Spectrum Service Terms and Conditions
What We Do
Spectrum is a free, county-wide service that helps autistic children and young people ‘aged 5–18’ to:
- access activities in their local community,
- develop their independence, and
- build confidence.
Spectrum Awards are provided over 6 weeks. Spectrum cannot provide transport or funding for activities.
If your Spectrum practitioner is ill or on leave, we will give you as much notice as possible. Spectrum staff will stop any activity they feel is dangerous.
When providing support in schools or at community clubs, responsibility remains with the providers for:
- risk assessment, and
- general health and safety.
This includes insurance unless the session is not associated with any other providers.
What You Need to Do
If your child is unable to attend a session, please inform your practitioner as soon as possible. If you feel the service is no longer needed or that now is not the right time, please let us know so we can offer support to others.
When working with young people outside of school, please make us aware so we can assess and make plans for where medication may be required. Any medication needed during any session must be in its original container with a clear label. If a young person carries emergency medication, it must have a written emergency protocol. This includes medication such as:
- inhalers,
- midazolam, or
- an EpiPen.
Spectrum reserve the right to contact you immediately and end the session if:
- the young person is ill during a session, or
- the practitioner feels the young persons' behaviour is unmanageable.
In the event of ending a session early, we will review the service before we can provide further support.
We require that the parent be home during a Spectrum session taking place at the young persons' home.
What You Need to Know
The Spectrum service has duties encompassed by East Sussex Child Protection Committee. This includes safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children. If we have any concerns about your child’s welfare, we will notify relevant authorities. We will discuss concerns with you first unless we feel this would endanger anyone concerned.
All information is stored within East Sussex County Council policies. It is stored in line with GDPR (General Data Protection Regulation). We may collect existing information about your child. This helps us understand their needs better and aims to speed up the process. This is in line with good practice guidance.
You can visit the main East Sussex County Council website to find out more:
Spectrum Referrals
The Spectrum referral form is on East Sussex County Council's website. The parent or carer of the child or young person must complete the form. Spectrum do not accept school or professional referrals for a child or young person:
Glossary of East Sussex SEND Terms
We explain some of the terms used on this website on our page, Glossary of East Sussex SEND Terms.