Portage Service, West Sussex (Autism, Inclusion)
Service
We are a home-visiting educational service for very young children with significant support needs from birth. Other children are referred later as their needs are identified. We provide support for families by working alongside parents offering practical help and ideas to encourage a child’s emerging skills.
We also run The EarlyBird programme.
The Portage Leaflet.
Referrals should be made using this form
What we do:
- There are 5 bases for portage. Please see the leaflet for individual further information.
- Portage Home Visitors make weekly/fortnightly visits to the child’s home. Visits usually last for 1 hour.
- Portage offers a framework of support, which involves working in partnership with parents and carers. Families can choose whatever is most helpful to them. It aims to be as flexible as each family needs it to be.
- Visits are made in the family home. Occasional group or social events would be organised in venues suitable for disabled children
- Home Visitors come from a variety of backgrounds, and all enjoy working with children and their families. All Home Visitors are fully trained to National Portage Association standards.
Our users say:
When families are thrown in the unknown, Portage helped us overcome our fears and anxieties and helped us through out most vulnerable time.
Age Range: 0–3
Wheelchair Accessible?
Free to use?
Contact Details
01243 536 182
01243 642 880 Email this service
Portage was such a wonderful thing for our family. Our son who has autism and was non-verbal at the time developed greater communication skills and was taught his first word through play. Many of the play techniques used by our talented portage worker Em, we still use today as they worked wonders. Thank you for providing the community with such a an important lifeline.