Axia Conference – Feedback Analysis

“Perspectives from the Spectrum”
CONFERENCE – NOVEMBER 2015
FEEDBACK

95 Attendees.
61 feedback evaluation forms completed.

RATING SCALE 1 (Poor) 2-4 (Good) 5 (Excellent)

Please find detailed below some of the feedback we received which is broadly illustrative of the overall feedback.

Here are the verbatim comments:

“Brilliant day – always worth the journey from Wales.”

“An excellent experience – extremely informative….. Thank you!”

“Fruit/Cakes available please.”

“A designated quite space. Too hot! More food, clearly labelled what’s inside it. Somewhere with better public transport links.”

“You could not get such information, insights and consideration anywhere else. Thank you Linda, Calvin and Carly.”

“Very interesting and information to hear. Luke Beardon a good choice of speaker.”

“I found the relaxed interactive theme of the day very beneficial and had a couple of questions answered that have been confusing me since my son’s diagnosis. Very enlightening day, very pleased I attended. Thank you.”

“Good venue. Better if there were two or more microphones. Learned a lot.”

“An excellent course but I think the lunch break could have been much shorter.”

“Can we have more talks on understanding Autism and also how to explain and help the Autistic person understand diagnosis.”

“Luke left before we had chance to talk to him. Didn’t reckon much to the food, no white bread sandwiches.”

“Room could have been a little larger. Lunch had gone before I got to it.”

“Luke Beardon was a particularly good speaker. Venue was too hot! Lunch break was a bit too long.”

“It was good that everyone was able if they wished to ask questions and to contribute.”

“Very good day. More information on adult support would have been helpful.”

“Secretary had to check for details prior to course date as not received anything. First speaker very good and fun.”

“Fantastic presentation from Dr Luke Beardon. Struggled to see where second presentation was going. Third one was interesting. Last one was “food for thought” but again did not get the structure, the purpose. Great afternoon session.”

“Venue was somewhat disappointing. I am aware that you didn’t get what was ordered. I suggest that you negotiate a reduced cost after today. Speakers and discussion all fantastic. We need more of these events around the country.”

“Very inclusive, welcoming event. Projection screen could have been larger/clearer. Very knowledgeable speakers. Thank you.”

“Because Autism is such a complex subject it would have been good to hear much more from Luke Beardon. Not clear if Luke would be available for the afternoon Q & A session?”

“It would have been helpful to give people asking questions the microphone so they could be heard by all. I liked the way the room was set out, relaxed and comfortable.”

“Nice food, but not enough. Room too hot. An interesting, enjoyable day.”

“I thoroughly enjoyed the day. It was very informative. The information given was quite hard to understand (no reflection on the deliverance) with that in mind I accept that I have a lot to learn. Therefore, I would like to undertake further training in the area of Autism.”

“An absolutely fabulous and real insight into Autism with fantastic speakers. A well organised day which was very interactional. Very insightful.”

“Excellent – Thank you!”

“Perhaps a shorter lunch and allow some more time for further discussion/explanation of the spectrum. Maybe have a follow-up “online” discussion/q & a to allow anyone on the spectrum to fully contribute in perhaps a more comfortable environment? Huge well done to all that contributed today overall very interesting day.”

“Certainly improve my understanding of how Autism can affect individuals. Equally and hopefully will improve how I talk and approach individuals who have Autism.”

“First speaker of the day was really interesting and relevant to my job but unfortunately all the rest was irrelevant as I based near Birmingham. Speakers were though very clear and very experienced on subject.”

“It was extremely informative for me. Luke’s presentation was a breath of fresh air – I will check out his blog.”

“Great to hear those with Autism speaking and presenting further positive listening to those with Autism giving advice.”

“Excellent venue but too hot and food poor. Dr Luke Beardon excellent speaker. Film review good but would suggest list of films in information prior to event so people can watch them or find information if they don’t know the films. Enjoyed the day!”

“Really useful to have an event here in Middlewich. Felt particularly motivated by Luke’s perspective and his positive approach to AS – I’ve never heard anything like this before – it was both refreshing and uplifting whilst at the same time being extremely realistic and appropriate. Linda seems fantastic, I really wish that children under 12 could be referred to her in Cheshire East.”

“Luke Beardon’s talk/presentation was amazing. It was an honour to be in the room with him and learn from such a fantastic and approachable individual. I wish I had done my Masters at Sheffield Hallam University.”

“Great day with the different presentations, in particular with Calvin and his portrayal of Autism in the media. Luke was very impressive and had to hold back on making a pun of his lack of beard with his surname of asking when he was going to put his beard on. In my opinion the food was lacklustre and missed the culinary cuisine of Calvin’s cakes and had to fill up with the Imperial mints.”

“A very informative and enlightening day. I thoroughly enjoyed the presentations, well done to all for making them interesting – especially Calvin and his clips. Just missed your cakes.”

“Food – nice to have gluten free sandwiches but could have done with crisps, cakes, fruit, coffee.”

“Awesome speech. Good drinks and biscuits and sweets. Friendly people to speak to.”

“Food was poor, not enough for all conference attendees.”

“Great down to earth, very empathetic speakers. Very good positive approach to Autism.”

“Brilliant speakers, very informative, patient. Venue rather small, food acceptable. Excellent day regardless.”

“The catering could have been better, not enough food. Linda was very thorough in trying to answer questions. I learnt a lot of new perspectives from Luke Beardon.”


“Particularly enjoyed the presentation on Autism in pop culture.”

“Much preferred the afternoon Q & A session. Too much rapid information in the morning. Better to make less points and make sure they’re clear.”

“Luke Beardon’s presentation – too fast delivery for someone with processing difficulties. Linda’s Q & A session very informative and supportive.”

We purposely had a number of different formats and styles of presentation as we are aware that individuals in the audience would have very different learning styles and information processing styles and we hope that everyone got something from the day. Looking at, in particular, question 8 it would appear that we succeeded.

What have we learnt?

We have learnt that we need to provide a number of different ways of presenting with a range of different styles of speaker.

We have learnt that any future venues we consider for future conferences provide a suitable food range. Despite our best efforts we ourselves were disappointed with the food provided on the day and food items previously ordered were not provided. We have learnt that perhaps more discussions are required with venues to ensure clarity and quantity is sufficient.

It also looks as if a few people felt the lunch break was too long and this will be something we could negotiate at any future conferences.