About TishAbility

Who We Are

TishAbility was created to provide support that is practical, human and grounded in real life. We recognise that many people with additional support needs and families are expected to manage complex systems, professional recommendations, funding arrangements and support packages while also trying to live ordinary daily lives.

Plans, assessments, budgets and professional recommendations can be important, but they only make a difference when they can be understood, organised and implemented in the person's everyday environments. TishAbility helps bridge that gap by bringing together practical support, family knowledge, professional recommendations and person-centred planning so that support becomes meaningful in daily routines, communication, community access, life skills, therapeutic access and wellbeing opportunities.

We also continue to offer practical support with forms, evidence gathering, signposting, Direct Payments, EHCP-related preparation and support navigation, building on the original Liberty ethos of simplifying user-led, person-centred support.

Partnership Working

TishAbility works alongside the people and professionals already involved in a person's life. This may include families, carers, schools, colleges, NHS professionals, speech and language therapists, occupational therapists, psychologists, behaviour practitioners, social workers, local authorities, ICB professionals, commissioners, regulated providers, activity providers, community organisations, direct payment support services and payroll or managed account services.

We do not replace existing professionals, statutory services or regulated providers. Our role is to support the wider environment around the person, helping agreed approaches become practical and consistent in everyday life.

Why We Exist

TishAbility exists because ordinary services do not always fit real lives. Some people cannot simply access a club, therapy session, leisure activity, community space, appointment or life skills task without careful support around communication, sensory needs, transitions, emotional regulation, safety, predictability and trusted relationships.

Some families are given recommendations, funding or support plans, but are left to work out how those arrangements should be organised, staffed, recorded and made workable in daily life. Some support packages are agreed on paper but become fragile in practice because the right coordination, administration, matching, training, routines and communication systems are not in place.

TishAbility exists to help make support work in practice. We support the person and family to move from "what is written down" to "what actually works" in everyday environments.

Listening to People and Families

Listening is central to how we work. TishAbility recognises that the person and their family often hold the most important knowledge about what works, what does not work, what matters, what feels safe and what support should look like in real life.

We listen to the person's wishes and preferences, their communication style, family knowledge and lived experience, cultural and personal values, routines that already work, and signs of distress, comfort, interest and enjoyment. Where a person communicates non-verbally, through behaviour, through sensory responses, through routines, through supported decision making, through AAC, or through those who know them best, we treat that communication as meaningful and important.

Our Community Purpose

TishAbility is a Community Interest Company, meaning the organisation exists for community benefit. Our purpose is to reduce barriers that prevent people with additional support needs and families from accessing everyday life, learning, communication, community opportunities, therapeutic environments and wellbeing activities.

We aim to support independence, confidence, communication, participation, family resilience, access to meaningful activities, community belonging, wellbeing, life skills, safer transitions, practical use of Direct Payments and Personal Health Budgets, implementation of professional recommendations in everyday life, and the person's right to be heard, understood and supported with self-determination and meaningful choice.

Critically, our work ensures access to social networks and social capital development for individuals and families. We believe that reducing isolation, building meaningful connections, facilitating access to therapeutic and wellbeing opportunities, and creating opportunities for people to participate in community life are essential to wellbeing. Connection and belonging are as important as safety.

We believe support should not only keep people safe. It should help people live, learn, communicate, participate and belong.

What We're Not

TishAbility provides non-regulated, person-centred support.

We are not:

• • A regulated personal care provider
• • A domiciliary care agency
• • A nursing provider
• • A clinical treatment provider
• • A therapy clinic
• • A taxi or private hire operator
• • A school
• • A children's home
• • A childcare provider
• • An emergency crisis service
• • A replacement for statutory decision making
• • A replacement for legal, clinical or specialist professional advice

Where a person requires regulated personal care, nursing care, clinical treatment or another regulated service, this must be provided by an appropriately registered provider or qualified professional. TishAbility can work alongside those providers to support the wider environment around the person.