A national review names PACT and iBASIS, two early autism therapies offered in Stockport for two years, as support to give without waiting for a diagnosis.
Two therapies for autistic and neurodivergent young children that families in Stockport have been offered for the past two years are named in a national review as the kind of help that should not wait for a diagnosis.
The programmes, iBASIS and PACT, are taught to practitioners by IMPACT, a Stockport community interest company that works with the University of Manchester. The independent review into mental health conditions, ADHD and autism (known as the Fonagy review), published on 9 October 2026, recommends them by name.
Recommendation 2 of the review, on page 419, reads:
“Provide parent-mediated interventions for preschool children with emerging autism or ADHD-related needs without waiting for diagnosis. Examples include PACT and iBASIS-VIPP. Economic evaluations suggest that these interventions can repay their additional early costs overtime, although estimates differ according to setting, time horizon and perspective. (Evidence maturity: strong.)”
The review was commissioned by former Health Secretary Wes Streeting.
What the two programmes do
Both work through parents rather than with the child alone. According to IMPACT, they support communication development and the interaction between parent and child: iBASIS for infants from 11 months to 2 years, and PACT for children from 2 years. The programmes were developed with the University of Manchester, with input from local family groups.
IMPACT’s own training pages describe the infant programme, now called Inklings-iBASIS, as 10 sessions in which a practitioner records a short video of a caregiver with their baby, then watches it back with them, pausing to talk through how the baby is communicating. Sessions last an hour and run a fortnight apart, and they are delivered by health and early years professionals such as speech therapists, psychologists and health visitors.
How it works in Stockport
The programmes sit inside what IMPACT calls a “pre-emptive, needs-led” early years pathway, which it says has run in Stockport for two years and more widely across Greater Manchester.
Under it, health visitors use a monitoring tool called SACS-R during the standard health check at around 11 months. Infants it identifies are offered iBASIS, which is routinely available. PACT, for older children, sits alongside other services in the borough, but because of funding changes it may be available in Stockport on an individual funding basis.
Corrected 5 November: the graphic and this section now say that iBASIS is routinely available in Stockport and that PACT may be available on an individual funding basis, at the request of the Stockport NHS team.
The borough’s early years autism speech and language therapy team has also been recognised locally. Speech and language therapist Erica Emmott accepted an Allied Health Professional public health award from Stockport NHS Foundation Trust on the team’s behalf, in recognition of its care, expertise and the difference it makes, IMPACT said.
That is the approach the review now backs. In Chapter 19 it says:
“In the earliest years, support should strengthen parent–child relationships, communication, emotional regulation…. routines and family confidence…”
“Proud that it endorses the approach”
Jonathan Green, Professor of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry at the University of Manchester and co-director of the IMPACT programme, said:
“This important Review gives authoritative guidance on the future of autism healthcare services nationally. We are proud that it endorses the approach we have been taking and look forward to championing this within local transformation plans, for the benefit of families and children.”
IMPACT works with the University of Manchester and NHS partners to put the pathway in place. Besides Stockport, it says trusts in Bury, Coventry and Warwickshire are rolling it out, and parts of North Yorkshire and Humber are now following.
Parents who want to know more about support for a young child should speak to their health visitor. Details of the training for professionals are on IMPACT’s iBASIS training page.
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