1. HOW DO WE APPROACH A REVOLUTION IN HOW AUTISM IS UNDERSTOOD THROUGH TRANSFORMING FAMILY SUPPORT? Giselle Tadros (Clinician/Psychologist) Clinical Services Division, Interaction Disability Services, Castle Hill, New South Wales, Australia  Training and Behaviour Intervention Support Services (TABISS) Interaction is a Not for Profit, values based organisation based in Sydney who are committed to empowering people with disability and their families. TABISS is one of our funded programs which is aimed at meeting the needs of non- government organisations and the families who support an individual with disability that has complex needs. TABISS provides specialist Positive Behaviour Support (PBS) to clients and their families/carers within the local disability sector, and training to parents, carers, clients and organisations within the local areas. Introduction When a child is diagnosed with Autism, their family are presented with many unique challenges, alongside, what’s usually a time of joy. They can be overwhelmed by both their child’s developing needs including challenging behaviours and an overload of advice from various services. Learning that your child is affected by Autism is a powerful moment. Families can have difficulty adjusting and may begin to feel their lives will never be the same. This family struggled to understand their child’s abilities and disabilities. They often felt isolated and judged by their extended family and relatives as well as within their cultural community and were at a loss with how to deal with everyday events. Despite these challenges the family explored new ways to engage with their son which led to increased child and parent wellbeing. The literature says that, families where a young child has disability can be supported through the resilience process if service providers assists families to build protective factors, and we approached this by providing the family with strategies around developing social, coping, communication skills and targeted protective behaviours to support their child and family. Events in the Life of the Family Child 2 born Child 1 born Child 1 diagnosed TABISS Involvement with ASD 2000 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 Pre-InterventionPost-Intervention Discussion Parents took more ownership of the behavioural strategies and interventions developed with the support of professional services. This change transformed their lives and they began to identify and actively work towards clear family goals. They were also able to revise their expectations for their child and were then able to celebrate small achievements. They began to see Autism differently. Mother re-framed it as a challenge that had made them stronger and they began to see their lives as worthwhile and fulfilling. References Muir, K., Tudball, J. And Robinson, S. (2008), Family resilience where families have a child (0-8 years) with disability: Final report, SPRC Report 10/08, report prepared for the Disability Policy and Research Working Group (DPRWG), Commonwealth State/Territory Disability Agreement Australian Government, Social Policy Research Centre, UNSW, June 2007. Parental Self Report High Low Understanding Re-connecting the family Action & Change The Family Story Values Strengths Parent/Child Parent/Parent Child/Siblings Psycho-education Parental Wellbeing PBS Commencement of Speech Therapy & Occupational Therapy