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Brent Outreach Autism Team

Newsletter 14: Oct/Nov 2013, Halloween special

Brent Civic Centre, Engineers Way, Wembley, HA9 0FJ

Parent training

We are holding our first free parent training session of the year on Friday 13th December from 10am – 12 noon at the

Brent Civic Centre entitled:

What is the autism spectrum?

This session is aimed at parents of children and young people who have had a recent diagnosis of autism and at those who would like to broaden their understanding. Please email boat@brent.gov.uk or call us on 0208 937 3826 before Friday 29th November 2013 to book a seat. Places will be allocated on a first come, first served basis as spaces are lim-ited. To find out how to get to Brent Civic Centre please go to the website: www.brent.gov.uk

Shhh…….

BOAT have been nominated by a panel of judges for the category of Consistent High Achievement at the Brent Staff Achievement Awards 2013. We will let you know how we do at the awards ceremony in our next edition...

Keep your fingers crossed for us!

Brent Parent SEN Conference

The council is delighted that Brian Lamb, OBE, a respected consultant specialising in special educational needs (SEN) and disability issues and a former government advisor, has agreed to give the keynote speech about the new reforms at our next SEN conference.

He will be joined by Daisy Russell from the National Parent Partnership Network (NPPN) who will talk about the new education, health and care plans from a parent's perspective.

The Brent SEN Parent Conference takes places from 9am to 2.30pm on Wednesday 29 January 2014. Places are available on a first come, first served basis and can be booked now by calling 020 8937 4901 or emailing robert.smith@brent.gov.uk

Topic Managing the feelings and the emotions of children and young people on the autism

Venue Brent Civic Centre, Engineers Way, Wembley

Date Monday 13th January 2014

Time 5.30pm for a 6pm start until 9pm

Cost £25 for professionals, £15 for parents, £10 for 16 to 18 year olds who attend main-stream education

Special Interest Group—Not to be missed!

We are delighted to announce that the internationally renowned Professor Tony Attwood will

be the keynote speaker at our special interest group event of 2013/2014. Tony is one of the

most respected autism practitioners in the field at the moment and has sold hundreds of thou-

sands of books across the globe. He is the author of Asperger’s Syndrome: A Guide for Parents

and Professionals of which professor Temple Grandin has written so highly about.

Tony will talk about managing anxiety, sadness and anger in particular and explain why children

with autism are more prone to developing mood disorders. He will also explain strategies that

can help children and young people with autism learn about and manage their emotions.

Please see the back page of this newsletter for payment details

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ADHD and Autism Support Harrow

Our colleagues at ADHD and Autism Harrow have booked a number

of keynote speakers for this academic year including Professor Rita

Jordan: Emeritus Professor in Autism Studies; Phoebe Caldwell:

expert practitioner in Intensive Interaction; and Geoff Evans: an

expert in the field of autism. If you are interested in attending

please contact the team for dates and more details on:

autism@adhdandautismharrow.co.uk or 020 8901 8009

Cooking Corner

Unfortunately our cooking corner columnist Zahid is ‘busy this term at his new secondary school

making friends and doing his homework’ but hopefully will be back with us for our next edition. In

the mean time we have found some pumpkin carving designs to try if you get your hands on one

this Halloween. Please ask an adult for help and support!

Service review Are you interested in helping us to review our service?

During the spring term, we will be undergoing a review of

our service. We will be looking at how we currently support

our settings, parents and professionals and if there is any-

thing we can do to improve. We are looking for a group of

parents to meet over a cup of tea and homemade cake to

comment on the questionnaires that we will be sending out

as part of our review. This will consist of a maximum of two

hours during a school day.

If you are interested in providing us with some valuable in-

put, please contact Clare on 0208 937 4634 or at

clare.henshaw@brent.gov.uk.

Review

Sara and Imogen (BOAT) were very lucky to be able to

see the award winning Jennifer Cook O’Toole speak for

ADHD and Autism Harrow on the 7th September.

Jennifer describes herself as an Aspie, author, mum

and international speaker. She gave a realistic and well

humoured insight into her life with Asperger’s syn-

drome and her opinion on how to best help 'Asperkids'

reach their full potential. Her books have won many

awards including the 2012 Autism Society Book Award.

Our favourites were THE ASPERKID’S NOT-YOUR-

AVERAGE COLOURING BOOK and The Asperkid’s

SECRET Book of Social Rules.

Willesden Sportsability Club

Sportsability gives young people with any disability - whether it be a learning, physical, visual or a hearing disability - the chance to play up to three sports including athletics, basketball, football and zone hockey.

What time is it? 2 - 4pm term time only

Where is it? Willesden Sports Centre, Donnington Road, Willesden, NW10 3QX

How do I join? All new members must fill out a booking form. Paper copies are available from the centre. For more information, contact Brent Sports Service on 020 8937 3707 or sportsservice@brent.gov.uk

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Special needs playgroup

One Voice Community Forum is a voluntary charity

run by parents/carers for parents/carers of disabled

children who live in Brent. They have free activities

and play schemes in many different locations across

the borough including Treetops Nursery Willesden,

Barham Park, Wembley Primary School, St Raphael’s

Children’s Centre, The Willow Centre in Wembley

and Granville Plus. Transport can be provided! For

more information contact Judy on 07972 253 339 or

Iram on 07805 273 516.

Sudoku (Medium)

Fill the grid so that every row, every column,

and every 3x3 box contains the numbers 1 to 9.

Being in the zoo is boring

Being in the zoo is boring,

So I could even get away when it’s

pouring.

Freedom, I want to be free.

Not stuck in here with a few fleas.

Sigh, I’d like to say bye,

But it’s not as easy as pudding

and pie.

For the snakes, a piece of cake, But for me, not I could

just fly!

I want to break the glass,

But I can’t get past

‘Coz I’m not that fast.

Being in the zoo is boring

I could even get away when

it’s pouring.

By Ellie Hill, a year 4 student supported by BOAT

Here is Ellie with a piece of fools gold at PartyMan World during our Blue Sky event in June. Thanks Ellie!

If any of your students or child has something that they would like to share with the BOAT community please send it

to us and we will try and slot it into our next edition!

MathemaGrid (Easy)

Complete the grid using all of the digits 1 to 9.- The sums are solved strictly left to right, up to down, and the normal order of mathematical operations is ignored. For example 2 + 5 x 9 is calculated as 2 + 5 first, then x 9 = 63. There are no ÷ 1 in the puzzle. There are no x 1 in the puzzle (although there might be 1 x). At no point will any calculation go below zero

Special Stay and play

Our fantastic Fawood Children’s Centre hosts a

Special Pop-in and Play session every Monday

afternoon from 3.30pm until 5pm for all children

with special educational needs between the ages

of 0 and 5. Contact Fawood Children’s Centre on

admin@fawoodcc.brent.sch.uk or 0208 965

9334 for more information.

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Our new website!

Finally we have our own webpage up and running. Go online and visit us at www.brent.gov.uk/boat. You can find lots of information on there including previous issues of our newsletter.

Parent interviews

Thank you to the parents who have already volunteered to

talk to us about their experiences of autism. We are still look-

ing for more volunteers who could help us by way of a short

movie or sound clip that we would be able to use for training

purposes. If you would like to find out more contact Sara on

sara.morrissey@brent.gov.uk

Enjoy your half term break and Happy

Halloween from all of us at BOAT!

Autism Education Trust awards

The Autism Education Trust (AET) was launched in parliament in November

2007 with support and funding from the government. It is the only umbrella

organisation working specifically on autism education across the voluntary,

public and private sectors. Launched at the beginning of this year, the AET

Autism Stars have been recognising and celebrating the outstanding contribu-

tion of individuals in creating an autism friendly culture, either in education or

community settings. This year, Sara, Diane and Imogen from BOAT (pictured

below left) were all presented with Silver star awards by Emma Dudley, the

strategic lead for sensory and communication services. We were all very

touched to be nominated! These have added to Clare’s Silver and Gold Star.

Over the last year we have nominated members of staff across the borough

who we thought also deserved an award:

Karen Miller (SENCO at Salusbury Primary School) (pictured top left)

Evelyn O’Sullivan (Teacher at St Mary’s RC Primary School)

Ella Kruk (Learning Support Assistant at St Margaret Clitherow Primary School)

Joanna Wade (SENCO at St Margaret Clitherow Primary School)

Katrina Ballad (Teacher at St Margaret Clitherow Primary School)

Jeff Smith (Ex Head Teacher at Anson Primary School)

All staff at Jellitots Nursery

Rupinder Ahluwalia (SENCO at Ark Franklin Academy) (pictured bottom left)

Congratulations to all of our winners, it is great to see such positive work going

on around the borough.

Watch this space for future nominations!

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Brent Outreach Autism Team would like to invite you to an

evening with Professor Tony Attwood!

Tony is a clinical psychologist who has specialised in autism spectrum disor-ders since he qualified as a clinical psychologist in England in 1975. He works in his own private practice, and is also adjunct professor at Griffith University, Queensland and senior consultant at the Minds and Hearts clinic in Brisbane. His book Asperger’s Syndrome – A Guide for Parents and Professionals has sold over 350,000 copies and has been translated into over 25 languages. He has worked with over 8,000 individuals of all ages with Asperger's syndrome or an Autism Spectrum Disorder.

Tony presents workshops and runs training courses for parents, professionals and individuals with Asperger's syndrome all over the world and is a prolific author of scientific papers and books on the subject. His book The Complete Guide to Asperger’s Syndrome was published in October 2006 and has several

subsequent books published by Jessica Kingsley Publishers, Future Horizons Inc. and Guilford Press.

Topic Managing the feelings and the emotions of children and young people on the autism spectrum

Venue Brent Civic Centre, Engineers Way, Wembley

Date Monday 13th January 2014

Time 5.30pm for a 6pm start until 9pm

Cost £25 for professionals, £15 for parents, £10 for 16 to 18 year olds who attend mainstream education

Tea and coffee will be provided

Limited places are available Unfortunately crèche facilities will not be provided

Payment details

You can pay using a credit or debit card over the phone. Please call Imogen at the office on 0208 937 3826 and she will be able to take your card details securely over the phone. You will receive a receipt upon acceptance of payment, this will be your ticket for the evening. If you do not receive a receipt please contact Imogen on the number below.

Payments can also be made by cheque, see overleaf.

Unfortunately we can not take cash payments.

If you have any questions please ask your BOAT key worker or contact Imogen in the office on 0208 937 3826.

Please note we will not be in the office over half term, but can still receive cheques during this time.

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To pay by cheque please fill in the slip below, tear it off and send it back to us at the following address:

Brent Outreach Autism Team

Brent Civic Centre

Engineer’s Way

Wembley

HA9 0FJ

Please make all cheques payable to London Borough of Brent, Brent Outreach Autism Team (or BOAT)

For the attention of the Brent Outreach Autism Team (BOAT)

I would like to attend the evening with Professor Tony Attwood on Monday 13th January 2014.

Please fill in the number of tickets you would like to purchase in the boxes provided below:

I would like tickets @ £25 for professionals

tickets @ £15 for parents and family members

tickets @ £10 for 16-18 year olds who attend mainstream education

I have enclosed a cheque for the total amount of £ Please write your name and address clearly on the reverse of the cheque. Please make all cheques payable to London Borough of Brent, Brent Outreach Autism

Team (or BOAT)

Name:

Address:

Contact number:

Organisation (if applicable):

We are here!