We seek to support Autistic people and their families
From the 12th-14th September, a group from the Wednesday Sky group went glamping in South East Cornwall. They enjoyed many activities from llama walking to marshmallow toasting. It was a time where connections and friendships were made and strengthened and a sense of togetheress was deepened.
We have absolutely loved joining with ARCOS to run two Holiday Clubs over Easter. There were many different activities and games. It was incredible to see the young people develop over the week and go from being shy to displaying such confidence.
If you are interested in joining for our May Half Term or Summer Holiday Clubs, please get in contact ruth@skyautismsupport.com
Not only does Sky provide support for autistic individuals but also for their families. One of the ways we do this is through our regular Parents’ Evenings. The most recent of these was last Thursday.
We had the pleasure of welcoming three new families and two regulars. There was time to share current situations, enabling people to open up and be honest with their emotions, supporting one another through this. There were also amazing success stories shared, helping others see that there is light.
SKY’s founder, Simon, shared some insights into the evening’s guest speaker:
Our speaker, James, who is a SENCO at a local secondary school sketched us in on the background as to why EHCP‘s are causing such stress for parents and teachers. We were very interested to hear that because the state is spending so much money on the EHCP‘s there is little money available for schools to provide extra support to children who have not got a EHCP. This then becomes a vicious circle as parents think that they will not get any help for their children without the EHCP and so rancour and bad feeling persists. The current system isn’t working- as we follow a policy of inclusion- and there are very few special schools to meet the demand.
It is an honour to try and sit alongside these hurting families. SKY does its best to support. Its so hard for many parents
With best wishes
Simon
Want more information or would like to join us next time? We would love to welcome you!
Email: ruth@skyautismsupport.com
In January, we said farewell to June as her and Geoff, her husband, decided to spend more time with family. Simon is the group’s new lead, having led it now for two months.
We thought it was time to get to know Simon a bit more and so we asked him a few questions.
What is your favourite food? My favourite food is slow cooked pork, apple and sausage.
What about your favourite movie? The movie Aliens, I must have watched in 10+ times!
What is your favourite discussion topic? I love talking about my garden!
What tops your bucket list? (meaning what do you really want to do) Trekking in Patagonia
What is a fun fact about you? I once told a member of the cast of ‘Last of the Summer Wine’ that they couldn’t use a chair as it was reserved for my mum at a Garden Party at Buckingham Palace.
If you could travel to anywhere in the world, where would you go to? Antarctica
If you could go back to anytime in history, when would you travel to? 65 million years ago, the asteroid hit would be a spectacle!
What did you want to do when you were younger? Create computer games for a living
How did you find out about SKY? My neighbour Joan introduced me to the Tuesday group at Sky, I helped out and now I’m running it!
Why did you want to get involved at SKY? Because I’ve always wanted my work to help children, and I find it very rewarding on a personal level.
If you had the opportunity to redesign society, what would you change? I would remove all divisions in society and make it a collective societal goal to spread among the stars.
Want to know more about Sky and the Tuesday group? Get in touch!
Email: ruth@skyautismsupport.com
A few weeks ago, the lovely Harriet from Autism West Midlands visit us at the 18+ group. She got thoroughly involved in the evening and met many of the staff and members.
Autism West Midlands supports autistic adults, children and young people and those who support them. Their vision and mission is to create a society that supports, accepts and helps autistic people to reach their full potential.
Within Herefordshire and Worcestershire, 1:1 and group sessions are avaliable.
The 1:1 support provides 4 sessions to work on a difficulty related to living with autism.
The group sessions run over a six week course called “Autism Confident” which gives an understanding of how to live well with autism.
This support is funded by the NHS.
Website: Autism West Midlands
Email: herefandworcs@autismwestmidlands.org.uk
Phone: 01905 671953 or 01432 801687
Helpline: 0121 450 7575 (Mon- Fri 9-5)
Leaving school and entering the big world of work can be a very daunting time, particularly for neurodivergent individuals. School may feel like a place of safety and familiarity so moving to something new can cause great anxiety.
We hope that this blog will help you if either you or someone you know is soon to be thinking about Post 16 options. There are many different options, we have outlined some of these below.
Apprenticeships
Worcestershire Careers Hub says that it is ‘a type of job you can get from
the age of 16 where you work full-time for a company but are also trained at the same time’.
| Name | Level | Education Level |
| Intermediate | 2 | 5 GCSEs |
| Advanced | 3 | 2 A Levels |
| Higher | 4, 5, 6 & 7 | Foundation Degree and above |
| Degree | 6 & 7 | Bachelor and Master Degree |
It can be rather worrying thinking about the world of work and how you can manage an apprenticeship but watch this video to get more information
There is lots of help avaliable to you if you have an EHCP during your apprenticeship
Find out more here
Supported Internship
Worcester Careers Hub says that a Supported Internship is ‘a substantial work placement, facilitated by the support of an expert job coach, with the aim of the young person moving into employment upon
completion’.
70% of time will be spent on the job, rotating around different roles so that you can get an idea of different opportunities avaliable.
DFN Project Search Young Adult Learning- based at Worcestershire Royal Hospital
Heart of Worcestershire College- Level 1 developing employment skills
Kidderminster College- Personalised work experience alongside Maths, English, Personal/ Social skills
Mencap- 420 hours of work experience alongside employment sessions
Warwickshire College Group- 6+ months of work experience and 1 day a week in college
It can be rather worrying thinking about the world of work but Supported Internships have been specifically created to help people like you! Watch the video below for more information…
Find out more here
Finding Employment
Wanting to find work for yourself/ someone else with autism? We hope this interview will help you find help and advice in how to navigate the tricky world of employment.
Here our founder and Chair of Trustees, Simon MacCauley speaks to Amy from Autism Families about finding work for his son Jamie.
Read the interview here
