2006 January

Happy 2006!

Kids Competition - BAPG Calendar 2006

Kids Xmas Bash

Parents Meeting 16th November

Parents Meeting 12th December

Network 81 Training

What would you like BAPG to do?

Future Meetings and Events

Happy 2006!

A Very Happy New Year to everyone! Best wishes to everyone involved with BAPG. In case you were wondering, you didn't miss out, there wasn't a newsletter in December. (Sorry, family was sick! Ed.) Back to top

Kids Competition - BAPG Calendar 2006

The Calendars have been very popular (we had to do a second print run!). We're suggesting a £2 voluntary donation to BAPG per copy to fund its activities. The Calendar looks great with 12 pictures by our kids. They are a single sheet of laminated A3, printed both sides with all the Parents Meeting dates marked and a space for notes. They can be wipe-cleaned, used as mouse mats, table mats, framed in a wall decoration, or just used calendars! If you'd like one please contact Joanne on Joanne.Robinson@taylorrobinson.co.uk or 07966678948. Back to top

Kids Xmas Bash

The children's Christmas party at Funworld was a huge success. Over 30 kids came and had great fun, plenty of food, and left with two party bags (one each from Funworld and BAPG)! It was remarkable how relaxed all the kids were - many with AS can find Christmas a difficult time (changed routines, unusual pressures etc.) but there were no problems at all, just lots of happy faces. All the more so because you might expect that putting together lots of children with strong views about things was a recipe for trouble. On the contrary, it seems to be an occasion when having AS doesn't matter and it really takes the pressure off. We'll definitely do this again! Back to top

Parents Meeting 16th November

Our guest speaker in November was Fiona Hay, a Speech and Language Therapist based at New Street. Fiona has specialised in dealing with children with autism though less so with AS. This is because the diagnosis criteria for AS indicate no delay in language development, so therefore they would not normally get input from a Speech and Language Therapist unless there's a particular problem. Broader communication and social interaction issues are handled by Toni Harvey's team (see Parents Meeting December notes, below).
· AS children tend to be good at repeating or copying, this can hide a speech problem. Indeed, they are capable of repeating a phrase without knowing it's proper meaning (and this can lead to adults over-estimating the child's capabilities, and under-estimating the difficulties they are having).
· Real vs. TV voices - not distinguished, in the same way as facial expressions are not properly interpreted, can be an issue.
· Eye contact - don't push for this, it's not worth it! It's more important that they listen (they may be having enough trouble understanding what is being said without wanting to have the pressure of make eye contact as well). If you do get eye contact then give positive feedback.
· Try "acting out" what you're saying to reinforce the meaning of your words. (Particularly useful if the child is stressed and not taking in your words).
· Try to be specific in requests, start with using their name, and wait (10-15 seconds) for a response as they are likely to need time processing the new information. Don't jump in with an immediate repeat of the request.
· If you do need to repeat the request then use the same phrasing (altering it may confuse), but add stress to key words, or act out meaning to reinforce.
· Tell them what they need to do (not what to stop). For example: say "Stay on the blocks" rather than "Don't jump the gun?."
· Try to give specific instructions not hypothetical questions.
· Being able to predict what is going to happen is vitally important to the AS child. In so much of their lives, they have great difficulty in understanding what is going on around them (this is very stressful), so try to make as much predictable as possible (reduce the stress, and make it easier for them to deal with the rest).
· Organisation also is difficult - try to encourage their use of diaries and lists.
· Use flow charts, pictures to explore a problem situation, and reduce the emotion in a situation. Try Social Stories technique: should be positive, highlight a problem, and suggest a solution. (Fiona left some copies of papers and examples flow charts on this subject)
· AS should not be seen as a mild form of autism - it has it's own set of issues which cause quite different problems for the children. Back to top

Parents Meeting 12th December

Our guest speakers in December were Toni Harvey who manages the Education Communication and Interaction team, and Jeanine her manager, responsible for the SEN Support and Development Service.
Jeanine spoke first on how to help parents deal with schools: conflict doesn't work, need to raise understanding and empower parents. There was a lot of interesting discussion around this: the wide variety of attitudes encountered by parents in schools, and how best to cope. Clearly this is a key issue for parent ? Jennine offered to help us put together some advice for how parents can best work with the school system to help their kids.
Toni: Interventions will vary across schools as it depends on the school's experience and individual teachers - her team is trying to help schools to make useful interventions. Head teachers are responsible for implementing support for SEN, overseen by Ofsted. There's a new Ofsted framework that should help assessment of schools (better at measuring the impact of the schools interventions. It includes a Self Evaluation Form (SEF) written by the Head supported by evidence. The Team accepts referrals from schools but not directly from parents. Toni displayed a concise framework of AS issues (in mind-map form) which she uses as a checklist to help assess the problems affecting different children and situations. Back to top

Network 81 Training

There are still plans to try and arrange a two-day local training course about the workings of the SEN system. The idea is that the course would be free to parents, and would cover topics such as the law and background to the 1996 Education Act, the SEN Code if Practice 2001, School-based responsibilities and stages of assessment, Individual Action Plans, Assessment and Statementing.
If you might be interested (no commitment!) then please let us know (contacts below) - if we can show there's a demand then the more likely the course will be set-up. More information on the course content at http://www.network81.co.uk/page5.html (Befriender Training Course). Back to top

What would you like BAPG to do?

The group has been running for almost two years now, and has grown very successfully both in the number of families involved and in the support and activities it can offer. But what would help your family most? Please let us know by completing the short survey that will be sent to all families very soon. As we're a volunteer group and limited by the time we can contribute, we need to be especially careful to focus our efforts on what is most usefully - so it's just as helpful to let us know what's not useful as what you'd like to see more of! Back to top

Future Meetings and Events

Tuesday 13th Jan. Steering Committee Meeting, 1:30 to 2:30pm, Wellington House. Please note date change (was to be on 10th).

Wednes. 18th Jan
Parents Meeting and Kids Computer Club Parents Meeting: Guest Speaker - Rose Clark, Barnsley VAB "How to deal with professionals". Having a child with AS means having to deal effectively with several organisations. At times this can be about quite difficult or emotionally charged situations. Depending on the individuals you meet this might go very well, or not! How best can parents approach such meetings to help make sure that our children get the support they needs? 6:30pm to 8:00pm Priory Campus, Barnsley. Kids Computer Club: Supervised club for children at Priory Campus held in parallel with Parents meeting. Intended for kids who are already able to use a computer. Each child uses one of a group of networked laptops. They can play as they wish: join in computer games across the network, website building, or follow their own interest. Places are limited so please call James on 01226 792571 to book a place. 6:15pm to 8:15pm

Friday 20th Jan.
Web Conference - Working together for people with Autism - NAS Annual Convention for the North - This annual convention for the North of England will be in central Leeds and is a free event by invitation only. The event aims to develop partnership working so that the right services are developed for people with autism and their families. A parallel web conference will enable as many other people as possible to take part. If you would like to listen to or watch the convention over the telephone or Internet, please request further information and a reply slip from the Regional Development Team, to be returned by Monday 12th December. Organised by NAS Regional Development Team. Cost: Free. Further info: 0161 998 7860, www.nas.org.uk.

Friday 3rd Feb.
Conference: How does it feel? - Another way of thinking about Autism. To bring together people with personal and professional contact with people with ASD. Aim of promoting an open dialogue on how difficult it may feel when one comes up against autism.Location: Tavistock Centre, London. Organised by Autism Users Group of the Tavistock Clinic. Cost: £25. Further info: 020 8938 2548, events@tavi-port.org.

Saturday 11th Feb.
Seminar: Asperger Syndrome - (1) Chris Mitchell's personal experiences of AS; (2) Speech and Language Therapists from specialist ASD service.Location: Hexham, Northumberland. Organised by: NAS Parent Seminars. Cost: £25 for professionals; £5 for each parent; free to individuals with ASD diagnosis. Further info: 0191 226 3614, marie.russell@nas.org.uk

Wednes. 15th Feb
Parents Meeting and Kids Computer Club

Sunday 5th Mar.
Seminar: Growing Up and Puberty - Geoff Evans, Senior Lecturer in Autism, Sheffield Hallam University.Location: Oldham, Greater Manchester. Organised by: NAS Parent Seminars. Cost: £25 for professionals; £5 for each parent; free to individuals with ASD diagnosis. Further info: 0161 998 7860, suziefranklin@nas.org.uk

Wednes. 15th Mar
Parents Meeting and Kids Computer Club

Wednes. 19th Apr
Parents Meeting and Kids Computer Club

NB. All BAPG meetings are held at Priory Campus, Lundwood unless otherwise stated Back to top