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School age

 Sleep

The National Autistic Society has produced an article about sleep.     Click icon to view.     There are some helpful links at the bottom of the page.

The National Autistic Society has produced an article about sleep.     Click icon to view.     There are some helpful links at the bottom of the page.*     See also:

Cerebra is a UK charity that works to improve the lives of children with brain conditions.     They include autism in their range of topics.     Their website offers guides and one-to-one support for parents/carers as part of their sleep advices service.     Click icon to find out more.new     There are a number of well presented and downloads.     The sleep tips booklet is particularly engaging.      See also: 

  • Social stories might be adapted to help prepare for sleep.     Find out about them on our Thing s to help page.
  • Options autism has produced a helpsheet on sleep and autism.   

  Click icon for helpsheet.

Tap button to download, then open in PDF viewer.

Download PDF – 250KB

Explaining to a child

You may want to explain autism or related issues:

  • Children with special needs: How to explain disability to a child – Huffington Post.      See  article
  • Question:   We recently got a diagnosis.     How should I explain high functioning autism to my affected son and his ‘typical’ siblings?      See:   Answer.      Also, this book is highly recommended by parents.      See  Amazon
  • 15 children’s books.      See Amazon

More generally, the National Autistic Society offers tips for communicating with an autistic child.  

See also our Preparing for change page about leaving primary and secondary school.

Social skills

Options autism has produced a help sheet about developing emotional and social skills.

  Click icon to view.

Tap button to download, then open in PDF viewer.  

Download PDF – 3MB

For more about Options see our Specialist services page.

Social success

Prep for social success is a book aimed at parents of children on the autistic spectrum.      Amazon offers an eBook version.     

Facbook small icon

The Amazon page says that it offers a four step programme:  PLAN, REHEARSE, ENCOURAGE, PRAISE.     The PREP program can be applied to a number of settings including school and group activities such as sports or clubs.      There are good reviews on Amazon.      Click icon to see the authors’ Facebook site.

 Thula the therapy cat

Iris was a 6 year old on the autism spectrum.     Her mother was surprised to see the way her daughter bonded with a cat that the family was looking after.     She bought a cat of a recommend bread.      Click play button for a brief video of the story.      

See also: illustrated article     more pictures.

Here is another case of a father who took is son cat shopping at an animal shelter.

  Bullying

Why might autistic pupils be at risk of being bullied?      What can parents do about it?       Click icon for a National Autistic Society guide.

  • A book by Luke Jackson with the title Freaks, Geeks and Asperger Syndrome has a well written chapter on bullying.      See our Library books page for more about this book.
  • Childline is a free, private and confidential service where you can be yourself.      Get in touch about anything:  online, on the phone at any time.       See:  website       bullying

  Mothers’ Experiences

Click icon to read about parents whose school-age children have either autism or Aspergers.

 Early Support

Lincolnshire County Council provide an Early Support, Care and Co-ordination service, or ESCO for short.     The eligibility criteria have been extended from children with complex health needs or disabilities under five to include young people up to 18 years old.      Click icon for more information.

 Toileting

Click icon to find out about autism and toileting.

See also 

Things to help
Growing up

Media blog

Lorna Wing

Lorna Wing played a significant role in the development of the way autism is understood, the founding of the National Autistic Society and the way diagnosis is carried out.     This lecture sets out her contribution.     You may have heard of some of the developments without knowing of her involvement.       Click play button to watch this 40 minute video. 

Tony Attwood

Tony Attwood is British psychologist working as an associate professor in Australia who has quite a few lectures and discussions on Youtube about autism.     They are very informative.     For example, Could it be autism covers some of the more basic points over 37 minutes.     Click icon for a list videos from which to choose.

See also our Viewing options page.

The life scientific

Francesca Happé is Professor of cognitive neuroscience at the Institute of psychiatry, psychology and neuroscience in London.     This is an interview about her research career and her current projects, including how people with autism experience mental health issues, such as PTSD.     It is a wide-ranging discussion that paints a nuanced picture of autism.     Click icon for a 28 minute good listen.

1800 seconds on autism

From home and family to humour and epic geekiness, this is a funny and enlightening BBC podcast about thinking differently.      Click play list icon for episodes to listen to or magnifying glass icon for transcripts and to download episodes.      Select video and scroll down for transcript.

Casualty

The episode, on 9th August 2014, featured a very convincing and  well crafted depiction of a teenage boy with autism.       He took a liking to someone playing Eric Clapton on the street.       It could be interesting to know that autistic people are represented on mainstream TV.       Click play button to watch this 5 minute clip. 

My name is Hayley

Hayley wants to know what it will take to get her autistic son the education he needs.      It’s been agreed that he needs specialist provision, but the only place on offer is at a school 45 minutes away, where he would need to get a taxi there and back, every day.      George is non-verbal and, for Hayley, this is not an option.       Click icon to listen.      Released Feb 2023

Stand-up comedy

Ria Lina does some aspie stand-up on The Now Show.      Click icon to listen – 8 minutes in.       Apr 2021

Children on-line

BBC Radio 4 had a phone-in about protecting children on-line in Jan 2019.        Click icon for the podcast.      Drag along timeline to 12:43 mins to skip car theft and find the phone-in.

Autism & communication

Michael Rosen finds out about communication with people on the autistic spectrum.      Click icon to listen on iPlayer.  

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