Category Archives: All

Dysart Park fun day

GAIN will have a stall at The Dysart Park Fun Day this year on 3rd July. Come and join in the tombola fun !

In the mean time we would be grateful for any donated tombola prizes

Click photo for more detail.

Related Calendar

Dysart Park Fun Day

GAIN will have a stall at The Dysart Park Fun Day this year, on Sunday 3rd July 2022, 11am to after 4pm. See:: Journal map.

We would be grateful for any donated tombola prizes – old toys, books, food/drink, plants, trinkets, toiletries, teddies, etc (we won’t turn anything down). Please contact GAIN at
01476 600 074 to arrange a collection or to drop off. You may need to leave a voicemail message.

Family dog workshops

How pet dogs can help families that have a child with autism. Dogs for Good has workshops planned for September 2022. Details to follow.

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The events on this page are chosen because they may be of interest to a child and/or adult on the autistic spectrum. See also Local Groups for autism support groups in the South Lincolnshire, in the UK, and beyond. They put on events in their area.

Lincolnshire Parent Carer Forum

Lincolnshire Parent Carer Forum, host a range of Zoom online meetings. Wed 8th June 2022 – Local offer workshop. Click icons to for more information.

EHC plans

Lincolnshire autistic society has booked IPSEA for their next training day on Wed 2 Mar 10am-:30pm on Zoom. The topic is Reviewing existing EHC plans. Click icon for details. Please email: enquiries@lincolnshireautisticsociety.org.uk to reserve a place – subject to availability.

EHC plan workshop

IPSEA legal training for parents on Tuesday 25th Jan 2022. The course is now entirely free. Click icon for course outline. It will be on Zoom, so participants need access to a laptop. Please email: enquiries@lincolnshireautisticsociety.org.uk to reserve a place.

Ron’s gone wrong

Stamford arts centre, St Mary’s St, PE9 2DL, will be putting on their relaxed screening of this Disney animation on Wed 22 Dec, 2021 at 2pm. It is about an awkward boy and his computerised robot. Click image for details and to book. See also the film and scroll down to video preview.

Audience members are asked to wear face coverings and follow the signage. Box office: 01780 763203.

Jack and the beanstalk

Polka Dot Pantomimes will be performing the 2021 pantomime at the Guildhall Arts Centre, St Peter’s Hill, Grantham, NG31 6PZ on Saturday 18 Dec 2021 This particular performance will be sensitive to, and accepting of, audience members on the autistic spectrum. Click image for details and to book. Box office: 01476 406158.

Green Synergy

Green Synergy are putting on events at Hillside Garden, in Lincoln, for people with mental health issues from April – June 2021. This is part of their Better together partnership project to offer pre-employability opportunities. Click icon on the left to find out more.
See also their website

They are also running their popular Get Into gardening course as part of their Move employability project for people interested in becoming self-employed gardeners. Get in touch with them before 15 April for this course. Other options may also be available. Click icon on the right to find out more.

They have also launched a project for 10-14 year olds who want to do more for the environment and their community. Their Green Influencers learn new skills and gain experience and confidence. The scheme aims to make environmental social action a regular, habitual part of young people’s lives. Sign up with Brodi: brodi@greensynergy.org.uk Tel: 07586 777623

Virtual workshops

Check out the online workshops from Lincolnshire Parent Carer Forum, on the left. They are free to members. Contact workshops, on the right. are free to all. Some workshops seek to address issues related to autism, others to foster wellbeing.

Worsening health

The NHS is putting on free virtual training during March 2021 to help family carers Identify early signs of worsening health in a person with a learning disability. Click icon to find out more.

Virtual workshops

Lincolnshire Parent Carer Forum are arranging two free series of workshops on Zoom. One is aimed at friends, relatives and carers of children or adults with additional needs. Dates range from 5 Jan – 10 Feb 2021. It is called Waving not drowning! Click icon on the left for Waving not drowning!

They are also putting on LPCF week of SEND. – from 25 Jan – 29 Jan. These are aimed at parents and carers of children with additional needs and professionals who work with them. Click icon on the right for poster.

More workshops

Contact has quite an extensive range of virtual workshops for families with additional needs in Jan – Feb. See workshops for more information.

Positive behaviour

There were a few places left as of Tue afternoon for a Promoting Postivie Behaviour and Autism Workshop. The workshop will be on Fri 4 Dec 2020 at 9:45am and it will be online. Click icon for details.

Lincoln conference

PAACT is taking bookings for the 22nd Lincoln annual autism conference, Mon 16 – Fri 20 Nov 2020. Click icon for details.

Lincoln Castle

Only Lincoln Castle grounds are open to the public until 2 Dec. Click page icon to see visitor update. Exclusive autism-friendly Explorers sessions at the castle have not yet re-started, though, as of Sept 2020. Next one may be in the evening. Click castle icon for background information.

The Groove

The Guildhall Arts Centre has a few virtual events and on-line resources but The Groove has not re-started as of Sept 2020. Click page icon to set what they have to offer.

Dysart Park Fun Day

Unfortunately Dysart Park Fun Day has been cancelled for 2020. Click icon and scroll down to find the post cancelling all their events.

Makaton course

The Makaton course for Friday 20 Mar at Belton Lane Children’s Centre, Grantham has been cancelled

Messy

Zoo Co presents a visual story with original music, puppets and tap dancing. Performed by a deaf and hearing cast. This relaxed performance, created in partnership with ADHD Foundation, will be at the Guildhall Arts Centre in Grantham on 17 Feb. Click icon for web page or poster thumbnail.

Signposting

Lincolnshire Parent Carer Forum (LPCF) will be putting on a general signposting event on Fri 31 Jan in Hubberts Bridge, near Boston.
It will be free to parents and carers. Click icon and scroll down for details. See map

Mental health engagement

Give Lincolnshire NHS your feedback on mental health community rehabilitation. Click icon for dates in January around the county.

Cinderella

Polka Dot Pantomimes are performing another season at the Guildhall Arts Centre theatre in Grantham. Click icon for information about relaxed performances. They are scheduled for 2nd Jan 2020 at 2pm & 6:30pm. Phone the booking office using (01476) 406 158 for available seats at: 6:30pm (2pm seats sold out.)

Farm quiet hour

Rand Park Farm, near Lincoln, will be putting on a quiet hour for children with additional needs and their families. Date: 14th Dec, 9 – 10am. See map

Making sense of the senses

Free conference with Dr John Biddolph on Wed 4 Dec at The Fleet, Peterborough. Click icon for more information including booking details.

Autism Conference

PAACT is taking bookings to attend and for information stands for annual conference in Lincoln on Tuesday 19th Nov 2019.
The venue will be The Showroom, Tritton Road, Lincoln, LN6 7QY. Click icon for poster. See also map

Lincoln Castle Explorers

An exclusive opportunity outside of opening hours for children and adults on the autistic spectrum to visit with their families. Lincoln Castle Explorers, 2nd Nov, 9am – 10am. Click page icon for event details and to book or castle icon about autism-friendly opening. See map.

Makaton course

An early years specialist will be running a Makaton course on Friday Oct 4th at Belton Lane Children’s Centre, Grantham. It will run from 9.30 – 12.30pm and then 12.30pm until 3.30pm with a working lunch. She will cover Level 1 in the morning and Level 2 in the afternoon. The cost is £15 per level payable to the trainer on the day. Morning session recommended for parents. If you would like to attend contact: ella.mayfield@lincolnshire.gov.uk See Speech & language about Makaton.

Signposting

Lincolnshire Parent Carer Forum (LPCF) will be putting on a general signposting event on Wed 30 Sep in Market Rasen, Click icon for details. See map

Harrowby football match

Harrowby vs Cottesmore football match on Saturday 14 Sep at Harrowby United’s Dickens Road Community Stadium, Grantham, NG31 9QY. Free entry for under 16’s and carers with Carer’s Allowance letter. See also map.

Dysart Park Fun Day

GAIN will have a stall at The Dysart Park Fun Day again this year, on Sunday 7th July 2019, 11am to after 4pm. See:: Facebook map.

We would be grateful for any donated tombola prizes – old toys, books, food/drink, plants, trinkets, toiletries, teddies, etc (we won’t turn anything down). Please contact GAIN at
(01476) 855 070 to arrange to drop off or collect. Thanks to everyone who has already donated prizes, including: Poundland, Home Bargains, The Works and Subway.

Makaton course

An early years specialist will be running a Makaton course on July 5th at Belton Lane Children’s Centre, Grantham. It will run from 9.30 – 12.30pm and then 12.30pm until 3.30pm with a working lunch. She will cover Level 1 in the morning and Level 2 in the afternoon. The cost is £15 per level payable to the trainer on the day.

Healthy Conversation

The NHS will be holding public engagement drop in sessions around Lincolnshire during May and June. They want to take soundings about the future of local health services.

Family dog workshops

Workshops for families with children diagnosed with autism in Lincoln on 7 Jun. Click icon for details. See Growing up about Dogs for Good.

Signposting

Lincolnshire Parent Carer Forum (LPCF) will be putting on a general signposting event on Wed 22 May in Lincoln,

Overcoming trauma

Hesley are putting on a free event for parents about overcoming trauma and building resilience for people with autism. It will be on 8 May in Nottingham. Click icon for details and to book.

Easter Quest

An exclusive opportunity outside of opening hours for children and adults on the autistic spectrum to visit with their families. Alice in Wonderland Easter Quest at Lincoln Castle. Follow the white rabbit and seek out the clues to solve the Mad Hatter’s riddle and claim your chocolate reward. Sat 20th Apr, 9am – 10am. Click icon for more information.

East Midlands events

Workshop for parents of special needs children – Coping with Challenging Behaviour. Wed, 3rd Apr, 10am – 12pm. 25 FREE places available for parents. At Voluntary Action Rutland, Rutland Community Hub, Oakham, Rutland, LE15 6RB. To book your free place email westmids.office@contact.org.uk with your name, address and telephone number. Please also state the age of your child with special needs, and the nature of his/ her disability. Click poster preview to view.

Speech and language

Speech therapy

Lincolnshire NHS has an open referral system for children’s speech therapy. Parents can phone children’s therapy services to ask about it. Click icon for their social communication and autism page. Specifically see Speech and language therapy.

See also Family Services Directory. Speech therapy can cover a wide range of issues of significance to autism.

Private therapists

The Association of speech and language therapists in independent practice (ASLTIP) offers a search facility for private therapists. Click icon for search form.

Here is their list of speech therapists catering for pre-school children with autism, within 30 miles of Grantham. The nearest is near Sleaford. new Alternatively, they list many offering online therapy.
Here is their guide to therapy for children.

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Where to start?

Talking Point offers a comprehensive guide to children’s communication issues. Click icon for guidance. Look for Starter guide download. You might also want to look for the following:

Ages and stages of development – what is normal?
Some children struggle – what to look out for.
What can I do? Finding the right school.

Choose from the menu list down the left hand side

Talking Point services are in Lincolnshire Family services directory. Their nearest centre is in Nottinghamshire.

Attention autism

Attention Autism is an approach can be used to help to improve communication. Click icon to find out more.

Visual aids

Visual aids and techniques may help young children to develop speech and language. Click icon to find out more. It includes Mr Tumble and the Makaton language.

Dillan’s Voice

Apple released a video clip called Dillan’s Voice, in 2016, about a teenager with autism. He had difficulty getting across what he wanted to say until he started typing it into his iPad, which had an app to read them out loud.

Click icon to find the video clip. There is also an accompanying video clip called Dylan’s Path outlining his life experience.

Total communication

Options group have produced a helpsheet about the development of communication skills in people on the autism spectrum. The author is a specialist speech and language therapist. Click icon to view.

The girl who thought in pictures

Dr Temple Grandin did not speak until the age of 4. Doctors did not think she would ever speak but her parents refused to accept it. With determination, her unusual mind enabled her to improve animal welfare on farms around the world. Click icon to find video clips introducing the book. See also Amazon. The book contains an illustrated rhyming tale for children followed by reading matter for parents.

Play

Children’s centre staff encourage parents to think beyond the disability: e.g. Come and play aims to promote independence, confidence and social skills. t may be good for toddlers with delayed speech. Little explorers could be another one to consider. See about
children’s centres in Grantham or Wider area.

Discussions

Ambitious about Autism has a lot of online discussion about educational issues. Look for the magnifying glass icon on the top right of their site and search for specific topics.

Non-verbal

Even if a child does not develop speech all is not lost. Click icon to read article. Its themes are developed in Diversity–press. There are also one or two similar articles in What–is–it–like?.

Lincolnshire Family services directory has a few entries with a search for non-verbal. Linchfield is in the Market Deeping area.

Mothers’ insights

Researchers at two Universities in the USA interviewed mothers of non-speaking autistic children to find out how they form bonds with their children. They noted the vital role of the mothers in interpreting the behaviour of their children. Click icon for article from UC Santa Cruz

Interest News

Gratham college is offering free adult learning courses. They include leisure and community courses. There are also some distance-learning options. See: article (2022)
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Tour de France: 2022: This year Le Tour takes place Friday Jul 1st to Sunday July 24^th. See Official guide For ITV4 coverage see TV schedule Daily highlights 7-8pm. See viewing options if ITV Hub is not working well.
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Money for nothing – Dire Straits trubute band in Bourne, 12th Apr 2019. Bourne CiCLE feltival men’s road race, 1st Sep.
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Queen on scheduled train: This year, 2018, the queen caught a regular rail service to Norfolk for her Christmas break at Sandringham. See pictures In 2017 she recreated the first rail journey by a British monarch – Queen Victoria.
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Tour de France: 2018: This year Le Tour takes place Saturday July 7^th to Sunday July 29^th, Did you know that one of the teams are using disc brakes on their bikes?
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General election, Thursday 8th June 2017 – Easy read manifestos
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Tour de France: 2016 coverage: Stage 7 win. In the end Chris Froome notched up his third tour win for Britain and the Sky team. See: Pictures Official guide Froome on 2016
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New Eurostar trains Eurostar are replacing their original French built train sets with new German Siemens trains. There are plans to extend services to destinations in the Netherlands and Germany. “In September 2013, Eurostar announced that its new service between London and Amsterdam, intended to begin operation in December 2016, would be operated by the trains. The first Class 374 set entered service in November 2015, ahead of the full launch of the new type; the receipt of the safety authorization from the Intergovernmental Commission was received earlier than expected, allowing Eurostar to begin utilizing the type on a small number of services for in-service testing.”. See Wikipedia for more information.
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“Einstein’s gravitational waves ‘seen’ from black holes.” “Scientists are claiming a stunning discovery in their quest to fully understand gravity.” See article complete with video clip and pictures. In 1916 Albert Einstein predicted that gravity might be found to work like a kind of wave. See: PHD Comics Wikipedia.
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Chris Froome wins the 2015 Tour de France cycle race. See: The finish The day before. The young Columbian runner up might be one to watch next year.
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A NASA space probe sped past Pluto in July 2015. See: article – with pictures from the probe and illustrations.
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Steve Morse joined Deep Purple in 1994, and this recording of Smoke on the Water has a particularly good version of the guitar solo. In the 1970’s most teenage boys knew the solo, and pretty much most of them with a guitar had a go at playing it.

Education, training & volunteering

For ages 16-19 (24) see: College & University Colleges

Training

Fish 4 Development offer training courses in Skellingthorpe, East of Lincoln – including ITC skills, like MS Word. See website.
Gratham college is offering free adult learning courses. They range from professional and technical to leisure and community courses. There are also some distance-learning options. See: article (2022) new
With learndirect you can learn online. They offer courses in ITC basics for example. See also: Contact us website

Volunteering

Volunteering might offer opportunities to gain experience. Click icon on the left for the Do it volunteering website. There may not be many opportunities for under 18’s. The advanced search option helps to narrow things down.

Here is the website for the Lincolnshire Community Volunteer Service (CVS). Their South Kesteven office is in Grantham. They can take you through opportunities on the Do it website. At LCVS we understand taking the first steps into anything new can be daunting, volunteering included. That is why we do everything we can to support you through the process. Extra support and mentoring may be available in your area.

MOOCs

Massive Open Online Courses (MOOCs) are said to offer a way to acces higher (University) educatuion free of charge. The University of Derby offer a few such courses for example.

The claims made for MOOCs are being questioned, though. This looks like a well considered review.

Technical

Web links

If a text link has a line through it like this, . it means that the link might be broken. That is the page might not be there anymore.

PDF files

When you click a PDF icon the text may sometimes appear uneven, as shown on the right. Simply click the icon at the top of the display once or twice and it should become much more readable.

The icon above is by Clker-Free-Vector-Images from Pixabay.
https://pixabay.com/vectors/adobe-pdf-application-acrobat-icon-24943/

This version of the Icon is by Ethandcltd – Own work, CC BY-SA 4.0,
https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=48198391

Site safety

Security plugins

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This site has one of the better security plugins which is updated more often than most. The developer encourages the active engagement of the site administrator in setting up the plugin. It provides the site with an extra layer of protection against unauthorised tampering from hackers. .

Visitor identity

This site collects very little visitor data. Click thumbnail to see the data held about visitors by the statistics plugin used on the site. It is pretty anonymous.

This site does not ask for any visitor identification – such as name or email address. The facility for visitors to this site to leave comments is switched OFF, which makes it easier to keep it safe. It avoids the need for visitors to log in.

You can leave comments on our Facebook or Twitter pages. See Contact us for our email address.

Zoom in

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Images

Pixabay is the source of many of the images on this website. Hover over image to see credits. Image file names often include credits as well.

Error messages

On rare occasions visitors to this website may get an error message like the one on the left, for example. This is a problem at the computer centre that hosts our website. It does not mean there is a problem with your computer. It might be wise to wait an hour or so before trying to view the GAIN website again. Everything should be fine before too long.

Local Groups

Rainbow Stars

A Sleaford based group: for Parents/Guardians and Siblings with Children who have Autism and additional Needs in Lincolnshire. Click icon for their website. They have a hub in Sleaford which is open daily – look at the bottom of their web pages. They put on events for all ages. new

They have a closed Facebook page, which means you need to click Join group to see the posts. A good forum for autism mums to make new contacts. Please be aware that once you have joined you need to be logged in to Facebook to see the posts.

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There are a number of support groups specifically for the autistic spectrum in the towns around Grantham.

LAAFS

Louth Area Autism Support Group was formed by parents. They offer help, information, care and support to parents and carers of children and young people who have been diagnosed with Autistic Spectrum Disorder. Meetings are held all year round on the 4th Saturday of every month from 2 – 4pm at Trinity Centre, Eastfield Road, Louth, LN11 8DJ. Click icon for their Facebook page.

Sharing Minds

Sharing Minds is a support group for parents and carers of children with special/additional needs. They run drop-in meetings on the last Wednesday of the month in term time at Sunset House, Boston, PE22 8QS. The people that run it have experience of coping with children on the autistic spectrum. Click icon then scroll down for more information.

Peterborough

Asperger Autism Support Group runs drop in sessions at Whittlesey Youth Centre, near Peterborough. Click icon for details. See also map.
Autism Peterborough run one off support group meetings and conferences in Peterborough. See: Twitter map. Click icon for their Facebook page, where you might find more events.

Skegness

Sharing Minds also have family disabled Swimming sessions every Sunday,
at a new time and venue: 2- 3pm, at the South Park centre, Skegness, PE25 1TE.
The pool is dedicated to the group for these sessions, so it is not crowded and families are among friends. Parents are expected to accompany their children in the pool. Click picture for poster. See also map.
There is also an outdoor Exercise group for parents & carers of disabled children every Tuesday 10:00 – 11:30am at Wainfleet Road Pavilion, Skegness PE25 2EL.

Rainbow Flyers Youth Club

This is a special needs club at Ruskington Youth Centre, NG34 9DY, on Sundays 3-5pm. Ruskington is a village near Sleaford. For an introduction see About and for more information click graphic.

There is no need to join Rainbow Stars to attend. Parents can simply turn up with their children. There are both electronic and physical games for the young people and coffee and conversation for parents – who are asked to stay with their children. Click Facebook icon for their news or tap mobile icon. They would love to see some new faces.

PAACT

A Lincoln based support group for parents or carers of children and young people on the autistic spectrum. Click icon for website. Email: paactsupport@hotmail.co.uk

Evening meetings on the first Thursday of every month at 7.30pm
Daytime meetings at 10am on the third Thursday of the month during term time.
A monthly games club for members over the age of 8.
They have a closed Facebook page, which means you have to make join the group to view it. Look for Join group button on right side of page header.

Newark & Sherwood

Click icon to see Newark & Sherwood autism support group’s Facebook page.
For up coming events click the picture on the right.
If there are not many events it might be worth having a look at past events.

Gainsborough group

Gainsborough Autism Parent Support Group – GAPS. See: map

Market Harborough group

This group is about 30 miles from Grantham, in Leicestershire, based in a family home. It is an
activity club that started out as an Autism friendly home based club but broadened out to serve a wider range of children. They have a fine website and a Facebook presence.
See also: Mumsnet map.

Hull & East Riding group

The National Autistic Society has a branch based in Hull. It offers support to families. Click icon for their website. See also meetings.

Alternatively, Matthew’s Hub is for people aged 16+ with Asperger syndrome or high-functioning autism. It is also based in Hull. Click icon for his website.

Education news

SEND proposals

Ambitious about autism published its response in March 2022 to UK government proposals for Special educational needs. It is a mixed review. Click icon to find it after any adverts.

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Reception places 2022

Do you want your child to start reception in September 2022 ? If so, be sure to apply for a reception place at a school. The date of birth for children would be between 01/09/2017 and 31/08/2018 and you can apply from 15 Nov 2021 to 15 Jan 2022.

a. Lincolnshire parents can pick up a letter from any Lincolnshire primary school which will provide them with the information they need to apply.
b. They can request a paper application form or make a phone application by contacting the Education Team at 01522 782030.
c. Click icon to apply online. See also for information about school admissions.

Lincolnshire SEND plans

A £50m investment was approved by Lincolnshire County Council for SEND provision some time ago. Click icon for summary. The council is working with Lincolnshire Parent Carer Forum to develop a new strategy for special education.

County news reported construction getting underway in Dec 2020.

Ombudsman complaints

Children with special educational needs and disabilities are increasingly being failed by the system designed to support them, the Local Government and Social Care Ombudsman has found. The Ombudsman is now upholding nearly 87% of Education, Health and Care (EHC) plan cases. Click icon for full article.

Educational psychologists

Following a report showing an insufficient number of educational psychologists, £30 million extra for training has been announced. Click icon to read about it.

SEN crisis

The mother of an autistic son, aged seven, wrote about her fight to get him assessed and placed in a school that could meet his needs. Click icon to read the article of 26/Oct/2018.

Robot coding

Click icon for a video about a computer coding project that is believed to stimulate children on the spectrum to take an interest in and develop social & communication skills.

Lincolnshire SEND strategy

Lincolnshire County Council is developing a new strategy for special education. They give it the title: Building Communities of Specialist Provision for Children and Young People with Special Educational Needs and Disabilities in Lincolnshire. The Lincolnshire Parent Carer Forum has dedicated a section of their website specifically to these developments. Click icon to find out about it.

Parliament inquiry

The All Party Parliamentary Group on Autism has produced a report. The Click icon to see the Special Needs Jungle’s (SNJ) take. The SNJ is a parent led group. See SEN Information for more about them.

Teenage geek

Autistic teenager creates artificial intelligence but ‘can’t get school place’. It took Kari Lawler only a week to build her own virtual assistant, which operates on the same lines as Apple’s Siri and Amazon’s Alexa. It’s incredible when you consider what the large technology companies have spent on producing something not very different to what Kari has managed to achieve in such a short space of time. Her parents have not yet been able to get a school place for her since she was diagnosed and finished at primary school.

SEND Reforms

How are the SEN & Disability reforms of 2014 going? The picture does not seem to be all bad but there is room for improvement.
Updates continue to be added.
If you are experiencing difficulties you are not alone and it might be worth looking for helpful details. For example, one survey revealed that only just over half of pupils with SEND (54%) believed that teachers and other school staff were preparing them well for adult life once they leave school/college or training … Could this perhaps reflect a generalised insecurity felt by pupils as they look ahead to the future?

Click icon to browse articles about reforms. See also: What Parents told the government See also: Botched job?
From–statement–to–EHCP

Have you seen?

The good doctor

This is a TV series from the USA. It is about Shaun Murphy, a young surgeon with autism. It started in 2017. Click icon for trailer. More extracts: Airport scene Video clips The series: Introduction Watch in UK

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Hannah Gadsby

Hannah Gadsby is an Australian comedian who talks about her autism in her act. Click play button for a video clip about a classroom experience. See also: Wikipedia

Muppet

Triumph of the nerds

This is the story of how Bill Gates, Steve Jobs and their mates changed the world of computers during the 1970’s and 80’s. Also, how did the IBM PC come to be cloned? Click video icon for a list of episodes on Youtube.

Also, click article to read about what really happened when Steve Jobs visited Xerox PARC.

Surprisingly complicated

This is a comedy series shot on Staten Island, USA. It is based on a mum’s experience of bringing up twin boys who have autism. Click icon for the back story and a video preview. Watch: Episode 1 Episode 2. See also their Facebook page.

If you spend time on Facebook regularly you might be able to save quite a bit of broadband usage – see our Using Facebook page. If you are not sure about the PAL DVD format see Viewing options .

Autism Rocks

Meet the boys from UK’s premier autistic rock group The AutistiX.

See: video website

Chasing Shadows

How does someone with Asperger’s fare in the workplace? This drama was shown on ITV in September 2014. It might give you some idea.

It is a gritty drama about a maverick who starts work at a missing person’s unit. You can view a trailer and probably find a free version via Google starting with: Chasing Shadows – Part 1. There is also a DVD version.

Holby City

Have you noticed the character Jason Haynes in the TV hospital drama series Holby City? The National Autistic Society has been actively working with researchers, producers and writers. Jason was introduced into the story line via his aunt Serena.

The actor who plays Jason has a unique insight into what makes Jason Haynes such a special character, as he himself is a young man with Asperger’s. See article. In an interview he also highlights employment issues for people on the spectrum.

Atypical

Netflix has given a straight-to-series order to “Atypical,” a dark comedy about a family with an autistic son, set to star Jennifer Jason Leigh, Variety has confirmed. “Atypical” landed an eight-episode order for the first season of the coming-of-age story that follows an 18-year-old with autism and his search for love and independence. See Intoduction about Atypical. See also viewing options about Netflix.

Me and my Asperger’s

A personal blog from Lincolnshire. “Life in a strange world. Me! They call me odd, huh. Anyway welcome to my page. Feel free to post comments, share your thoughts and/or page.” Click icon to browse:

Temple Grandin

Here is a film dramatising the life story of a lady with high-functioning Asperger’s syndrome who made an academic career for herself. She has an unusual name, Temple Grandin. Click icon for preview.

For the complete film, see Amazon Video and click the More Purchase Options link. Then, unless you have a high-definition display chose the Buy Movie SD option.

An oral history

Here is a brief animated video of a talk about her own development as a person with Asperger’s Syndrome that Temple Grandin gave at Colorado State University in 2008. Click play button to watch.

The Girl Who Thought in Pictures

See also Speech & language for The Girl Who Thought in Pictures, an illustrated story book about Temple Grandin.

Doc Martin

This has proved a popular TV drama, with repeats showing on ITV1 or ITV3. The signs of Asperger’s in the character of Dr Martin Ellingham are hard to miss. They are outlined and analysed on this blogspot and you can see them illustrated with a video clip from the TV series.

Opinions differ, though, as in discussion 1 and more so in discussion 2. According to the series author, he was supposed to have the condition but to work on changing himself for the sake of his relationship with his wife and young son. Also, the scripts are written for entertainment, so things will not be entirely realistic.

Roy Cropper

Have you seen Roy Cropper on Coronation Street?

He feels at home with trains, particularly steam engines from times past. After Hayley’s passing, Stephen found him at a museum, where he showed an encyclopaedic knowledge of the early steam engines on display.

Since his return to his flat, his friends have found him shut away with his model railway. It obviously means a great deal to him.

The Fandom page for the Coronation Street character describes him as, remarkably intelligent, but socially naive. The page also suggests that Roy has Asperger’s syndrome. This has not stopped him from making a go of his life, though.

The actor who plays Roy is married to an additional needs teacher and she suggested giving Roy Asperger’s. Doing so transformed him into a character with long term potential.

His life with Hayley has been an enduring and popular feature of the street. Click on slide show for a quick review of their story. On the slide show page, click on the row of miniature pictures of the couple under the large picture. Left and right arrows will appear to scroll to more pictures.

Roy’s people skills are actually quite good in some respects. He and Hayley earned Fiz Brown’s appreciation having fostered her. He acted as a mentor to Fiz’s brother Chesney. Anna Windass, who works in his cafe, also gets on well with him. Recently she confided in him that she was carrying a secret that she felt unable to share with anyone and he advised her that it would eat her up if she did not tell her boyfriend, Owen.

Developmental conditions

Dyspraxia

A Developmental co-ordination disorder.

The NHS has separate pages for dyspraxia in children and adults. new
The Dyspraxia Foundation has a great deal to offer, including introduction, children, FAQ. See also: Home for helpline and Local groups – including Leicestershire and Peterborough
You may be surprised to learn that it can affect speech, see Speech and Language.

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These are conditions that are associated with autism and may be of most interest when a child or young person is developing their life skills. For conditions that are likely to be of interest for adults as well as children click icon.

Handwriting

Options has produced a help sheet about developing early handwriting skills for children with autism. Click icon to view. See also:

Letter dominoes is a game that is easy to make yourself.
Here is a video tutorial setting out several aids – including pencil grips. It offers insight into what does and does not work.
This video tutorial demonstrates the sock method of teaching proper pencil grip.
This video tutorial demonstrates writing 3 letters of the alphabet. There are more related videos in the margin, too.
Some mums provide a sloping board/surface to write on.

Dyslexia

Dyslexia is a common learning difficulty that mainly affects the way people read and spell words. Click icon for an easy reading introduction. Scroll down for comments.

- For more detail, see British Dyslexia Association (BDA). They also have resources for parents. And much more …
- See Dislexia outreach for support in Lincolnshire. They support parents, teachers, and pupils.
- See also under handwriting aids below.

Dysgraphia

Dysgraphia is having difficulty learning to: 1. recognise and write letters and words 2. link sounds, speech and writing.

For an easy reading introduction, see About Health. See links for more detailed information.
Here is a collection of scientific presentations: Science direct They address Specific learning disabilities and creativity.

Specific Learning Difficulties

SpLD is an umbrella term used to cover a range of frequently co-occurring difficulties, more commonly:

Dyslexia
Dyspraxia / DCD
Dyscalculia
D.D / A.D.H.D

Specific Learning Difficulties (or SpLDs), affect the way information is learned and processed. They are neurological (rather than psychological), usually run in families and occur independently of intelligence. They can have significant impact on education and learning and on the acquisition of literacy skills.

In general, a student may be diagnosed with a SpLD where there is a lack of achievement at age and ability level, or a large discrepancy between achievement and intellectual ability.

Echolalia

Here is an introduction to echolalia. Mimicry is an efficient way to experiment with different sounds and practice emerging social language skills.
This article offers a medical analysis. People with echolalia repeat noises and phrases that they hear. They may not be able to communicate effectively because they struggle to express their own thoughts. If they struggle to do anything other than repeat what has been said, they may have echolalia. Some children with autism are regularly tested for this during their speech lessons.
Here is a more detailed article about echolalia with autism – Even echolalia is a normal way to learn language. Most children use echolalia to learn language. The majority of children babble in a rhythmic way, which is actually mimicking the cadence of our language.
In adults – Echolalia should normally disappear around two and half years of age. It is often considered abnormal if it persists beyond age 3 years.

Dyscalculia

Dyscalculia is a specific difficulty with arithmetic, or maths.

The Dyscalculia website looks pretty definitive. It offers a handy introduction
For more information see Dyscalculia Talks. It has articles to read as well as video clips to watch.
The Dyscalculia Conference website is aimed at professionals, but might be interesting to anyone teaching their own child at home.