Helpline & Support Calls for Adults

The Berkshire Adult Autism Support Service uses a stepped approach to helping autistic adults.

For some people, advice, information and signposting provided on the phone or by email by a Helpline adviser will meet their needs.

However, other people may need an appointment with one of our adult autism mentors for an in-depth discussion.

  • Please note that the Helpline is not a crisis or emergency support service – if you need urgent advice, contact NHS 111 or the Samaritans or the Shout text support service. Our Useful Links page has details of other resources about mental health and anxiety.

A Helpline advice appointment can take place by phone, or online using a video conference app – please let us know which you prefer. Our mentors will ask questions to find out a person’s needs, discuss options for advice and support and agree next steps with them. These could include:

  • A recommendation or a reference to access other help available from the service, such as autism advice workshops, or to other activities provided by Autism Berkshire.
  • A reference to support provided by other organisations, such as help to access employment
  • Time-limited support to help service users to implement a plan of action

To contact us if you have any questions and for an initial discussion of your support needs, please get in touch with our advisers by:

We aim to respond to all messages to the Helpline within 48 hours. Please note that our staff do not work at weekends, so you will receive a response between Monday and Friday.

  • The Helpline is supported by the Frimley and the Buckinghamshire, Oxfordshire and Berkshire West NHS Integrated Care Systems, Reading Borough Council, the Edward Gostling Foundation and Bracknell Town Council