We just wanted to let people know, that the pavements and residential roads around Red Hill House have a lot of ice on them at the moment, so we want people to be aware if they’re taking public transport, etc.

I recently found a YouTube channel called History Scope, which had quite a thorough “History of Autism” video.

The video revealed it had been created by an autistic person, giving it a personal insight, and the description contained the list of sources and citations for those who wish to check the historical claims themselves.

We thought it was worth sharing with people, please enjoy.

The Government has published its draft bill to change mental health laws in England and Wales. This is a huge step forward in the campaign to stop the scandal of autistic people being wrongly detained and stuck in mental health hospitals. But it must be accompanied by urgent investment in social care and mental health services, so that autistic people have the right support in the community.

The draft bill proposes some important changes for autistic people, including:

• Changing the definition of “mental disorder” in the Mental Health Act so it no longer includes autism, which should help prevent the wrongful detention of autistic people who do not have a mental health condition.
• Introducing a duty for councils, NHS England and local health decision makers to provide enough of the right community services to prevent autistic people reaching crisis point, and having to stay in an institution because there is nowhere else to go.
• Making Care and Treatment Review actions enforceable, helping autistic people get discharged from hospitals sooner.

We just wanted to let anyone who would have been joining us tonight on Calvins YouTube channel know, that unfortunately due to unforseen circumstances we won’t be able do our usual Stream.

 

We should be back on Friday at our regular time slot of 7:30 pm.

Bilingualism in autism: Language learning profiles and social experiences

Lay abstract

Bilingualism changes the way people relate to others. This is particularly interesting in the case of autism, where social interaction presents many challenges. A better understanding of the overlap between the social variations of bilingualism and autism could unveil new ways to support the social experiences of autistic people. This research aims to understand the language learning and social experiences of autistic people who speak one, two or more languages.

A total of 297 autistic adults (aged between 16 and 80 years) completed an online questionnaire that included general demographic questions, social life quality self-rating questions, language history questions, and open questions about the respondents’ bilingualism experience. Respondents had a wide range of language experiences: there were 89 monolingual English speakers, 98 bilinguals, 110 respondents knew three languages or more, all with a wide range of abilities in their languages. In the full group, younger respondents were more satisfied with their social life, and respondents with many languages were more satisfied with their social life than respondents with few languages.

In the multilingual group, younger respondents were more satisfied with their social life, and the more skilled in their third language the more satisfied with their social life. This is the first study describing the language history and social experiences of a large group of bilingual and multilingual autistic adults. It highlights how autistic people can encounter a new language, learn it and use it in their daily life, and how their bilingualism experiences shape their social life.

How to Skype

Some of our assessments can be carried out via video call on Skype. Skype is a programme
used to establish video and audio contact between individuals, and is similar to FaceTime. In order to use Skype, you will require a device on which it can be installed, such as mobile phones or tablets, on which the app can be installed from Google Play or the App Store.

• Computers and laptops, where Skype can be downloaded from its website on PC or Mac

The device you wish to use must also be connected to a camera. Most phones and tablets will have one built in, but for desktop computers you may require a webcam or other form of camera.

The next thing you will need is a Skype account. This will require you to enter either a phone number or an email address, as shown in the images below on . The website will then ask you to choose a password for your account. Your phone number/email address and password will act as login details for your account.

Our clinicians use different accounts to carry out assessment, and you will be informed as to how to connect with them prior to your session.

Make sure that we have the contact details associated with your Skype address (username or associated email address/phone number) by sending it to our enquiries email address: enquiries@axia-asd.co.uk. Our clinician will contact you to begin the assessment at the allotted start time. However, if you have not received any contact twenty minutes after the assessment was due to commence, please contact our office on 01244 56 75 56.

The assessment will take place over the course of two hours. To ensure that this goes smoothly, please make sure that you have access to a stable internet connection and that for the duration of the session you are seated in a well-lit area so that the clinician is able to see you or whoever is being assessed.

If you have any difficulties or additional questions, please do not hesitate to contact us at our enquiries email address listed above, or ring us on the phone number also given above.

Hi all,

 

Our clinic room, formerly known as the ‘Blue Room’, has now had its furniture replaced with fresh, fabulous, and fashionable fixtures, more fitted to the Feng Shui.

 

In light of this makeover, we’re looking for a new name for the room, and we thought it best to open discussion up to Axia’s clients to see what (ideally appropriate) names you can come up with!

 

Please put your suggestions in the comments below, or click ‘Like’ on the ones you think are best.

 

Be aware that we will be monitoring for inappropriate or offensive comments, so please be nice!

Hi all,

Given the uncertain circumstances that we currently are facing, Axia would like to increase its streaming output with the intention of providing some outreach and entertainment for anybody who would like to join in.

In addition to our usually scheduled Tuesday evening stream (which at the moment consists of alternating between Spyro: Reignited Trilogy and Marvel’s Spider-Man week by week), we would like to introduce the following:

We welcome suggestions if anybody has any. We are currently able to stream Playstation 4 games, but are investigating the possibility of being able to play games on the Switch, such as Animal Crossing: New Horizons, and Zelda: Breath of the Wild.

The Future is Gold

Dr Luke Beardon,
Autopia (Autism Utopia)

Where/when the world becomes weirdly normal (or where/when weird becomes the new normal)

‘My hypothesis is that there is a pervasive and invidious pattern of thought, behaviour, and belief that is at the heart of a societal ‘norm’, that is, in effect, destroying Autistic lives.

Assumptions are made by people, knowingly or not – ‘if you’ve met one Autistic person, you’ve met them all’ – the idea that good practice is to ‘…consider the other treatments such as psychological interventions’ (NICE guidelines). The need for an Autism awareness day/week/month is exactly representative of the problem.

You have to be problematised before you are allowed to be Autistic. ‘Conform to the norm or be deemed in the wrong…’. The assumption that ‘you have to fit in with society to be considered healthy’ is farce, and sadly perpetuates these negative assumptions.

These views can be found institutionally, as many professionals speak of Autism in the context of a ‘cure’. The concept of Autopia is ‘when Autism becomes an identity rather than a medical diagnostic label’.

The Equality Duty protects people based on factors such as age, gender, sexuality, but for these qualities, absolutely no proof is required – whereas for Autistic people, who in many environments must provide evidence of their diagnosis in order to receive the protection afforded to others passively, the Equality Duty itself could then be considered inherently discriminatory.

Autopia recognises the importance of self-identification. The (formal) identification ought to be there for those who choose it; ought to be timely and understanding of the fact that waiting for a diagnosis can be akin to putting a life on hold; should be holistic and geared toward the individual, and should reject time-conscious diagnostic processes.

The inclusion concept of Autopia is centred around acceptance, need, wellbeing, belonging and understanding – it opposes the notion of inclusion, as the word has been bastardised into what is essentially now a parallel of its original meaning, which is supposed to embody the qualities listed above. Too often it is synonymous with integration, or practice being the same for all parties.

• Autism + Environment = Disability
• Predominant neurotype-based concept need to be translated before they are applied in an Autistic context – just because it works well for neurotypical people, do not assume that the same is true for Autistic people, as experiences that may be thought to be helpful can actually be deeply damaging to the point of trauma.
• The amount of energy put into effecting change should warrant the intended outcome.

Education in Autopia would see that Autistic students accessing learning from Autistic teachers, experience alternate forms of education (such as in outdoor environments, museums, yurts, or having dimmer switches in a classroom to cater for sensory sensitivities), assessments are provided through alternate methods (verbal, coursework, use of laptops, etc.), have assessments examine actual knowledge, rather than the means a student possesses to operate within a system. And education isn’t even the full scope of it; limitations are put on students based on where they can eat, where they can do, what they are allowed to do and more.

Socially, Autopia would see the end of the assumption that more friends means greater happiness, have an acceptance that solitary activity may be beneficial for some people, create an understanding that Autistic skills are as valid as neurotypical skills, accept that social chit-chat is rubbish and unnecessary for many.

Employment would be changed in that job descriptions ought to reflect an accurate layout of roles, that Autistic people have agency over how their roles within their occupation changes over time, that a greater range of application processes be made available, that interviews become an obsolete form of application for jobs, to annihilate the idea of open-plan offices (and telephones with them), to stop unexpected approaches, etc. Basically, just not applying neurotypical logic to Autistic needs and preferences.

We took some notes from the conference that took place yesterday that we wanted to share.

I should express that it is paraphrased and therefore has been put through the lens of my own interpretation, so it may not reflect 100% the intended meaning of the speakers.

The Future is Gold – Autism Conference

Jamie and Lion – The Future of Technology

Any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic

Jamie is a Senior Research Engineer at the BBC, the goal of which is to improve accessibility for disabled people.

Impairment + Environment = Disability
I.e. we disable people by creating barriers in the environment; impairment is not inherently disabling.

What technology (or magic) can we use to remove these barriers?

These barriers can relate to environment (around us), automation (assisting us), and communication (connecting us).

Environment – ‘Things we do, before we do any things.’
Spoons. Each day we have a number of spoons that we can spend on activities (it may require two spoons to provide food for the day, three spoons on safety, and four spoons on communication – but if you only have eight spoons in one day, this creates a problem, as you don’t have enough spoons to cope with activities for the day), and this number of spoons can vary day-to-day.
By implementing changes to the environment, we could reduce the number of spoons it takes to carry out tasks. For example, introducing smart appliances to cook food will reduce the number of spoons it requires to prepare food. Similarly, installing a smart alarm will reduce the number of spoons required to ensure safety.

A good example of using the magic of technology to thrive is through the use of VR. VR can provide a portable sensory room for people to use to relax, or build and explore worlds outside of our reality, which can be stressful and uncontrollable

Automation – ‘Reducing demands.’
Abilities – list of things I can do
Capabilities – list of things I can do today
Capacity – how many of those things I can do today
The magic of automation can be used to reduce the number of things that need to be done, so that we can do more that we want to, likewise, automating transportation (Alexa, take me to a shop that sells Rolos), and services (Alexa, book me a haircut) will also reduce the demands required of us so that we can do more.

Communication – ‘Conveying meaning and co-ordinating action.’
Communication and speech are different.
‘The Communication Mountain’ describes that speech lies at the top of a mountain, and it is the job of communication to reach the top of the mountain – some days, when things are easier and needs are met, speech is easily attainable, but on other days (perhaps days with fewer spoons) communication that can be made without the use of speech will be preferred.
Shortcuts to communication are currently available, such as speech synthesisers on Smart Watches (to allow for effective communication without the requirement for speech), or messaging/posting apps.
Re-packaging, or re-interpreting (in the BBC, this comes in the form of translating speech into subtitles and sign language), allows for information to be more freely accessible for people with differing communication needs.

Steve Silberman, author of Neurotribes

The early ideas for the book came from writing an article for Wired Magazine entitled Geek Syndrome.

Over the course of his career, Steve came into contact with more and more professionals who were Autistic, or who had Autistic family members. Around the time that Steve’s research had come to a head and his research and findings were to be posted, 9/11 took place, and as a result, the article hit the backburners. In the years following, Autism was theorised to be caused by a menagerie of factors, the biggest of which being silicon in water supplies (hence the large number of Autistic people living and working in Silicon Valley, *GASP*), and the the most pervasive, being vaccines.

Steve’s research challenged his understanding a lot of the theories and models that had been suggested up to that point to try to explain Autism, and was alienated from those models as a result. When researching Neurotribes, Steve attended an ‘Autism retreat’ with a bus-full of Autistic people (bearing in mind, up to this point, the general consensus was that Autistic people would never have friends or social connections and never arise to any conceivably successful job prospects), all of whom appeared happy, sociable, and thoroughly enjoying eachother’s company.

Of course, this had completely subverted the ‘textbook’ description of Autistic people and given a true lived experience of neurodiverse lifestyle and how neurotypicality enforces unnecessary social rules on individuals. As a neurotypical on a retreat with an Autistic group, over the course of the holiday, Steve had un-learned many of these social rules and acclimatised to a communication style that he (and the rest of the neurotypical world) was unaccustomed to.

Up to this point, Leo Kanner, the psychiatrist who ‘discovered’ Autism, had theorised (among the multitude of other theories he spouted) that it was caused by refrigerator parents (cold, unloving parents), and disproportionately affected white, middle-class, ambitious, studious individuals, A.K.A. white, middle-class, ambitious, studious individuals, the only population who could afford to have access to Leo Kanner himself.

Steve spoke at length about the role of Hans Aspergers in the emergence of Autism, as well as the recent controversy surround his supposed Nazi associations and will be discussing this topic in forthcoming writings, sharing his depth of knowledge and unique insights into what is a thoroughly interesting and controversial debate.

Jerry Rothwell – Filmmaker behind The Reason I Jump

The Reason I Jump was originally a book written by a 12 year old non-verbal Autistic boy named Naoki Higashida, who, when it came to the film being made (at the age of 23), expressed that he did not want it to be biographical, so that he did not come across as ‘the voice for Autistic people’.

Naoki is Japanese and uses a piece of paper with letters of the alphabet that he can point at to communicate words

The film covers five main themes:

• Hyperfocus
• Sensory overload
• Communication
• Stigma
• As I am

The film follows the lives of young people living in different cultures (UK, US, Indian and African) relating to these themes, expressing how they live their lives and the challenges they face.