Another Monday!

The Autism Network strikes again!

The best thing about Mondays at the moment is delivering a series of one-day in-depth ‘Understanding Autism’ courses for staff from an HSCP in Scotland for The Autism Network.

Each session we get a real mixture of staff from different teams across Health and Social Care. 

Each group has its own dynamic, some are much chattier than others, but every group seems to appreciate the day, and the feedback is always excellent.

A few observations;

• In every group of around 15 people, we will get someone who has or suspects they are autistic

• In every group, there will be at least a couple of parents of children with a neurodivergent condition

• The real ‘lightbulb moments’ are when we talk about sensory differences, particularly introducing the concept of interoception.

  Interoception is our internal sensory system that provides information to the brain about the internal state of the body. It helps understand things like hunger, thirst, pain, tiredness and emotions. It is our body’s ability to feel what’s happening internally. It is often overlooked when we are thinking about an autistic person’s sensory differences.

Most importantly:

• People learn more when they can relate it to their own experience (home, work, community) and ask questions.

• This is why face-to-face learning is so much better than on-line.

• If you think that online training is more cost-effective, you aren’t measuring real impact.  

• Sometimes, ‘ticking the box ‘ has its place, but at least be honest and say that’s what you are doing.

This is why I love to travel and meet groups of people who want to learn more about autism in a way that can make a difference.

That way, I can be flexible about what I am talking about to meet the specific needs of each group.

Experience of supporting autistic people in all types of settings helps me to do this.

What do you think? Let’s work together. Get in touch here.