Autism Berkshire has a busy programme lined up for Autism Awareness Week 2019 at the start of April, including a one-day All About Autism conference at The Curve library and cultural hub in Slough on Tuesday, April 2.
The speakers at the conference, which will run from 9.45am to 2.30pm, will look at a range of autism-related topics.
The line-up includes leading autism professionals from the NHS in Berkshire, academics from the University of Reading, and autism advocates.
The conference is open to parents and carers of autistic children and young people living in the east of Berkshire* (the Bracknell Forest, Slough and Windsor & Maidenhead council areas), professionals who support autistic children and young people and their families, or those whose jobs bring them into contact with autistic people and who want to learn more, and students.
*We will make tickets available to parents and carers from the rest of Berkshire at a later date if space is available.
The conference agenda is as follows:
- 09.15-9.45 Registration
- 09.45 Welcome & Introduction: Jane Stanford-Beale, CEO Autism Berkshire
- 09.50 Anxiety and Autism – Tips for Parents: Dr Fiona Knott, associate professor and director of the Centre for Autism at the University of Reading
- 10:30 Autism, Girls and Oughtism: Mairi Evans, Neurodevelopmental lead for CAMHS, Autism Assessment team, Berkshire Healthcare NHS Foundation Trust
- 10.50 Coffee break
- 11.10 Growing up Autistic: How Diagnosis Helped Me: Conor Eldred- Earl
- 11.30 Mini-workshop on sleep hygiene and the Sleep Service: Helen Cattermole, Parenting Special Children sleep practitioner
- 12:15 Lunch break: Opportunity to network and visit stalls
- 13.00 Autistic Women & Girls: Carly Jones MBE, British autism advocate
- 13:20 Music and Language Processing in Autism: Dr Fang Liu, Associate Professor at the University of Reading, who is working on music-assisted language interventions for non-verbal or minimally-verbal autistic children
- 13.40 What’s available to support children and families in East Berkshire: An overview of health, education and the voluntary sector.
- 14.00 Question & answer session: With Mairi Evans, Ruth Pearse (Parenting Special Children), Carly Jones and Tricia Kempton (The Autism Group)
- 14:30 Close.
Tickets are priced £5 (plus a 92p booking fee) for parents and carers and for students and £10 (plus a £1.25 booking fee) for professionals. This price includes a sandwich lunch and light refreshments during the day.
Click here to book tickets. Professionals who require an invoice should contact Autism Berkshire’s administrator, Georgie Mitchell, on 01189 594 594 or email admin@autismberkshire.org.uk
The Curve is in Slough town centre. It is two minutes’ walk from the bus station, in Wellington Street, and five minutes’ walk from Slough railway station, which is served by frequent trains on the Great Western Railway main line between Reading and London Paddington and on the branch line from Windsor & Eton Central station.
There is no car parking available at The Curve* but there are several public car parks nearby and the Herschel Street car park offers discounted rates for visitors to The Curve – please note that parking tickets must be taken to The Curve and be validated there to secure the discount.
*The Curve has one disabled parking bay, which must be booked in advance by calling 07850 067119.
Click here for details of Autism Berkshire’s full programme of activities for Autism Awareness Week 2019.
- We are grateful to the East Berkshire NHS Clinical Commissioning Group for its support of the conference.
