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Who we are

Belongside Families is an independent, not-for-profit peer support organisation for families of children with disability, developmental delays and autism. We help families to navigate complex disability systems and services and build the skills, knowledge and confidence that will see their children and family thrive. Our peer groups and programs, trusted resources, and supportive community are online and free. We're passionate about all children and families living their best lives and discovering a future full of possibility.⁠

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What we do

Support

Parenting a child with disability or developmental delay can feel overwhelming. Our trained Peer Workers can help you to navigate the various systems and services, understand your child's disability and provide guidance in accessing community and mainstream supports.

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Connection

We know that connecting with like-minded parents and caregivers can change everything. We provide opportunities for families to come together for support and to share and learn from each other. Our peer groups are delivered online and are a safe and inclusive space.

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Education

Our online programs, workshops and webinars are based on best practice, evidence-based approaches. We believe in empowering families, so they are equipped to navigate systems and have the skills needed for self-advocacy.

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Resources

Drawn from the lived experiences of our team and families, our practical tip sheets and resources can assist you in making informed choices. The stories shared by parents and people with disability can help you to feel more positive and hopeful for your child and family’s future.

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No family should start their journey alone

Help us reach families navigating a new disability diagnosis for their child.

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A word from our community

“This is my protected timeslot. It is saved in my calendar and my partner knows that this is a non-negotiable for me. I have learnt so much from everyone in the group and I love being able to share and help other parents.” 

I just wanted to thankyou for what you are doing. It was wonderful to come across a page that is so positive! I get so overwhelmed and depressed with so many groups but this one has really helped and encouraged me. Thank you.

Belongside Families’s workshops have been practical and specific. The fact that the team are all parents with a disabled child themselves makes them a unique organisation. They create a culture of acceptance and acknowledgement, by sharing their experience with disability and valuing ours. It’s this sense of community that has helped me normalise and acknowledge the challenges. They are knowledgeable and connected and have helped connect me with other services.

My experience with Belongside Families has been AMAZING! When my children were diagnosed it was very much a “what now?” response. All of the therapies targeted them, but I knew that I was a huge part of their life so why wasn’t there any help/training/advice for ME? Like if I was able to do MY best then how much better could they be?! Belongside Families was that for me.

Belongside Families provides a much-needed source of positive parenting information and community support for special needs families. I highly recommend this invaluable service.

Connecting with Belongside Families and the wonderful empowering programs they run, and resources has been life changing for our family.

Belongside Families has provided the platforms to challenge old thoughts, tackle and create new ones! Thank you.

Belongside Families has created an essential community for parents and carers. The team at Belongside Families have created a village for families walking a similar path. Some are a little further along than others and some are deep in the trenches just be starting to navigate their way.  But although every family’s path is different, we are all walking together in solidarity. This community creates strength & moves us forward with hope. When we have the right support, anything is possible.

I love being able to learn off other parents. I equally, if not slightly more, love being able to help other parents. It feels so good to be connected to a community – to MY community – through Belongside Families. I’ve had chat conversations with strangers for an hour who I’ve helped solve problems with, and vice versa. It’s such a crucial network for our well-being as parents and when we feel in control and informed them, we can support our kids to the best of our abilities.

Feeling connected with other like-minded & supportive other parents who are living similar (never the same) experiences, is empowering and comforting – I no longer feel alone – Thank you Belongside Families for assisting me to feel engaged & connected.  Since becoming a member of the Belongside Families family, I have been able to improve my skills as a parent of a child with a disability and strengthen my attitude to be a ‘can-do’ motivated & confident parent!

All the information that is provided is valued and I can become a bigger advocate for both of boys who have disabilities but also a more confident and stronger advocate for the disability community.

Belongside Families is a trusted and safe place to access invaluable information and support to help our family thrive.

Sign-up to our newsletter

Don’t worry, we’re not here to overload your inbox. What you’ll get from us will be inspiring stories, details of upcoming events, helpful resources and other opportunities to be part of our community. From our family to yours, every fortnight or so.

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Join our community facebook group

To connect, celebrate and learn with parents and carers on their own beautiful journeys. Ours is a safe space where you can come to ask advice and share experiences on anything from your child's diagnosis to navigating the NDIS.

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It's time to clear up a few things about daycare and preschool when it comes to children with disability, delays, and autism. ⁠
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There are a lot of myths out there. Things like: ⁠
🤔 Children need to be toilet trained before they start ⁠
🤔 Educators can’t support your child without a diagnosis ⁠
🤔 Therapy is more important than early learning ⁠
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Kristy from Belongside Families is sorting the fact from fiction, so you can feel more confident about navigating your child’s early learning experience. ⁠
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And if you want to know more about how you can partner with educators at daycare or preschool, and advocate for your child in simple everyday ways join our free interactive workshop. ⁠
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Supporting Your Child in Early Learning ⁠
📅 Mon, 23 June, 7:30pm (AEST / NSW Time) ⁠
🔗 Register via Linkin.bio
Here's Bree from Belongsife Families, captured in her natural habitat: laptop open, getting ready to jump online to facilitate, important files on hand, and her son Dax providing some very thorough "quality control" of her filing system. 😅⁠
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This is the behind-the-scenes reality of the work we do. Every single person on the Belongside Families team is walking this path alongside the families we support - raising children with disability, navigating the same systems, celebrating every small win and managing the juggle. This lived experience is exactly why our free programs are built around what families actually need.⁠
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Behind every workshop, every peer group, every resource, and every bit of support we offer, there are real families just like yours walking the journey too.
Guilt. It's so easy to beat ourselves up about what we didn’t know back in the early days of our journey. What we wished we’d learned sooner, how we would have parented our children differently or made different choices ... ⁠
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While we can't go back in time. What we can do is this:⁠
🧡 Let go of the guilt — we’re all doing the best we can with what we know.⁠
🧡 Keep learning — about our children, and how best to support them.⁠
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At Belongside Families, our free webinars and workshops are here to help you do just that. To feel more confident. More informed. And more supported, wherever you are on your journey.⁠
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Find out more via Linkin.bio⁠
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Sometimes connection happens when you slow down.⁠
No pressure, just presence (oh, and the patience to wait 😆).⁠
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That’s @breepennie ‘s from @belongsidefamilies Son Dax putting her through her paces with the high 20s ✋✋✋✋✋⁠
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#BelongsideFamilies #ByFamiliesForFamilies #PeerLed #ParentingDisability #SpecialNeedsParenting #FindingJoyInTheJourney #KidsWithDisabilities #TeamBelongsideFamilies
✨ Meet Melo: Peer Facilitator at Belongside Families ✨ ⁠
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After decades of studying consumer behaviour and team performance, for the last ten years, Melo has been delivering parenting programs on Secure Attachment, Emotion Coaching and Family Leadership in Australia and abroad. ⁠
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👨‍👩‍👧‍👦 Melo lives in Sydney with his wife, 15-year-old son and 13-year-old daughter. It is daughter Victoria, who has a significant intellectual disability, ADHD and physical challenges, that is the reason Melo now works in the disability sector in an effort to ‘pay it forward’ after receiving valuable support in his own parenting journey. ⁠
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👔 Melo currently sits on the Reference Group for Children, Families and Young People Advising the IAC to the NDIS, and also the Integrity Working Group as well as the Participant Reference Group to the NDIS, and is part of the Carers Advisory Group on Intellectual Disability for Clinical Innovation to NSW Health. ⁠
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☕ Outside of work, Melo enjoys watching his son play soccer, and getting out into the community with his daughter to a farmers’ market, a shopping centre, or a café. ⁠
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‍😊 Melo is particularly interested in supporting fathers of children with disability to be better partners, parents and people. ⁠
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Everyone on our team is raising a child with disability, delay, or autism. That lived experience is at the heart of everything we do — and it’s what makes Belongside Families different. ⁠
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#BelongsideFamilies #WalkingAlongside #FamiliesSupportingFamilies #BelongsideCommunity #ByFamiliesForFamilies #PeerLed #ParentingDisability #BelongsideFamiliesTeam
As @melanie.dimmitt shares, grief and comparison soften with time. Thankfully, as we adjust and settle into this new version of parenting, they don’t hold the same weight they once did.⁠
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But they can still show up—unexpectedly, quietly, in small moments. And that’s okay.⁠
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It’s all part of the journey. And you’re not alone in this.⁠
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🧡 This moment is from our Beyond the Diagnosis series—a space for honest reflection on the emotional side of disability parenting. Explore more of the free series or register to receive this replay via the Linkin.bio