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
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For ages 16-19 (24) see: College & University Colleges
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.
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.
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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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See also TV/Radio blog Viewing options
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
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.
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 .
Meet the boys from UK’s premier autistic rock group The AutistiX.
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.
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.
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.
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:
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.
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.
See also Speech & language for The Girl Who Thought in Pictures, an illustrated story book about Temple Grandin.
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.
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.
Children on the autistic spectrum can find the idea of moving house unsettling, but there are things could do that might help. Click icon for an easy reading guide for parents.
Here are some basics from a support group in Philadelphia. It links to a more detailed guide.
Using social stories seems to be widely recommended and are said to be helpful to all young children with autism. Here is a social story template for children from Kidsmunicate – the speech therapy people, also in the Philadelphia. They also offer an accompanying guide to making your own social story.
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For key websites see Information.
Here is a nuanced article about Simon Baron-Cohen’s views on autism, written in 2011. He is a professor and director of Cambridge University’s Autism Research Centre. Click icon to view.
In this more recent article from 2020, the emphasis seems to have shifted a bit from understanding and addressing difficulties with autism to setting out the potential of the autistic mind. It reviews the book in which he describes autistic people as pattern seekers.
The LAPB is designed to try and improve support for autistic people. Have your say. Click icon for more information. See also history Email: Autism.Partnership@lincolnshire.gov.uk They launched a monthly newsletter Autism Lincs early 2017. See Issue 1 and click Past Issues at top left of screen to find all issues.
NICE is recommending that GPs in England keep a register of patients with autism in order to improve the care they receive. The guidance from NICE needs to be accepted by NHS England before it is put into practice in GP surgeries in England. See also NICE.
For those worried about data security see Should people register? The information is stored at the NHS data centre and can only be seen with permission. People have to explain why they need your information and what they plan to do with it. This means that agencies such as social services, schools etc should not have access to this information.
Carers UK is a charity which works to help carers by providing information, advice, support and by campaigning for change. Click icon for their website.
For information specifically for carers of adults see adult Care & Support.
If you need legal support for a case about your child, maybe to do with care or adoption, you may want to know about CAFCAS. It stands for Children and Family Court Advisory and Support Service. Their website has menus for both Young people and Grown-ups. Click icon to browse.
Here are some Top tips for dealing with CAFCAS from Net Mums. Also, it might also be worth bearing in mind that the people at CAFCAS may not know how to deal with a child on the autistic spectrum. This link to the National Autistic Society web page About autism could be useful if you wanted to print off some explanations that might help them to understand your child.
Things seem to have Improved according to Ofsted since 2008, when they found Progress inadequate, The Guardian reported on apparent Success in 2012 of a management initiative to make the “health and wellbeing of social workers a priority in the workplace”, which, the Guardian said, includes CAFCAS. Then in 2018 Ofstead published a glowing report.
This UK based website offers a wealth of information. It is a national charity that strives to improve the lives of children with neurological conditions, through research, information and direct, on-going support. Click icon for their website. They have an Advice & support page. Topics include legal, education and emotional
They also produce a toolkit that aims to support disabled people and carers, as well as their families and advisers, who are encountering difficulties with the statutory agencies in relation to the provision of health, social care and education support services. It was developed at Cardiff Law School. Click icon to view.
The Lincolnshire Learning Disability Partnership Board aims to make sure that different people, organisations and agencies work together to improve the lives of people with learning disabilities. Board members include: people with a learning disability, parents and carers.
Click icon for more about them. Email: Marie.osullivan@voiceability.org 01522 706 580 This group is quite separate from the Lincolnshire Autism Partnership.
Steve Silberman puts some flesh on the bones of this slogan with hard-headed analysis and vision. Click icon to view article. It has a 14 minute video at the bottom of the page that explains his thinking.
Just a quick tip: perhaps you could try using one of the following statements:
Click icon to find out how others have found their way through panic attacks. Also, someone with high-functioning Asperger’s describes their own experience dealing with anxiety.
How do you learn to go out of the house when you’ve got agoraphobia? Click icon to listen to a radio interview with Ellie.
The NHS section on not getting out, or Agoraphobia, gives us a pretty clear picture of established scientific opinion. Click icon to browse. There is a link to treatment – including self-help tips.
Searching the National Autistic Society site for agoraphobia leads to a page on anxiety. Although it is aimed at professionals It may provide some useful context. Click icon to view. Under the sub-heading Are autistic people more likely to be anxious? they include fear of open spaces and crowds.
They also have a handy article on Anxietyy in autistic adults. It provides links for autistic adults and parents.
Sensory processing disorder is another name for the condition referred to using similar names like Sensory integration difficulties. Click page icon to find out about it from Sensory integration education. Click PDF icon for their guide to accessing a practitioner. See also about us for their UK academic partnership, updated
The Sensory Processing Disorder website seems to have an international reach. For example see: UK mum. Click icon for an introduction. See: Q & A for the question and answer page, then scroll down for previous posts. You can post a question of your own if it has not already been answered. See also: About new
Occupational therapists may be able to help children and adults with sensory issues. Where might they be found? Click icon to help find out.
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Click icon to see an article from the National Autistic Society. They say that many people on the autism spectrum have difficulty processing everyday sensory information.
The National Autistic Society ran a public information campaign from 2015-18 called too much information. It addressed concerns surrounding autistic people becoming overwhelmed with too much for their minds to process. Click icon for the full picture. It may help to validate your own experience.
Options Autism has produced a helpsheet – Facing food challenges for those with autism & sensory processing differences. The author is one of their specialist occupational therapists. Click icon to view. Options Autism is the new name for Options Group.
Lunettes in George Shopping Centre, Grantham, NG31 6LH, offers SEND friendly eye care. Click icon for more information.
Specsavers in Lincoln High Street, LN5 7DW, held its first quiet clinic on Sunday 6th August 2017, 10am until 4pm with the next one being on Sunday 3rd September and then the first Sunday of every month, These clinics have been planned in consultation with local support groups such as Canadda and PAACT. Click icon for more information.
There is no shortage of advice for coping with sensory sensitivity when getting a child’s hair cut.
One barber has developed a unique technique where he will cut a child’s hair during long periods while sitting on the floor, on window sills or even in the car. See article with video clip.
Many of us dread the thought of visiting the dentist but for people with autism and/or learning difficulties it can be an especially challenging experience. Click icon for a helpsheet from Options autism
Also, this article was written by an autism parent after a trip to the dentist. The first half of this is the How Did We Get Here part. The second is How Can You Maybe Get Here part.
Linkage has a sensory toy library. The Linkage Sensory Library is a new venture that will bring fun, learning and the therapeutic benefits of using sensory equipment to people with disabilities, including those with learning difficulties, across Greater Lincolnshire. Click icon on the left for more information. They have sites in Toynton, Grimsby and from September 2017, Lincoln. They also have a touring bus. See also website.
Vibes are earplugs that are designed not to block outside noise, but to lower the volume. Like many people with autism, Noah, From Ohio, hears noises much, much louder than the rest of us. His father says Noah first tried them at a play, when he felt agitated by the noise. See: Vibes FAQ Amazon. There are also alternatives. Please be aware that GAIN is unable to vouch for any of the ear plugs.
This website aims to point people to sources of information and support that might help with the following:
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Not all of the pages on this site are shown in the navigation menus, though. Some are reached from a link on another page – quite often using the icon on the right. They have no menu highlighting. It might be helpful to go back to a previous page to see where you are.
See also: Menu guide site map
Click icon to catch up with the latest changes to the website. There are four categories to choose from. The display shows the first couple of lines of each page.
The National Autistic Society (NAS) offers a step by step guide to getting a referral for adult diagnosis. Click icon to see it. Your GP needs a reason to refer you for diagnosis, so you will have to explain why you think you could be autistic, and how a diagnosis would benefit you. They also recommend taking details of local services to your–GP. See also:
Once you have a referral you will want to know about the diagnostic assessment process. See: NAS guide.
One question to consider about a private diagnosis is how well it would be recognised.