Overview

Aberlour Family Support service work together with whole families where mum or dad has a learning disability, learning need or Autism. We take a relationship-based approach to support families to recognise their strengths; to build capacity, connect to their community and achieve their potential.

Parents may not have a diagnosed learning disability and we recognise parents can face challenges with reading, writing, retrieving, processing, and retaining information which impact on their capacity and day to day life.

Why do we work with parents with learning needs and learning disabilities?

Best research tells us that 40% of mums, dads and carers with a learning disability have children who are care experienced. We know that through delivering the right support, at the right time families are stronger and can stay together.

Much of this work is highlighted by the No Place Like Home Campaign, which aims to raise awareness of the rights and capabilities of parents with learning disabilities and learning needs.

Families we work with have great strengths and assets and can often face a range of additional interrelated issues including;

Mental Illness and poor mental health and wellbeing
Childhood and Adult trauma
Poverty and financial hardship
Living in poor quality Housing and home environments
Low confidence, poor self esteem
Lack of trust of services
Feeling isolated and unable to engage in community based activities

How we help

Build relationships – identify strengths, circumstances and challenges.
Complete parent-led assessment – using a range of tools including observations in a relaxed positive setting work alongside mums and dads to reflect and assess their parenting skills, knowledge and abilities.
Agree and deliver a Family Led Support Plan – teaching, 1-1 personalised support, access to appointments, benefit entitlements and group activities (e.g. cooking, Men’s Shed)
Deliver Evidenced based Programmes – including Nurture, Solihull and Seasons For Growth
Sustain Family Achievements – Connect families with community-based services and networks. Support parent volunteering and building skills through engagement with local services.
Regional and National Advocacy Work – Work with parents to engage in advocacy work including No Place Like Home.

Where we work

Aberlour Children & Family Workers will work with families in their home, out and about and community ventures. We can deliver practical teaching and skills building activities to improve parenting skills and life skills. Our work with families aims to build on existing skills\interests and sustain knowledge and changes in behaviour. Family support activities can include anything from how to make up a bottle, cooking on a budget, how to make a family meal and keeping an up to date household tasks and budget board.

During the Coronavirus pandemic the Aberlour Family Service has continued to support families on a daily basis responding to the support needs and anxieties of families. Support have been through home visits where permitted, social distance walks or outdoor meetings, video and telephone calls. You can see an example of the work we got up to in our COVID-19 Response report.

> Read our COVID-19 Response Summary

Our Approach – Working Alongside Families
Aberlour works alongside whole families using an approach which is;

relationship-based,
strengths focused,
capability building
community connecting

We accept referrals for all eligible families as well as all services and organisations. If you would like to make a referral or get in touch please contact us on the details below. This is a general Aberlour address and phone number so please state that you would like to contact the South Ayrshire Family Service and we will get your message.