Sólás
Sólás
Established in 2009, Sólás is a special needs charity which supports children and young people with a broad range of additional needs including autism and ASD. We are based in South Belfast, however our work extends across Northern Ireland.
We have a number of social development, educational support and parent support programmes. As part of our social development programme we facilitate a range of after-schools, weekend and summer scheme initiatives for children and young people with ASD.
We also facilitate a number of monthly parent support initiatives.
As part of our educational remit, we run an early intervention initiative called Back on Track and Kidz Den which provides support to children who have an additional learning need but do not meet the criteria for statutory support.
We also run an IT programme in primary schools called SchoolPodcast and we are currently developing a training and personal development course for the 18+ bracket.
Services
Back-On-Track
Our ‘Back-On-Track’ is an early intervention programme which supports primary school children experiencing difficulties in literacy and numeracy.
Back-on-Track is our largest programme with over 400 registered children supported by around 80 volunteer teachers at 15 primary schools throughout Northern Ireland
Kidz Support Den
The Kidz Support Den is an afterschool early intervention support initiative, facilitated by a team of Student Teachers and Retired Teacher Volunteers, which aims to provide weekly one-on-one support in literacy and/or numeracy to children struggling to engage with their education.
Happy Hands
Happy Hands after school club is one of social development programmes for children aged between 4 to 11 with autism, and have language and intellectual difficulties.
Time for Me
Time for Me is a Saturday morning club for children aged 3 to 11 years with autism and other developmental needs. The aim of this club is to offer respite to families who find it difficult to juggle all of the needs of their family.
Champ Youth
Champ Youth is a youth club for 11 to 16 year olds on the autism spectrum and provides the opportunity to engage in a range of activities including trips, trampolining, multimedia, games etc.
Big Smile Summer Scheme
Big Smile Summer Scheme is for children age 4 to 11 years with autism who are unable to access a main stream summer scheme due to their condition. The scheme runs for 3 weeks each July/August.
The Parent Support group
The Parent Support group is for parents of children with autism or a developmental disability. It offers social support to parents and carers and utilises guest speakers to share information on a range of issues including Speech & language, Sibling Support, Mental Health, Mindfulness etc.
