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"They have been life changing for our family"

About: Children and Young People Services / Autism Services

(as a service user),

When we had our first session with Anthony we were at a very difficult stage with our daughter and felt at a complete loss and exhausted as to what to do going forward.

Anthony had made us feel relaxed and in control from day one, he had given us the cognitive tools to understand our situation by promoting our own thoughts and I guess by doing so it in turn also started to  help us understand and motivate us onto a positive path.

After a few sessions Dion had joined us, which had added another dynamic to the meetings whereby they would listen and rather than just tell us what to do, they would navigate the flow of the conversation to bring our thoughts towards how we would be best to work as a family unit.

Listening to Anthony and Dion reflect on our conversations afterwards was a great way to get a better perspective of how we were moving forward!

Myself and my daughter would always leave the meetings with a new sense of purpose and determination, coming home in the car we would be bouncing new ideas of each other.

Being with Anthony and Dion not only helped us understand our daughter's world a lot better but also helped us understand each other and yes I'm gonna say it ...when the pot is boiling how to get it down to a simmer 😀

My personal feeling after finishing is that Anthony and Dion are an invaluable resource to autism services and have been life changing for our family.

Do you have a similar story to tell? Tell your story & make a difference ››

Responses

Response from Emmet Kinsella, Consultant Clinical Psychologist, Autism Services, Children, Young People and Women's Services Directorate, Southern Health and Social Care Trust 5 days ago
Emmet Kinsella
Consultant Clinical Psychologist, Autism Services, Children, Young People and Women's Services Directorate,
Southern Health and Social Care Trust
Submitted on 23/01/2026 at 12:50
Published on Care Opinion at 13:12


Hi,

Thank you for your feedback and for sharing your positive experience of support from Anthony and Dione via Autism Services, and I have shared this with them both. To read that the support has been so positive and even life changing for your family is very heartening and a boost to staff who all work hard to support families on their life journey.

Your feedback is very much appreciated, thank you.

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