Parents Plus Special Needs Programme

Parents Plus charity and Family Carers Ireland (FCI) are collaborating to deliver the Parents Plus Special Needs Programme (PPSN). It is the first evidence-based programme in the world designed to support parents of children and young adults who have additional support needs.

The PPSN Programme was designed in collaboration with 100 families in Ireland raising children who have a disability. They asked Parents Plus to include topics in the programme including supporting the child who has additional needs, supporting siblings, supporting the co-parent relationship and parent self-care.

Family life is busy and the added demands of accessing educational, health and therapy services for children who have additional support needs poses additional challenges for families. The PPSN Programme is designed to support the whole family as well as providing evidence-based parenting strategies. The PPSN Programme was officially launched in September 2020.

Upcoming Programmes

FCI plans to deliver five online PPSN programmes in 2025. Each will be co-facilitated by a Community Supports Manager from FCI and a parent facilitator who has lived experience raising a child with additional support needs. Programmes will run for seven weeks online for 2.5 hours each week. There are 12 places on each.

Courses will be delivered for:

1. Parents of a child/children with a mild to moderate intellectual disability with/without Autism, ages 7-12 years
2. Parents of a child/children with a moderate to severe intellectual disability with/without Autism, ages 7-12 years
3. Parents of a child/children with a mild to moderate intellectual disability with/without Autism, ages 13-18 years
4. Parents of a child/children with a moderate to severe intellectual disability with/without Autism, ages 8-13 years
5. Parents of a child/children with a mild to moderate intellectual disability with/without Autism, ages 13-18 years

These courses are all run online to parents of children with similar needs in order to maximise learning and support. FCI and Parents Plus wish to provide a supportive environment for parents who attend a PPSN Programme. The programme is free of charge for parents to attend. Each parent will receive a PPSN Parent Book free of charge also.

The PPSN Programme provides parents with an opportunity to meet with other families who are raising a child or young person with additional support needs. Each week, parents discuss topics from the PPSN Parent Book. The co-facilitators have been trained to support each family to decide which course ideas are helpful to apply in their own home.

If you are interested in attending one of the courses named above, please contact Deirdre at training@familycarers.ie or call 086 7749838. You must provide a phone number so that Deirdre can contact you to ensure the course place you are provided with is a good fit for you and your family.