FAQs

Autism Unlimited exists to support and empower autistic children, adults and their families. We partner with them to find solutions and provide educational and life skills training.

From bespoke education for children, to independent living skills and career guidance for adults, we ensure that everyone who comes to us for support finds a route to their goals and to a rich and fulfilled life.

If you would like to chat with us, you can choose a convenient time by browsing our availability on the "Book a Call" tab under Information and Support. You can also fill in the "Contact Us" form and select who you would like your enquiry to go to.

To be eligible for a place at Portfield School children require a diagnosis of autism and an Education, Health and Care Plan (EHCP) produced by a Local Authority. All places at Portfield School are commissioned by the local authority where the child is resident.

Any approach to apply for a place should be discussed with your local authority case worker.

The majority of our work is statuary funded. We rely on other income sources to allow us to go above and beyond for the children and adults we support.

Our fundraising avenues consists of trusts and grants/ individual giving, events, legacy giving and corporate events and sponsorship.

To read more about our fundraising opportunities please visit the Fundraising page.

We would love your help, whether it’s on a regular basis, help with a one-off event or activity, or as an occasional helper, all support is gratefully received.

If you can spare a few hours, then you can be sure that your time will be very much appreciated, and will make a big difference to those we support.

If you are looking for a worthwhile local charity as your appointed charity of the year, then we’d love to hear from you. We’ll provide all of the information you need to get started. Having a focal point for your team building activities can be invaluable in motivating your employees. It also helps support your corporate social responsibility policies.

Whatever your motivation, we’d love to hear from you.

We are always looking for people who have a passion for transforming the lives of those who we support.

If you are interested in joining our team, find out about our current vacancies by visiting our "Job Search" page.

From Teaching Assistants, Speech and Language Therapists to Residential Support Workers and Deputy Managers, if you are interested in a rewarding and worthwhile career then please get in touch.

Today, we employ over 400 people across the South of England, The Charity Hub is based in Christchurch but we operate all over Dorset and Hampshire.

Futures is our new offering that empowers 18 – 25-year-olds to prepare for adulthood by teaching them necessary life skills. As part of the programme, our Learners can explore vocational skills and qualifications through a personalised schedule of development. They can also experience living independently in our onsite furnished rooms.

The whole essence of this programme is to give our Learners the confidence and skills they need to achieve their life ambitions.

If you are interested in finding out more about our Futures programme either for yourself or for your child and have a current EHCP, please complete "Contact Form" on the Futures page and we will contact you to discuss next steps.

Yes please, all donations are extremely valuable to us.

Whilst we have some statutory funding, donations help us to go above and beyond the standard curriculum. In the past they have helped us to develop new opportunities and experiences for our students such as our Forest School – an outdoor area where children can be at one with nature.

Any donation you can give, no matter how small, will enable us to continue to find new ways for our students and Learners to express themselves and discover activities that they love.

Visit our "Make a Donation" page to make a donation.

We are determined to educate as many people as possible about autism and have developed our own training programme. This is not an ‘off the shelf’, standard, tick box, learning. All our courses are activity based; aiming to inspire learners to implement new skills and knowledge. To find out more about the engaging, educational and co-produced courses visit out "Training" page.

We have grown significantly over the last few years, and it was time to renew how we appeared to the outside world and that this reflected the Charity we are today.

In November 2021, we adopted a new name Autism Unlimited which we believe reflects the way in which we work together with those we support to create unlimited possibilities for a fulfilling life.

Our new name of Autism Unlimited represents what we have created so far and, what we will continue to build on, for autistic people and their families.