYONE who is interested eligible for BEAT (i.e. who has a child/young person waiting for an assessment for autism or neurodiversity) can self-refer and can contact us direct - have a look at our website.

AWARE is a parent-run group supporting families with children and young adults on the autistic spectrum (formal diagnosis not required).  The group covers the Airedale, Wharfedale, Bradford and Craven areas and beyond. Members include families and supporters in general, as well as health, education and social care professionals.

Early diagnosis of autism can greatly improve the chances of a person receiving appropriate help.

AWARE can support families through the maze of local services which cross health, social care and education boundaries. We can advise them about about accessing appropriate support from statutory, voluntary and private services, which can make a huge difference to a person with autism, helping them to maximise their skills and achieve their full potential as an adult.

We welcome membership from all backgrounds.

More than 500,000 families in Britain are affected by Autism

The current rate of autism in the UK is 1.1% so more than 1 in 100 people is autistic

For BEAT - please email beat@aware-uk.org or call 01535 661275; for AWARE -  join via this link: Aware Membership