2005 February

News Points

Do you need childcare?

Parents Meeting on 19th January 2005

News Points

Community Chest Funding

Excellent news! We've received a £1,000 grant via the Barnsley Voluntary Action Bureau which is intended to help fund our room hire and purchases for our library over the next year.

Logo Competition

Well done to all the kids who sent in an entry to the BAPG Logo Competition. The entries are now being judged and the winners will be announced at the next Parents Meeting, 16 Feb 05.

A reminder! - Guest Speakers

Thankyou to those of you who returned the questionnaire in last month's newsletter about future Guest Speakers. The results are being collated. If you haven't returned the form yet then please do (copy attached). This is your chance to help choose speakers on topics you're really interested in. Back to top

Do you need childcare?

It's clear from feedback that the lack of appropriate childcare is an issue preventing a number of parents from being able to attend the Parents Meetings. BAPG is now in a position where we can look into providing this. Clearly this would be good for those parents who would otherwise be unable to attend, but also it could be great for our kids - that is, a chance to do some interesting activities and to meet other kids. This may not be appropriate for all - but whilst some kids with AS would find it very difficult to attend, others will be very interested in meeting other kids with AS. And also for siblings, it could be a great chance for them to meet, share experiences and have some fun.The Steering Group has got ideas on what could be provided but we really need a better idea of how much interest there is and what activities might be of interest. If you are interested then please could you return the attached form to let us know. Back to top

Parents Meeting on 19th January 2005

Key points agreed in the meeting:

It was decided that the voluntary contributions box was to be kept and if people feel they would still like to make a contribution for refreshments etc. they could do so.
The group were updated on the library and asked for book recommendations.
Parents were asked to hand in any entries for the logo competition and were told the winner would be announced at the next meeting.

The Guest Speaker this month was Luke Beardon, a senior lecturer in Autism at Sheffield Hallam University who gave an informal, interesting and very thought provoking talk. The following notes give a brief outline of his talk.

Luke introduced himself and explained that as well as being a lecturer, he teaches graduates and undergraduates at the university. He also does consultancy work, offers a family support service, provides training for schools, groups or individuals and is also a school governor.

He talked about academics and professionals and the vast knowledge they often have about autism/aspergers. He made the point that just because they are well read and knowledgeable on the subject, it doesn't always follow that they will be able to deal effectively with individuals who have ASD.

Often the expectations we have of individuals with ASD are unreal as we place neurotypical values on them and expect them to behave neurotypically. They can't and won't act like this and nor should we expect them to do so. We should allow our children the time to be autistic and accept what they are instead of trying to change them. There are lots of things we as parents/carers or teachers can do to help our children cope with the day to day problems they encounter, but the one thing we can never do is to make them any less autistic or to "cure" them so they no longer have it.

Children with a definite diagnosis of Aspergers are highly complex individuals and often the complexity of their problems is (particularly in schools) misunderstood, ignored and not taken seriously. The sensory problems of children with ASD is often overlooked or dismissed completely within schools and this is a shame as much of the "problematic" behaviour our children exhibit in such settings could be alleviated if the sensory issues were addressed.

Development problems such as echolalia and echo praxic behaviour were explained as were the processes of direct/indirect learning and how skills are not learnt automatically but have to be taught specifically. We were told about the difficulties our children have with skill transference and theory of mind and how this affects them in school and in general .

Motivational factors for individuals with aspergers is likely to be very different and if we find the motivator for our particular child we can use this to great effect.

Luke answered questions from the group and when asked said he would be only too happy to come back and talk to us again. He may be contacted at the The Autism Centre via 0114 225 5645 and L.Beardon@shu.ac.uk. Back to top