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World Autism Awareness Month & More...

World Autism Awareness Month

April is World Autism Awareness Month with World Autism Awareness Day taking place on 2nd April.

Both The National Autistic Society and Autism West Midlands have put together a pack, so you can join in and raise awareness of Autism.

You can still get involved and take part. On Friday 5th April Autism West Midlands are holding their annual Silly Sock Day as part of World Autism Awareness Week (1-7 April). On that day you can wear your silliest, craziest socks to work, or even challenge your friends and family to wear their most outrageous socks for a day at home.

Throughout April, Ambitious About Autism will be sharing advice from their Youth Patrons each week on small changes that make a big difference to autistic young people, helping them feel much more included and supported wherever they are. Whether it’s in school, in the workplace, at youth groups or just out and about in the community. They have based Week One on, Include Autism Everywhere:

Dimensions Autism Friendly Screenings - April 2019

Dimensions work with ODEON, Cineworld, Vue, Showcase and Picturehouse to host autism friendly screenings at over 350 cinemas nationwide. On Sunday mornings throughout the month, films suitable for all audiences are screened in a sensory friendly and inclusive environment.

To celebrate World Autism Awareness Month, many of the cinema's are hosting an extra autism friendly screening. To view all April's screenings please click here: Dimensions Autism Friendly Screenings April 2019

Funky Friday Easter Party!

The next Funky Friday is at 7pm on Friday 19th April at the Navy Club in Newport. (Bellman's Yard, just off the High Street) TF10 7AJ. They offer the following facilities: Full disabled access including toilets, Licensed bar with reasonably priced drinks, Separate carers' lounge. Parking at the end of Bellman's Yard (close to the venue) or in Newport High Street or in the old Co-op Car Park.
They aim to ensure the music is not too loud and the disco lights aren't too flashy.

Learning Disability & Autism Training for Health and Care Staff - National Consultation Response

You may be aware that the Department of Health and Social Care has published a consultation about training for health and care staff - that covers Learning Disability and Autism.
This work is been led by Caroline Dinenage - The Minister of State for Care.
We wish to gather views from local families to make a submission to the consultation on behalf of PODS Parent Carer Forum. 
Please complete whatever questions you can, none of them are compulsory and we have kept the survey anonymous but if anyone wants to contact Jayne individually you are more than welcome to do so at jayne@podstelford.org.

Please click the following link to take part in the survey: Learning Disability & Autism Training for Health and Care Staff Survey
Thank you for taking the time to respond and know that your input will Make A Difference.

Wolves Megastore Autism Hour

Wolves are to become the latest Premier League club to launch a weekly 'autism hour' at their official Molineux Megastore. The club will take 60 minutes every week to provide autistic people with a break from the usual overload of information and make the Megastore more welcoming for them.

The 'Wolves Welcomes Autism' campaign started on Sunday 31st March. Between 3pm and 4pm, a calmer environment at the shop will be created every Sunday afternoon, including reduced lighting and music, while the bright images on the shop's television screens will also be replaced. The store's staff have also been trained so they can provide the best service and support possible to customers with autism. To find out more, please click here: Wolves Megastore Autism Hour

***PLACES STILL AVAILABLE***Transition to Employment Conference - Tuesday 2nd April 2019 

Ramada Hotel Telford Ironbridge, Forge Gate, Telford, TF3 4NA.

This conference is aimed at families living within Telford and Wrekin with young people from Secondary school age through too 25, who are considering an employment route or aspiring to work through supported internships or volunteering etc. We have a very passionate National Speaker Barry Jones talking regarding Employment Opportunities and Positive outcomes, alongside local people with lived experience of support into work and working lives.

Department of Work and Pensions will be speaking regarding working-age benefits. There will also be many stalls from a large spectrum of local services highlighting what they can offer.

Lunch will be provided alongside light refreshments, if you have any dietary requirements please email elaine@podstelford.org. Tickets can be purchased with a small donation of just £1.

To book your place, please CLICK HERE

Information Shared To You From APPGA (All Party Parliamentary Group for Autism)

As you may know, this year marks the 10th anniversary of the Autism Act, as well as the next milestone for reviewing the autism strategy. To mark this significant moment, the APPGA is holding an inquiry that will consider progress made in the last 10 years, as well as exploring how services and support can be further improved for autistic people and their families. In order to build our understanding of what has and has not changed since the Act came into force, we are consulting with autistic people and their families, as well as holding evidence sessions in Parliament and organising focus groups with professionals and commissioners.

Public survey

As part of our inquiry, we are running a survey on our website, which seeks to find out more about autistic adults’, children’s and families’ views and experiences of support and services. This survey will also shed light on people's awareness of the Autism Act and the legal duties in place. The results from this survey will be part of the evidence going into a report, which will be published in September of this year and will set out recommendations to Government about what improvements need to be made for both autistic adults and children.

The survey will be open until Sunday 7 April, and we would like as many autistic people and their families to share their views so we can build a reflective understanding of peoples’ experiences across England, Northern Ireland, Wales and Scotland. While the Autism Act only covers England, we do also want to capture views from across the nations as this will help us in our broader campaigning work.

Weekly Update from Jayne Stevens (Participation Co-ordinator)...

Good Morning - Well it looks like Spring has sprung and it was all lovely and bright for a little while and now back to a bit of chilliness! I hope those who celebrated Mothers Day had a memorable one, and if you feel able, we'd love to see your photos please.

This last week has seen us holding a social care meeting - talking about personal budgets - always good to get feedback that we can share back via our task and finish groups and direct managers. We are keen to gather more feedback on this subject though and would like to hear from more of you please.

I've met with Healthwatch this last week and we are working with them to share a survey from NHS Long Term Plan that will focus on key matters relative to our families including Autism and Learning Disabilities. We have these surveys in hard copy to share with you at family groups and also bring with us to our Transition to Employment conference tomorrow (Tuesday). A link to the survey for those with specific conditions is here: https://www.healthwatch.co.uk/tell-us-what-would-you-do​

The end of the week, saw me delivering training to fellow parent carer forum in Coventry - sharing the work of forums, and training new reps in another area - it's great to hear we have the same experiences, the same stories and challenge and they can also learn from our established work going on locally.

This week the main focus is our Transition to Employment conference on Tuesday and we're looking forward to showing inspirational journeys of young people themselves, information stands, updates from BASE Conference and hearing from council and local college about how they can support and what they can offer.

We've had 2 family groups - yesterday and Bridge Builder and then again today at Admaston - we've had great fun with a range of activities - always guaranteed to raise a smile, whilst having a chat about services and discussing the Local Offer!

We're really pleased that the Haughton Coffee Mornings have been able to be resumed, with the support of our parent reps - these take place on the last Friday of the month and a great way for Haughton parent carers to come together in a supportive environment.

Have a good week everyone, keep an eye out on our facebook page for updates and I'll be sharing some information about activities we've discussed this morning :)

Best Regards
Jayne Stevens - Participation Co-ordinator.

Come and join us at our New Look Family Groups throughout 2019!...

Thursday 11th April 2019: PODS/Face 2 Face Family Group from 7pm-9pm - DETAILS TO BE CONFIRMED.

Wednesday 17th April 2019: Face 2 Face Family Group from 9.30am-11.30am at Hollinswood Community Centre, 7 Downemead, Telford, TF3 2EW. To book your place, please click here

Friday 26th April 2019: PODS Family Group from 9.30am-11.30am at Dawley Town Hall (opposite Langley School/CAMHS) New Street, Dawley, Telford, TF4 3JR. To book your place, please click here

Sunday 28th April 2019: Face 2 Face Family Group from 9.30am-11.00am at the Wacky Warehouse, Bridge Builder Pub, Wrekin Retail Park, Arleston, Telford, TF1 2DE. To book hyour place, please click here

Thank you for reading our latest bulletin.

Kerrie Seagrave

Project Administrator on behalf of PODS Parent Carer Forum.

We hope you enjoyed reading our latest e-bulletin - we hope you continue to find it useful. If you have any suggestions to make it better feel free to let me know.