AutTreats

05/05/2024

Love this! Also - if you want a drink, just ask! It’s nerve wracking for the home owner to know what’s appropriate.

*Visiting an autistic person’s home - Information for tradespeople*

A lovely person who follows the page messaged me, following a very stressful visit from a tradesperson who had messed her around with timings and ended up turning up ridiculously early, then went on to be quite hostile to her when she was upset. She asked if we could make an information sheet for her to send to her letting agent to try to avoid future problematic encounters.

We put our heads together and came up with this (alrhough to be fair most of the ideas were hers!)

If this is something you would find useful, please feel free to share it with your letting agent, or with any tradespeople before they visit your home.

I’m very aware that everyone is different, and each scenario will not be relevant to everyone. If you’d like it tweaking to match your own needs, please do let me know and I’ll happily do that for you.

29/04/2024

Absolutely

👏👏👏

[I shouldn't have to be in crisis, for you to believe I am distressed.
~Charly, aged 11]

Credit Yellow Ladybugs 💛

28/04/2024

YES!!

07/04/2024

Great info graphic x I found parties so stressful as a kid (and adult!) I was so happy to be invited, but they always made me feel so ill from the anxiety and overwhelm.

-CHILDREN'S PARTIES-

I think it’s not uncommon for many of us neurodivergent folk to struggle with children’s parties. I myself even remember hanging on shyly to my mother as a child instead of taking part, and my son has always been pretty party-phobic! My eldest always loved the idea of parties, but the reality was often very different!

We have put our heads together and come up with some ideas about what could be potentially challenging to a neurodivergent child, based on our experiences.

The first one that we all said was BALLOONS!!!

They’re all over the place, children are hitting each other with them, and they have the potential to go BANG at any moment. Even now being around balloons makes me prickle a little bit!! My youngest said, ‘But surely you can’t have a party without balloons?’ (even though he hates them). And I think this is something worth thinking about.

Would it be the end of the world to not have balloons?

Would it be a useful discussion to have with a child – ‘I know you like balloons, but your party would be great without them anyway, and it could mean that X would be able to come and enjoy themselves.’ What a great way to help a child to think inclusively.

Would there be alternatives to balloons if children wanted something to throw around? Soft squishy balls, pool noodles, foam fingers?

ANYWAY, on top of balloons, there’s all the other sensory stuff –
- loud music (does it have to be ear splittingly loud? Could you maybe just make it a bit quieter?)

-party food – cake, jelly, sausage rolls (maybe a parent/carer could be told in advance what was going to be available, so that they could bring their own snacks if needed)

- lots of hustle and bustle and people banging into each other (could you have a quiet area sectioned off?)

Then not forgetting, all of the PEOPLE:

- walking in when the party is already underway (could you maybe invite them a little early and maybe even see if they would like to help set up?)

-parents sitting around the edge of the room watching

-being expected to eat next to someone you don’t know

Then of course are the party games:
-Having to listen to and understand rules in a busy and noisy environment (could you speak to the parent/carer before the party and fill them in on what games will be played?)

-Will everyone get a prize? What if I don’t like my prize? OVERWHELM!

-Activities changing quickly – just enjoying one thing then suddenly it changes to something else (maybe you could give a little advanced warning before something changes?)

Honestly even just writing this now and thinking about previous parties is making me feel a little bit tight chested!!

Of course I’m not suggesting that every party should be exclusively tailored around an autistic child’s needs. HOWEVER, imagine the difference it could make to that child if some of their triggers are removed.

If you can, I’d always suggest talking to a parent/carer before a party to see if there’s anything that would make things a little easier for their child, as of course everyone is different.

And what an amazing way for our younger generation to normalise making accommodations for their neurodivergent peers.

If you’re reading this thinking ‘but why should I/ my child have to change our plans for one person?’ then these are the exact thoughts we need to be challenging!

What do you think? What do you think would be helpful at birthday parties?



[Image description for accessibility:
Title reads: Potential triggers for our ND children at a party: (Then in no particular order )
- Balloons
- Not knowing the structure of the event/what’s going to happen
- Playing a game where not everyone wins a prize
- Sitting at a table with someone you don’t know
- Party food
- Not having somewhere to decompress
- Very loud music
- Activities constantly changing with little or no warning
- Walking in when the party is already underway
- Being unsure of ‘rules’ of games]

29/03/2024

Interesting and enlightening article on nonspeaking autistics (note - non verbal isn’t generally used in the autistic community as noises is being verbal) x

Spelling to communicate (S2C) changed one young woman's life.

15/03/2024

Simple accommodations that can be put into place that work with the pupil in a way that lessens anxiety and gets a better outcome.... then no joined up thinking and inflexibility, let alone awful communication, making everything so much worse and unnecessary anxiety for the pupil and lower attendance for the school. I have no words, but this happens all too often!

09/03/2024

I used to get so many bright ideas, sign up, only to never complete, or I’d go to some training and come back thinking what a waste of time. I didn’t learn anything new! No practical steps to take, just a load of waffle I couldn’t decipher into action steps that would really help me.

I’m so passionate about One to Many because it’s the only thing I’ve completed all the way to the end, implemented the learning rather than notes in a notebook on a bookshelf never to be looked at again AND it changed my whole life.

It enabled me to take my ideas (thousands of them lol) and put them through a roadmap type process to implement them. My whole untangled online eco system (podcast, planner, group, courses, 1:1, lunch and learn days, membership, workshops etc) has been developed from what I learned on this course.

If you’re even vaguely interested you do not want to miss the email coming out early this afternoon from Lisa.

Trust me when I say - THE TIME IS NOW. Don’t put it off!

Inbox/whatsapp me if you have questions!

09/02/2024

Love this! Should be used as a teacher training exercise!

WE USED SCHOOL RULES, A BEHAVIOUR CHART AND STICKERS ON ADULTS - HERE IS WHAT HAPPENED
(Written by Hanna, Clinical Psychologist at Spectrum Gaming)

Hello! We’ve had a very busy start to the year including trying out a new activity as part of the Autism in Schools train the trainer project. A lot of the content of the training is based on anti-behaviourist practice, but we recognise that behaviourist practice is “normal”, so we wanted to give the participants the opportunity to reflect on the experience of reward based systems.

I put my crafting skills to the test to make a reward chart and Andy grabbed his chalk board and we got to thinking about what (quite typical school) rules we wanted the group to follow. We decided that we would ask the group to follow these rules for 30 minutes, if they broke a rule they would move into the ‘rainy cloud’ and if they were following the rules they would move up into the ‘sunny’ section (and have the chance of getting a sticker!)

We had a string of messages between us questioning whether we were really going to do this and whether we needed to begin the activity with taking fully informed consent from the group. I was worried about the potential discomfort of the participants..what if they felt shame? What if they weren't able to do the things that make them feel comfortable? I was quickly reminded that young people often don’t have the option to opt out of compliance based systems.

So, we went ahead and I’m so glad we did! It generated really interesting discussions. One participant noticed that they were so focused on the chart that they didn’t take in any of the content of the presentation. Various members spoke about having to suppress their needs and that they weren’t able to put in strategies to support their learning, like taking notes on a tablet or moving, for fear of ending up in the ‘rainy cloud’. One of the participants who was put in the ‘rainy cloud’ spoke about the impact on his motivation to listen to the content and follow the rules, with him thinking ‘what's the point’ and ‘I can do what I want now’!

Reward based systems mean that learners have to internalise their needs in order to comply, even if meeting these needs is important for feeling safe and being able to learn.

In our practice, we see the impact these systems have on young people. Young people talk about feelings of fear and extreme levels of stress they have experienced as a result of reward/ behaviour charts. Interestingly a lot of the young people who struggled with them the most were always on the “good side”, but they were still incredibly scared of being in trouble or being the centre of attention within class. They focused so much on “good behaviour” that they weren’t able to learn.

If you are someone who has used rewards in the past (like me!) this post isn’t intended to create guilt or shame, but instead an invitation to join us in advocating for neurodiversity affirming practices.

06/02/2024

Love this analogy. I wish society would recognise that just because one brain wiring is a majority, it doesn’t make the others inferior.

I caused a small explosion in a child’s brain on Saturday (metaphorically speaking).

I was in Chippenham for a Rubik’s cube tournament, and a competitor I know came along his brother (8 years old and autistic) for the first time. His mum pointed me out, saying “this is Chris – he’s autistic too! He’s got the same kind of awesome brain that you have!”
The boy was immediately dismissive, saying “autism isn’t a good thing, it just means you think different to everyone. Why’s that good?”
He may have asked this rhetorically, but I gave a genuine answer. There was an opportunity here.

“Do you want to know why autism exists?” I asked.
“Why?”
I sat down to give my answer. (And a quick disclaimer- I didn’t come up with this on the spot. I speak professionally about neurodiversity using this analogy, and it works well.)

“Ok, imagine you have ten people on a desert island, they have one hour to build a shelter before a storm arrives, and all of them have exactly the same brain. They only have one set of ideas, one way of looking at the problem, and will probably only come up with one solution.
But now imagine you have ten different people on that island – one’s neurotypical, one’s autistic, one’s dyslexic, one has ADHD and so on.
THAT way, you have TEN different sets of ideas, and they’re ten times more likely to get that shelter built- as long as they listen to each other.”

He looked like he immediately understood. Then I finished by saying:
“THAT’s why autism exists. Because humans do so much better when they can think about problems in lots of different ways!”

And then BANG. The look on his face…
People talk all the time about seeing the instant someone has an “I get it!” moment, but in my experience they’re rarely as stark as that boy’s face – from the wide expanding of the eyes, to the looking away from me in a moment of “wow, I need to process this for a second”.

Best moment of the day, by far. (And this was a day when I solved a 7x7x7 cube in under seven minutes. Three times.)

One of my ‘catchphrases’ when speaking is “human progress relies on diversity of thought”. It’s a fact that our species relies on, which is all too easily forgotten when we're too busy pathologising difference, or treating autistic people as inferior (and when autistic people are busy obediently believing it).

Like I said, I don’t just use this analogy with children. I use it with companies when discussing why neurodiversity in the workplace isn’t just a piece of performative inclusion, but an active part in improving your company. I use it in school staff training. I use it in general conversation while geeking out about neurodiversity.

I won't be forgetting the look in that boy’s face for a long time. In a day packed with speedsolving Rubik’s cubes, that was by far the most important moment.

29/01/2024

If I’m concentrating at looking at you, I’m not concentrating on what you’re saying!