Welcome to 2005

Autism Victoria has a busy year planned.

The first session of the 2005 Autism Victoria Seminar Series is on the 15th February with an interesting session for parents, carers and teachers of children with Asperger Syndrome or High Functioning Autism.  Our speaker, Alison Brown, will address the social, emotional and intellectual needs of these children.  She is a psychologist, with a particular interest in giftedness.  Click here to download a booking form (pdf document) with full details.

From the 8th to 14th May, all focus will be on a variety of local events and media stories assembled for Autism Awareness Week.

The Autism Victoria State Conference will be held on the 19th and 20th July, with Keynote Speakers Rita Jordan and Wendy Lawson.

After some hiccups, the Launch Issue of our new magazine, The Spectrum, finally hit letterboxes on the last day in January.  Our magazine has a modern, crisp look, and information will be easier to find.  Some of the items in the Launch Issue include:

• Sharks and Everything – a report about Miles Howard-Wilks’ first solo art exhibition, written by his mother, Liz Wilks.  Miles is a client of Arts Project Australia who organised this most successful event - www.artsproject.org.au .  One of Miles’ train paintings has provided a stunning cover for The Spectrum.

• Journeying Through Adolescence – two inspiring items from parents of Victorian teenagers with autism.  Jake wants to be like his brother – drive, drink and go to work, and Luke just likes to run.

• New items in the Autism Victoria Library, including some books about Autism in Vietnamese.

…plus news about lobbying, awareness and support group activities, forthcoming information sessions and new research projects.

All financial members of Autism Victoria receive a copy of The Spectrum.  If you are not a member, why not join up now – membership details are on our website – www.autismvictoria.org.au - click  ‘Become a Member NOW’.

Events

The Events Calendar on the Autism Victoria web site now lists all forthcoming events that are notified to us.  Some of Events currently listed include:

Autism Victoria State Conference, July 19 and 20, 2005 – Keynote Speakers:  Dr Rita Jordan (UK) and Ms Wendy Lawson (Australia)

Expressions of Interest for presentations, displays, exhibitions and special events, such as a book launch or social event are now invited.  Autism Victoria would also like to hear from anyone with suggestions for the conference and exhibition, and from those wishing to volunteer their time to assist with the organisation and staging of this event.  Sponsorship packages are also available.  The attached document has full details and an Expression of Interest form.  Closing dates for Proposals and Expressions of Interest is Friday 25th February 2005.

The program will be developed in March, and registrations will open late March.  Details will be sent out with eSpectrum, the Autumn issue of The Spectrum, and will be posted on our web site.

Autism Awareness Week in Victoria – 8th to 14th May 2005  -  “Through the eyes of Autism”

Autism Awareness Week provides an impetus for groups and agencies in Victoria to organise specific activities or campaigns to increase the awareness of Autism Spectrum Disorder in the community.  A4 – Autism Aspergers Advocacy Australia - have recently written about the value of this grassroots approach to increasing awareness of a cause or condition.

The Autumn issue of The Spectrum will contain a Calendar of Victorian Autism Week Events and contact details, so that everyone concerned about Autism Spectrum Disorder awareness has a chance to participate.

If you are organising an event or campaign please send the details to the Autism Victoria office no later than Friday 4th March 2005 for inclusion on the Calendar.  You can email details to info@autismvictoria.org.au or you can notify the details of an event on our web page – go to the Events Calendar and complete the form.  Items that we receive after the cut off date will be included on our web site and in a future edition of eSpectrum.

If you have any ideas for an Awareness Week activity, please let us know as soon as possible – this was how the ‘Pin a Pollie’ idea became a wonderfully successful event in 2004.  Autism Victoria has some resources available to assist groups – with ideas, consultancy, posters, lapel pins and promotional opportunities.

The International Meeting for Autism Research

The 2005 IMFAR meeting will be held in Boston, Massachusetts.  Information about the meeting and the Call for Submissions can be found at http://conferences.ucdavis.edu/imfar .  Dates are Thursday 5th May to Saturday 7th May 2005 .  IMFAR are pleased to announce that the Lifetime Achievement Award 2005 will go to Dr Lorna Wing.  This is a highly regarded conference attended by researchers from around the world.

Special St Valentine’s Day Concert, Castlemaine

Splash Management Pty Ltd & the Castlemaine Art Gallery are presenting a concert of famous love songs and duets from opera and Broadway, featuring Jennifer Schatzle, Soprano, Michael J Smith, Tenor and Peter Butler, Accompanist.  This event is raising funds to provide specialist therapy and educations services for children with autism and their families in the Central Goldfields region of Victoria.  Bookings can be made by contacting Splash Management on 03-5470 6801 or Castlemaine Art Gallery on 03-5472 2292.

Lobbying and Consumer Consultation

Politicians and Autism Spectrum Disorder

More and more members of parliament are getting to their feet and talking about Autism Spectrum Disorders and how it affects their constituents.  A private members bill seeking a better deal for people with an Autism Spectrum Disorder and their families was introduced into Federal Parliament in the last session.  Questions are being asked on a semi-regular basis in state parliament as well.  If you would like to be kept informed about Autism Spectrum Disorder action in parliament, go to the A4 web site at www.a4.org.au and become a member.  A4 send out regular member updates via email.  And what about introducing your family to your local member of parliament – it is easy to ring up and make an appointment!

People Power, a new political party to provide Political Representation to Australians affected by disability

The primary objective of People Power is to develop political representation for people with disabilities, mental and chronic illnesses and their families and carers.  In a recent release, People Power noted that there are 2.7 million family/carers of people with a disability or a chronic or mental illness in Australia.  Along with people with a disability or chronic illness, this is a large bloc that is not represented in politics.  “We are the most unrepresented and hidden community in Australia.”

“The Greens have shown how to put environmental issues on the public agenda - every election their preferences decide the outcome of seats.  Is it possible for us to put our issues on the agenda using the same strategy?  People Power has submitted an application for registration as a federal political party, and will contest the next round of state elections in Victoria, New South Wales, Queensland and South Australia.”

The People Power website is at http://www.peoplepower.org.au .

Autism Victoria Policy Committee

If you are interested in assisting in the development of policies relevant to Victoria and Autism Spectrum Disorder, you are invited to nominate for the Autism Victoria Policy Committee, which will be formed early in 2005.  Please email an expression of interest to Amanda Golding at admin@autismvictoria.org.au .

Autism Victoria Professional Panel

Autism Victoria is also forming a Professional Panel early in 2005, and expressions of interest are sought from suitably qualified and experienced Victorian based professionals.  A copy of the nomination form and selection criteria is attached – closing date is Friday 18th February 2005.

Victorian Department of Human Services Project – Participation in Your Health Service System

This project will inform government policy relating to participation in the acute (hospital) and subacute (rehabilitation) health sectors.  A Consultation Paper has been prepared and responses are being sought by the department from consumers.  This document can be accessed at www.health.vic.gov.au/consumer .  Whilst the issues examined in this paper do not necessarily apply to persons with an Autism Spectrum Disorder, it may be relevant to those requiring health related services.

Resources

The words we use – what do they convey?

At the National Autism Conference in Canberra last year, a comment by the Keynote Speaker, Professor Christopher Gillberg, caught an Autism Victoria member’s attention.  Gillberg said that we should try not to use the phrase “high functioning autism” as it implies “a milder form of autism”.  He explained that a person has autism and can be high functioning but that all people diagnosed with autism have significant difficulties irrespective of their cognitive or intellectual capacity.

Autism Consultation & Training Team - ACT-NOW

In 2004 the Monash University Centre for Developmental Psychiatry and Psychology were funded by the Victorian Department of Human Services to deliver a program that will train and support early intervention service providers working with young children with an Autism Spectrum Disorder.  The ACT-NOW team have developed an informative web site that will contain training event details, information materials and tip sheets.  The site can be found at http://www.med.monash.edu.au/psychmed/units/devpsych/actnow/

Teen Web Forum

Two teenagers from the United States have created a website for teenagers with Asperger Syndrome.  The website is intended to provide a forum for its members to communicate with one another.  There is also an articles section and an Asperger chat room for real-time communication among members.  To check it out go to www.wrongplanet.net

NOTE:  As with any internet site we strongly recommend parents supervise their children and teens closely.

Toon Boom Animation Software

Toon Boom Studio is animation software originally designed for schools and web design agencies to produce 2D animation.  The software producers have noticed that Toon Boom Studio has proved beneficial to some children with an Autism Spectrum Disorder, especially those with Asperger Syndrome.  See http://www.toonboom.com/pdf/tbs/2003/success_WillemHattingh.pdf for a story about a young American boy with autism.

Parents and teachers who have purchased this software for their autistic children believe Toon Boom Studio offers a way for their child to communicate more freely and provides an outlet for their creativity.  Karen Heese from Toon Boom Animation Inc. can be contacted at karen@toonboom.com and their web site is at http://www.toonboom.com .

Sing to Speak – Songs for Language Development

Sing to Speak uses the power of music to help language-impaired children gain new skills.  Through the use of song, children can learn to answer basic questions such as “What is your name?”, label colours, name body parts, and how to imitate.  Based on principles used in Freeman’s Teach Me Language (No. 1394 in the Autism Victoria Library) and Maurice’s Behavioural Intervention For Young Children with Autism (No.1251), the kit comes in CD format and can be tailored to include your child’s name in some of the songs.  For further information see their website at www.singtospeak.com .

Audio CD recordings from the Biennial Australian Autism Conference

This Conference was held in October 2004 in Canberra.  The audio of the six conference sessions were recorded and limited copies are available to purchase.  CD’s can be bought singly or as a set ($AUD65.00).  For details and to place orders contact Roxanne Coghlan on 02-6242 5353 or email jimrox@netspeed.com.au .  Autism Victoria has placed a set of the discs in our library for members to borrow.

Requests

Combined Charities Christmas Shop – Volunteers Needed

Each year Autism Victoria sells a large number of Christmas Cards at this shop that is run by VCOSS – the Victorian Council of Social Services.  As a participating charity, we are required to recruit volunteers to help run the shop during the pre Christmas period.  Our current volunteers are all advancing in years and are not able to continue, so we need to recruit some new volunteers.  This is an ideal way for extended family members to ‘help out’.  If you know of someone who maybe interested in supporting Autism Victoria by supporting the Combined Charities Christmas Shop please contact Amanda – admin@autismvictoria.org.au or Carol – office@autismvictoria.org.au at Autism Victoria.

Piano or Music Teacher Wanted

A member of Autism Victoria wants to know of any Melbourne based piano or music teachers with an understanding of autism.  Charlie writes “Our son loves singing, and has recently started to play tunes on the piano from his favourite children's videos.  We'd like to see if he can be taught more by someone experienced with autism.  Please call me on 03-9894 3244 or email charlie.sorel@hillross.com.au with details.”

Accommodation in Melbourne wanted

Susan Wiggins writes:  “I'm a 30 year old Queensland lady with Aspergers Syndrome and could be shifting to Melbourne to study in the near future.  I'll be needing accommodation with older people or someone my age who isn't a party animal.  If you know of anything not too far from transport and the city, please reply to me at wiggisue2001@yahoo.com.au .”

eSpectrum is compiled and distributed by Autism Victoria Inc.  All information is included in good faith, and is current at time of release.  Queries and comments should be directed to Amanda Golding, Executive Officer, Autism Victoria at admin@autismvictoria.org.au