Understanding autism, together

With support from the Gwent High Sheriff’s Community Fund, the Bridges Centre in Monmouthshire delivered immersive workshops and support sessions for families of autistic children through its ASD Together initiative. The project gave parent-carers greater understanding of autism and created lasting peer support among families.

Raising a child with autism can be overwhelming, especially when families lack understanding, support, or the language to explain what’s happening. Many of the parents involved in the ASD Together programme had been navigating this alone, often misinterpreting their child’s behaviour or facing judgement from others.

With £4,800 in funding, the Bridges Centre ran a series of immersive workshops, awareness sessions and training days. Most notably, they hosted the Autism Reality Experience, a virtual reality simulator bus that replicates sensory and cognitive experiences common in autism.
This unique hands-on experience helped parent-carers see the world through their child’s eyes, transforming not only how they thought about autism, but how they responded to it. Alongside this, the programme included educational resources, community outreach, and collaborative family support sessions.

The project gave families more than knowledge – it gave them connection, compassion, and confidence. Parents began meeting up informally after the sessions to support one another. Many described a shift in how they understood and interacted with their children.

“The workshops helped me understand my child’s behaviour and how to manage the issues we were having at home. I finally feel like I’m not alone.”

“There was never any judgement. Just people who understood.”