Some young people may require more 1:1 support and supervision in order to engage positively with our online community. Unfortunately as we are unable to offer continuous 1:1 supervision of individual young people, parents/ carers may need to supervise their access to our community. In addition to this, if you are a parent of a member of our Under 13 Community, you are required to be logged into the same account they use to access our server, and MUST supervise and monitor their private messages and group chats. You can read more about how to do this in our Getting Started Guide.

It is a good idea to read through our Parent Info section first and then the application form can be found on that page.

Unfortunately no, we do not support adults and do not have any plans to expand beyond our current age range of 10-17.

Before a young person can be added to our community we need to verify their identity. When you fill out our membership application form, you will have two choices of how you can do this; either by you arranging a professional to email us to confirm your young person's details, or by arranging a 1:1 video call with a member of our staff team. Verifying via email: We can verify your young person if we receive an email from a professional with an official email address confirming your child's name, date of birth and home address. The professional cannot be someone who is related to the young person. Suitable people may include: Local Authority Local School NHS / GP Mental Health Services A professional from a reputable service or charity (e.g. MindJam). Once you have completed our application form, please ask your professional to send an email directly to us at verify@spectrumgaming.net with you cc'd in (with the email you entered into the application form) confirming your young person's full name, date of birth and home address. Once we receive this email it usually takes around 5 working days for us to process your application. We will then send you an email with all the instructions on how to join the servers. Verifying via video call: During the application form you are given the option to select a video call with a member of our staff team to verify your young person's identity. Please note that it is important that your young person is available for the call as well, however they do not need to speak to the staff member, we can just chat with you. You should receive an automatic confirmation email with the appointment day and time on it at the time of booking. If you have not received a confirmation email then you may not have successfully booked a call. If you have any questions about your application during the verification process please email verify@spectrumgaming.net and a member of the team will be able to help :) PLEASE NOTE: If you have not completed verification after 6 months from submitting the form, we will delete your application in line with our GDPR policy, and you will need to reapply.

Our Minecraft server and many of our face-to-face meet ups are for the full age range of members (10-17), however for Discord and some meet ups they are split in to 10-12 and 13-17. Our separate Discord servers for different age groups are in place to comply with Discord's TOS, due to this we are unable to allow younger community members onto the 13+ members server and vice versa.

Our Discord and Minecraft servers are all completely private spaces, in order for us to make them safe for young people to use. They have quite rigorous verification measures in place: Every young person must be verified, to prove they are who they say they are and they are joining with the right intentions before they are able to join. We do this by either having their identity verified by a professional who knows them, or by having a quick 1:1 video call with the young person themselves. Once young people are in our community: - Everything within our servers is completely private: No one can join without being added by a member of staff. - We have a set of rules that must be agreed to by members to make sure the community is welcoming for everyone. - Every message within our Discord and Minecraft servers is logged, so the staff team can see every message that is sent. - If young people are worried about anything, they are able to contact a member of staff who will respond as soon as they can. On Minecraft, young people can type ‘/support’ then their issue to notify members of the staff team, who can come along to assist. WHAT WE CANNOT BE RESPONSIBLE FOR: While we fully monitor our private Discord community, sometimes members make their own private group chats once they have developed friendships. We are unable to monitor group chats so young people who join them do so at their own risk. However, we will get involved if something happens in a group chat that causes discomfort or tension in our private server. As an extra measure, young people are not allowed to direct message other members or invite them to group chats without asking for permission from them within our server first. Another rule we have is that server members are not allowed to send invites to other discord servers so our members are as safe as possible (we cannot guarantee the safety of our members in other servers). UNDER 13 DISCORD SERVER: In our under 13 Discord server, it is parents who will need to create accounts and join the community, in order to comply with Discord's Terms of Service. Parents are also asked to monitor the private messages of our under 13 members, in order to help keep them and the community safe. OTHER PLATFORMS: Our other platforms, such as our Parent/Carer Facebook group and Twitch channel, are more open. Even though these are also moderated spaces, there are less rigourous checks in place with regards to who can join or chat etc. As a result, parents *must* take responsibility for ensuring other people they connect with are appropriate. There is further information about both parent/carer and SG's responsibilities in our Parent Info Section here.

While we are currently only accepting new members from areas where we receive dedicated funding, we would love to be able to support young people in other areas too! Opening up places to young people in other areas depends on the funding our charity receives. If you are a parent, the best place to keep up to date with when places are available is to follow us on social media, as we do not operate a waiting list. Please also note that you cannot self-fund a place as a parent. Please email development@spectrumgaming.net if you are a funder/ commissioner or someone who would like to hear more about what we can offer - then we will be in touch as soon as we can.

Unfortunately we are not aware of any other communities like SG for autistic young people.

Our new Community Centre is based in Bury, Greater Manchester. Currently sessions and activities on offer there are only open to young people who are registered members with us. Membership of our Online Community, and other face-to-face meet ups, are open to autistic young people in different parts of the UK if they live in one of our 'funded areas'. To see if your young person is eligible to join the community, please check out the other FAQs! :)

Our founder didn't receive his autism diagnosis until he was 20, so it would be quite hypocritical if people could only join Spectrum Gaming when they are diagnosed! Young people need to fulfill one of the following criteria to join our community: They have an autism diagnosis They are on the waiting list for an assessment/ diagnosis They self identify as autistic It may be worth noting that we are a very openly autistic community where autism is discussed all the time. Therefore your young person may find this confusing if they join but they are not aware that they are, or could be, autistic.

In order to be eligible to join our community your young person must meet the following criteria: ​ Be a young person aged 10-17 Reside in one of our funded areas Be autistic We are currently only accepting new applications from young people aged 10-17, living in one of our funded areas which are: Greater Manchester (unfortunately we are currently closed to new members from GM as we are at capacity, but will reopen to new members when we can - we do not operate a waiting list) Bedford Borough St Helens Sheffield City Council Lancashire County Council - only for registered members of their Break Time scheme. (Please note that we do not provide 'short breaks', but are in addition to that service, so we do not use any 'hours') We also accept applications from siblings of current members that live outside these areas. ​ Previously we have accepted membership from across the UK and when we secure further funding, this will 'unlock' more spaces for members in other areas. However as we do not operate a waiting list, or have any current timescales of when this might be, if you would like to keep up to date on when we are accepting members from other areas, it is best to follow us on social media, as that is where we would post any updates. Parents are also not able to self-fund places. If you would like to offer support with securing funding in your local area, please email development@spectrumgaming.net ​ Young people do not need to have an official diagnosis to join our community, but must fulfill one of the following criteria: ​ They have an autism diagnosis They are on the waiting list for an assessment/ diagnosis They self identify as autistic ​ Spectrum Gaming is a very openly autistic community where autism is discussed all the time. Therefore your young person may find this confusing if they join but they are not aware that they are, or could be, autistic. ​ If your young person meets the above criteria for joining you can fill out an application form here. ​ Please note: Our community is only for young people who are aged 10-17. Unfortunately we do not support adults, and are currently not expanding to this age range. ​ We also do not have any current plans to expand membership to beyond the UK.

Joining an openly autistic community might feel quite difficult if you have negative feelings towards autism. For some young people it might not be the right time for them to join SG, but for others it could help them to foster a more positive autistic identity. We have written some information which may help when talking to young people who are struggling with their autistic identity, which you can read here: Talking to Young People about Autism. Introducing them to other positive autistic role models and information like this may help them to feel more curious about joining the community. We also understand how overwhelming it can be to join a community like Spectrum Gaming if you are feeling anxious about social situations. Therefore, we have created special 'New Members' areas of our Discord servers, which have members of our Young Staff Team called 'Helpers' who help new people to settle in and find their way around. We also have lots of information on our website about how our community works (Under 13, Teen and Minecraft) and also a 'Getting Started Guide' which you can find in our parent info.

Our Online Community predominantly takes place via our private Discord servers, which are basically like private forums for our registered members only. Discord do a great job of explaining what it is on their page for Parents and Educators here.

Young people in our community play a huge variety of games. Members are able to request to play or talk about any game in our community, and there is usually at least one person who plays any game that is asked about. Any young people are welcome to connect and play games together at any time. There are also regular server gaming events which are run by members of the staff team, you should receive a monthly email (to the address you used to sign up with) detailing our online event schedule. Young people can also find details of events within our Discord Servers as well. Young people can request events in our dedicated 'event suggestions' channel, then the Events team meet to plan, set up and host events. Events in the past haven't just included games, but also cooking club, film nights, code club, quiz nights and just meeting in voice chat for a catch up!

As we have two different Discord servers, if a member is in our U13 community, they will need to transfer to our Teen server once they turn 13. Once a month, a member of staff goes through our membership database and checks to see who has turned 13. If a member has turned 13, that member of staff will then send a message on Discord with an invite link to our Teen Server! If a young person does not want to wait until they are sent a message, they can also open a Support Ticket on or after their birthday, to let staff know that they would like to move up sooner. Once they are in the Teen Server, they will have access to our New Members area, just like the one in the U13 server. Members are given some time in both servers while they transition over (usually about 2 weeks). They are still able to stay in touch with any friends from the U13 server via DM or group chats. You can read more about the Teen Server on our website here: https://www.spectrumgaming.net/using-teen-discord Unfortunately members cannot go over to the Teen Server before they are 13, and they also cannot stay in the U13 server after they are 13, unless they have certain staff roles. Our Minecraft Server is for both age groups, so the only thing that changes there is the 'tag' before their name will be changed by staff to say 'teen' instead of 'u13'. If your young person would like to chat to staff about any of this process they can open a Support Ticket :) If your young person has received a message from staff but this was a while ago and the link has expired, or they have left the server before their birthday but are now 13+ and would like to rejoin, please email team@spectrumgaming.net to let us know you would like a link to the teen server, and we will email you one that you can use instead.

It is vital that we have up to date emergency contact details for all members, including your address if you move house. If you need to update any of your, or your young person's, details please email us at info@spectrumgaming.net and a member of the team will be able to adjust your membership record.

We understand that joining a new community can be overwhelming for young people so we have written this 'Getting Started' guide to help you support them while they settle in. Also linked on that page is a 'Young Person Version' which you could pass on to them if you feel they would prefer to absorb the info by themselves.

In our Parent Info section we have links to some tutorials for Discord which you might find helpful. We also have detailed step-by-step instructions on how to access our Minecraft server from various devices, including some troubleshooting tips, which you can read here. If you have read through the tutorials and instructions and are still struggling, or receiving an error message, you can chat to a staff member by either making a Support Ticket on our Discord server or emailing team@spectrumgaming.net

If you would like to cancel your membership of the Spectrum Gaming Community please email info@spectrumgaming.net and a member of our team will be able to help.

All of our online and face-to-face events and meet ups are for registered members only. All members should receive a monthly email with details of our online events schedule for both servers. If you find that you are not receiving this, firstly check that it has not been sneaking off into your spam/junk folder, and if it is not there, please email info@spectrumgaming.net and a member of the team will be able to check that you are on the mailing list. Please note that emails are sent to the address that you used when signing up to become a member, so if that is not the best email to contact you on you might want to ask us to update your contact details. Young people can also see all of our online events from within our Discord Servers via the 'Events' tab in the top left of the server. When signing up you will have been asked whether you would like to receive details of our face-to-face meet ups in Manchester. If you ticked that box then you should also receive a separate monthly email with details of our in-person events. If you did not tick that box but have now changed your mind and would like to be added to that mailing list, please email info@spectrumgaming.net and a member of the team will be able to add you. Another good place to keep an eye on news and info about events is our private Parent/Carer Facebook Group. This group is only for parents/carers of verified members, and you will have been sent the link to this in your 'Welcome Email' which you receive after you have been verified.

We do not have a separate Discord server for parents, however we do have a Facebook Group for parents/carers of registered members. You will be sent a link to this in your 'Welcome email' which is sent out once your application has been processed.

We have partnered with Classworx in order to create a selection of SG branded t-shirts, hoodies and more! You can purchase items directly from them here https://classworx.co.uk/school/spectrum-gaming/

If you sign up to attend one of our webinars via eventbrite then you will automatically be emailed a link to a recording around 5-7 days after the Live session has aired. If you would like to purchase a recording for a webinar that you did not sign up for Live, then you can find these on our Teachable site here. Additionally, any free webinar recordings will also be added to our resource library here.

Yes, unless otherwise stated within the event information on eventbrite - all of our public training webinars are recorded. Recordings are sent out to those who booked on around 5-7 days after the Live session has aired. Please check your junk/spam folder as they sometimes end up there. If you did not book on to a webinar but would like to purchase the recording later, you can find previous webinar recordings available on our Teachable site here: https://spectrum-gaming.teachable.com/

Our training and expertise are always in high demand and we are often asked to be involved with far more projects and training than we have capacity for! Therefore, we unfortunately do have to very carefully consider which training and project work to get involved with. If there is something that you would like our input on, or training on a specific topic you would like us to deliver, please reach out initially to info@spectrumgaming.net and someone will get back to you.

Yes, we do accept Home Educated young people. If your young person does not receive funding through the LA it is also possible to self-fund.

We have some info about it here Info for Families and Local Authorities and if you have any further questions or want to get in touch with us about the LC you can email lc@spectrumgaming.net :)

No, however they do need to attend a minimum of one day a week.

No, sometimes schools can fund it through Alternative Provision.