Next week is Autism Acceptance Week 2023 and we have an exciting programme of events lined up at The Oracle shopping centre in Reading, with speakers, autism advice workshops and more.
Thanks to Connect Reading and The Oracle, we will be using an empty shop on Level 1 at the centre, next to the Zara store, from Monday, March 27, to Friday, March 31.
And we will also have an Autism Acceptance Week stand in Queen’s Square, at the Nicholsons Shopping Centre, in Maidenhead town centre, from 9.30am to 4pm on Saturday, April 1 – so if you are in the town centre that day, come along to meet our team.
Our activities in Reading include free autism advice workshops and training and consultation events for autistic adults, parents/carers and professionals in the voluntary, social care and health sectors who support autistic people in Berkshire.
You will also be able to hear from autistic advocate Sarah O’Brien about her forthcoming book for autistic teenagers and young adults – So, I’m Autistic: An Introduction to Autism for Young Adults and Late Teens – which will be published in June.
And our Autism in Berkshire: Past & Present exhibition will be on display at the shop all week.
Free places can be booked online for all events where a link is given below. If you have any questions or difficulty booking online, please email contact@autismberkshire.org.uk or call 01189 594 594 (option 1) and leave a voicemail.
- NB: If you are a professional or work in the voluntary sector and are interested in attending any of the training sessions or our information & consultation event about the Berkshire Adult Autism Support Service, please email us at contact@autismberkshire.org.uk
Places at all these events are limited, so early booking is advised.
Our programme for Autism Acceptance Week at The Oracle is as follows – and you are welcome to drop in to meet us at at any time between these activities:
Monday, March 27
- 11am-12.30pm: Autism awareness & understanding workshop for staff and volunteers in voluntary and community sector organisations in Berkshire.
- 2pm-3.30pm: Autism awareness & understanding workshop for staff in social care sector organisations in Berkshire.
Tuesday, March 28
- 10am-10.30am: Benefits Service information session with Autism Berkshire’s Benefits Service manager Kevin Jackson. He will take a look at changes to the benefits system announced in the Budget, including the proposed abolition of the Work Capability Assessment, what this may mean for autistic adults and the help he can offer with benefits applications. Click here to register.
- 10.30am-12 noon: Berkshire Adult Autism Support Service consultation event for autistic adults. Have a say about the types of advice and activities you would like to see provided by the service. Click here to register.
- 12.30pm-3pm: Advice session and tea party for family carers, including grandparents, with staff from Reading Mencap, which is part of the Reading & West Berkshire Carers’ Partnership. They will explain how to get a Carers’ Assessment and outline local support services for carers. Click here to register.
Wednesday, March 29
- 10am-12.30pm: Consultation event for parents/carers of autistic and ADHD children about the development of support for families in the Berkshire West NHS area (ie the Reading, Wokingham and West Berkshire council areas). We will be joined by Tess Eagles, of Parenting Special Children, our partners in providing the Berkshire West Autism & ADHD Support Service, and Dr Mairi Evans, Berkshire Healthcare NHS Trust’s clinical director for Children, Young People & Families, and some of her colleagues. Click here to register.
- 1pm-2.30pm: Autism awareness & understanding workshop for staff in social care sector organisations in Berkshire.
- 4pm-6pm: Berkshire Adult Autism Support Service consultation event for autistic adults. Have a say about the types of advice and activities you would like to see provided by the service. Click here to register.
Thursday, March 30
- 10am-12 noon: Berkshire Adult Autism Support Service consultation event for professionals working in the NHS, social care and the voluntary sector, offering an opportunity to hear about the help it provides and to have a say about its future development.
- 3pm to 5pm. Speaker event with Sarah O’Brien, a former Autism Berkshire volunteer, whose first book So, I’m Autistic: An Introduction to Autism for Young Adults and Late Teens will be published in June. The book draws on her experience of feeling lost after her autism diagnosis and navigating the ‘firsts’ of adolescence and young adulthood and more. Click here to register.
Friday, March 31
- 11am-1pm: Berkshire Adult Autism Support Service workshop for autistic adults about Sensory Difference. Click here to register
- 2pm-4pm: Berkshire Adult Autism Support Service consultation event for autistic adults. Have a say about the types of advice and activities you would like to see provided by the service. Click here to register.
