“Listening is a great gift that I can offer”

One of the newest members of the Family Team, Sasha, shares her long history with SNAP and the amazing journey of how she started to work for the charity.

“I haven’t known my life without SNAP. We have been part of the SNAP family for over 20 years. I first visited SNAP at 2 weeks old in Keys Hall, when my older brother John attended, age 4.

“Growing up with two autistic older brothers, SNAP has always been there. From a young age, I wanted to go into  teaching and saw volunteering at SNAP as a way to see what it could be like to work with children.

“When I was 16, I started volunteering once a week at Yoga Club after school. I just loved it and how easy it was for all children and young people to access. It was such a lovely place to be. There was no pressure. If a child was emotionally dysregulated and didn’t want to join in, they didn’t have to but could if they wanted to.

“I then started to do half term sessions. My younger brother George was attending SNAP at this point after being  diagnosed with Autism. He was pre-verbal and only communicated via Makaton, but coming to SNAP enabled him to grow and develop his confidence, and he started talking.

“Being around neurodiversity my whole life, it was important for me to not just work with neurotypical children at a school. SNAP gave me a bit more of an insight into what it means to be neurodiverse and the support that’s available out there.”

Sasha went to university to study Education and Childhood Studies with the view of becoming a teacher which she did for 3 years. But she saw a job advert come up on Facebook for a Family Support Adviser role on the Helpline and she was getting to a point where she didn’t know if teaching was for her anymore.

“I loved teaching and being able to adapt the learning for a child if they were struggling. I wanted to do more for the children but there wasn’t enough hours in the day and I felt I could make a difference at SNAP. I understood SNAP, having been around children with additional needs and how much it means for them and their families to receive support, like my own did.

“The staff at SNAP know that something that works for one child may not work for another. It’s important for families to know they are talking to someone who isn’t judgmental, it’s a safe space and if they’ve tried things that haven’t worked it’s not the end of the world, we work in partnership to talk about other strategies and support for their child and family.

“If you ever want to reach out but you feel scared to, drop us an email and we’ll get back to you. We hope parents feel relieved and supported after talking with us.”

SNAP would like to thank The Henry Smith Charity, The National Lottery Community Fund and the Garfield Weston Foundation for their support in funding the Helpline.

SNAP’s Helpline is open Monday-Thursday 9.00am-4.00pm and Friday 9.00am-3.00pm.

Call 01277 211300 or email [email protected].