The Berkshire Adult Autism Support Service offers two workshops for parents and family carers (ie not paid care staff) of autistic adults, to help them increase their understanding of aspects of autism and support their relatives.
These workshops, which are free of charge, are open to parents and family carers – including the partners and siblings – of autistic adults who are registered as patients with a GP surgery in Berkshire.
For more information about the workshops and to request free places, email adult.support@autismberkshire.org.uk or call 01189 594 594 (option 2) and leave a voicemail – please include a daytime telephone member in your message so that our advisers can contact you.
These evidence-based workshops, developed by Autism Berkshire, provide information and practical tips and strategies tailored for parents and carers. At each session there will be a presentation, followed by time to ask questions, discuss the topics covered and share ideas and experiences.
The workshops available are:
Sensory Differences and Executive Functioning: This interactive workshop looks at the sensory processing differences that are thought to affect at least 80% of autistic people and strengths and challenges that they may experience as a result, and executive functioning – thinking through what we need to do, carrying out the task and remaining in control of our emotions, even if things change. It outlines ways to achieve better executive functioning, including using mind maps, decision trees and critical thinking, along with problem-solving. It includes tips and strategies that autistic people can use in daily life and social situations to create calm and manage emotions.
Forthcoming workshops:
- Tuesday, October 1, 6pm to 8pm.
Anxiety & Autism and Understanding Other People: This workshop provides an introduction to anxiety, which is thought to affect about 40% of autistic people, some of the things that can trigger it, the problems that it can cause and ways to recognise signs of anxiety and manage emotions, plus the different ways in which individuals relate to other people, and the visual, verbal and hidden clues (theory of mind) as to how someone may be feeling. It also looks at interactions in a range of situations, including at home, at work, when socialising and in intimate relationships, with tips on things to think about in each case.
Forthcoming workshops:
- Tuesday, October 15, 6pm to 8pm
