So last weekend saw me travelling firstly to Birmingham for a brilliant Course Beetle Masterclass in Autism (check out other Masterclasses, workshops and courses on their website). This was led by Dr Dougal Hare who has years of experience in the field of Autism. It was really thought provoking and actually made me change some of my thinking about what we ‘know’ about Autism. Lots of theory but also some practical ideas and confirmation that supporting social skills is one of the most important things we can do for individuals who are Autistic. This was great to hear as we spend a lot of time working on social skills and social understanding for primary and secondary aged children/ adolescents as well as adults.
Following the Masterclass I travelled down to London to the ASLTIP conference for a cocktail party and dinner on Friday night for local group coordinators; I coordinate our local group of independent therapists. If you are desperately trying to find some therapy for your family member or yourself, do check out the ASLTIP website – all you have to do is put in a postcode search and it will come up with people in your area that can help! Simples?!
The conference this year was full of exciting topics keeping us all on the top of our game and learning about new approaches. I was really interested to hear about PROMPT therapy, a tactile kinaesthetic approach to motor speech disorders, and in particular the research behind the approach. Check out my colleague Justine’s website for more information.
I’m hoping for a quieter weekend this weekend but there are lots of reports to write and courses to plan so we’ll see!
More from the Ginger Speechie next week….