Who can use Amaze?

Amaze is for any family in Brighton & Hove or East Sussex that includes a child or young person with special educational needs or disabilities (SEND) aged 0-25. We work with children and young people with SEND and with their parent carers.  Your child does not need to have a formal diagnosis to get support from Amaze though some of our services have rules about who is eligible. 

Services for all eligible families

Amaze services that any family in Brighton & Hove and East Sussex can use

Services with specific eligibility criteria

The following Amaze services can only be accessed if your child or young person meets certain criteria: 

  • The Compass Card – for families with 0-25s in Brighton & Hove with additional needs that have a significant effect on their daily life.  
  • ND Family Support– for families with children and young people with neurodevelopmental differences such as autism, ADHD and learning disabilities. 
  • Amazing Futures Careers service is for young people aged 14-25 in Brighton & Hove. Some young people in East Sussex can get advice if they already attend our Amazing Futures groups. 

Some of our parent carer and young people’s groups are planned to welcome particular people e.g. the Dad’s Group or the Amazing Futures Young Women’s Group.  

FAQs

What is a parent carer?

When Amaze says we work with parent carers, we mean  anyone in the parent role for a child or young person with SEND including foster carers, grandparents and other kinship carers.

What is SEND?

When Amaze says we work with children and young people with SEND, we mean any child or young person aged 0 to 25 with a learning difficulty, a physical/sensory disability, difficulty with communication or with their social, emotional or mental health. SEND also includes children and young people with long term health conditions or life-limiting illnesses.

What age children and young people do we support?

When we say we work with children and young people, we mean children and young people aged 0 to 25 years, although our direct work with children and young people is generally from 14 up.

Does everyone get the same service?

Sometimes we work in quite a light-touch way; at other times, we may be much more hands-on and we have to decide what to offer each person. We try to do this in a fair way and you can read about how in our  Amaze Level of Service Policy (pdf 120kb) .

Can I refer myself to Amaze?

Yes. Most people using our service have referred themselves via our advice line or one of our other services. You can make an online referral using our parent carer registration form. Or you can visit our Contact us page to find out how to refer yourself to specific services.

I'm a professional - can I refer people to Amaze?

We prefer parent carers and young people to refer themselves to Amaze, wherever possible. Professionals can help with this by directing people to our Contact us page. Or you could help them complete our parent carer registration form or our young people’s registration form.

When a parent carer or young person wants our support but is unable to refer themselves, we are happy to accept professional referrals. You could leave a message on our advice line (01273 772289) or email [email protected] to request support on their behalf. If you refer someone, we need to see proof of the person’s consent for Amaze to communicate with you. You can just copy them into your email and/or send us a signed consent form.

What if I don’t live in Brighton & Hove or East Sussex?

If you’re not local, there is still a wealth of useful information on this website which you are very welcome to read or download – much of it will be relevant to all families.

To get advice and find out about services in your local area, use the Local Offer for your local authority or visit the Contact website