What else can you expect from Odyssey PDA?
Personal support
The main support of Odyssey PDA is centred around regular and informal 'coffee morning' style meetings, where you can ‘drop-in’ to meet others in similar situations caring for PDAers. The sessions offer an opportunity to chat and share together in a safe and welcoming environment, facilitated by Hilary or her Hub Group hosts. Further details and dates for all Odyssey PDA support group meetings and events are shared here.
However, I appreciate that many people have complex family situations and it’s not always possible to leave the home to attend meetings. The thought of walking into a meeting or joining an online session can also feel overwhelming, especially if we ourselves are neurodivergent. Therefore, if it’s helpful to meet separately, to be met at the entrance of a venue, have an email conversation or a personal chat over the phone / online to talk things through then I'm happy to arrange this. Please click here to drop me a message so I can reach out to you.
Information about Hilary's experience can be found under About Odyssey.
In case it’s of help, the PDA Society also offers a free support service where you can receive confidential support and signposting.
You can also join closed Facebook peer support groups managed by the support service team.
Mailing lists
By registering as a Member you will receive a weekly newsletter, usually on a Tuesday. This covers information shared about PDA from myself or within the PDA community. It also includes other neurodivergent conditions, shares blogs, links to articles, plus details our activities together with other local / national information and events that I think may be of interest.
Members are also able to ask questions to the community within the newsletter and receive feedback which I can either collate, or it can be sent directly.
If there are special events or situations that I feel require separate correspondence I will occasionally email these in addition to the newsletter. This may also occur around PDA Action Week that commences annually on the 2nd Wednesday of May. However I promise not to flood your in-box.
Hosts of the Milton Keynes and Oxfordshire Hubs may also send separate emails to members of those groups prior to meetings taking place or as a follow-up to share further information.
By registering to join as a Professional / Supporter you will only receive newsletters 3-4 times a year. These usually include a copy of our updated group activities and any specific training or activities from the PDA Society that I feel might be of interest to you, your organisation or the families that you support.
To register for either mailing list please complete the contact us form. I’d also recommend including the support@odysseypda.co.uk email address within your address book to assist delivery to your in-box. Please also check junk / spam folders if you haven’t received a newsletter or reply to an email within 5 working days of writing.
Safeguarding statement
Safeguarding is an important consideration for everyone supporting vulnerable children and adults. Openness is encouraged, but as peer supporters there may be some things we can’t keep to ourselves and it’s important that everyone understands that there are limits to confidentiality – especially when safety is at stake.
Therefore, if someone shares something that makes us worry for their safety – or anyone else’s – we will pass that on to someone who can help. We’ll do this as respectfully and privately as possible, and we’ll explain what’s happening unless doing so would increase the risk to the individual.
Hilary has undertaken 'designated safeguarding lead' training and holds enhanced DBS certificates for both children and adults through her PDA Society work.
Referrals
Being a peer-to-peer support group I don’t accept formal referrals, but the Buckinghamshire Local Authority and Buckinghamshire Family Information Service do recognise the support offered and often signpost families to the group for help.
I’m also invited to various committees organised by Bucks CC and the group is listed within the Buckinghamshire SEND Local Offer support directory.
Talks
I’m regularly invited to other support groups to discuss PDA and am also willing to chat with professionals on an informal basis to help signpost to the most relevant support and approaches.
For talks, I usually offer my time for free, but appreciate if travel expenses can be paid, and / or a donation given to the PDA Society. Please contact me if you’d like to know more.
Social media
Odyssey PDA does not have a social media presence, other than this site. The group only uses email communication and newsletters.
Information sheets
There are a few downloadable documents available here, that cover:
- Introduction to PDA
- PDA - Approaches that help
- Parenting a PDAer
- Criminal Justice System (CJS)
- Odyssey PDA support group flyer
- Odyssey PDA meeting dates flyer
With the support of my children, I’ve also written the following 'Personal Reflections' documents that are available on request:
- Our PDA Journey - Our journey to diagnosis, our daughter’s PDA profile and what helps
- PDA Siblings - Impact & Support - The impact of PDA and how we supported our daughter
- PDA Siblings - Q&A - Questions and answers about the PDA profile of autism for young people and siblings
- Christmas Thoughts - Ideas that help our family, including signposting to other Christmas blogs/resouces
Our experiences around siblings and the Q&A sheet have also been used to inform sibling resources on the PDA Society website.
Is Odyssey PDA connected to the PDA Society?
No, Odyssey PDA is not directly connected to the PDA Society as they do not run their own support groups and only signpost to groups supporting PDA families.
However, Hilary has been a serving Trustee of the PDA Society since 2018.