This week is Trustees’ Week, an annual celebration of the work this huge body of volunteers undertakes for charities.  

Adult Lego Club

We are delighted to announce new training programme aimed at parents & carers.

To mark our 50th anniversary our Drop-in Group members have shared thoughts on what Drop-in Group and our Information & Advice service mean to them!

On Sunday 3rd June Bournemouth Symphony Orchestra is hosting a relaxed performance of the best-known pieces of classical music in an informal setting at Lighthouse, Poole. 

Our Drop in Groups for adults with autism in Bournemouth and Dorchester held special breakfast events last week in support of our Big Brekkie campaign. Those that came along also shared their thoughts and experiences of having autism and being supported by our services, to celebrate our 50th Birthday.

Yeovil Library have set an amazing example raising awareness and providing important resources for people with autism and their families.

Our ambassador, Sophia Grech has forged a career as an Opera singer to international acclaim, performing in front of Royalty and Presidents. 

It's Schools' Autism Awareness Week from 26th to 29th March.

National Autistic Society have launched a free training module about women and girls on the autism spectrum.

The Umbrella Group is a parent led support group, for parents of children and young adults with ASD. 

Haskins Garden Centre in Ferndown has chosen us as its charity partner for 2018. We will benefit from the support of the centre’s staff and customers in our milestone 50th Birthday year.

We have a limited number of places available for parents and carers who support someone with autism to attend a respite retreat with celebrity chef and friend of the charity Lesley Waters.

There are so many reasons to sign up for a Big Brekkie!

The National Autistic Society has launched a new resource, Full Spectrum Awareness.

The Chatterboxes are celebrating World Autism Awareness Week!

SATURDAY 24 MARCH 2018 from 10.00am to 3.00pm at Noadswood School, Dibden Purlieu SO45 4ZF

By Julia Stewart, volunteer at Autism Wessex

We have an even bigger reason to celebrate our annual Big Brekkie campaign! Every April, we ask supporters to host a fundraising breakfast to highlight World Autism Awareness Day and this year it's also our 50th birthday!

Come down and meet our Information and Advice team at the Dorset Parent-Carer Council's Big Information Event 2018.

Linwood School is offering a variety of family activities for children with Special Education Needs and Disability. 

Big Thumbs Up to Paul Howard and Tesco!

Join in with the fun February at The Waverley.

The Agents of Change programme is starting on 19th February for 16 to 18 year olds.

The Girl with the Curly Hair Project has some workshops in Dorset in the next couple of months.

AFC Bournemouth are delighted to announce that, for the fourth season running, a disability focus group will be held at Vitality Stadium.

Personal Independence Payment (PIP) claims

Winward Day Services have drop-in sessions on the last Friday of each month.

Special Educational Needs and Disabilities Information Day

Joe, Caretaker at TA Centre Dorchester has been awarded a 'Thumbs Up' Award! 

This is your invitation to attend Dorset County Council’s Adult Social Care Making It Real Forum to be held:

A student of Psychology at the University of Glasgow is currently running a research study as part of a degree.

Sessions for parents and carers of children and young people with autism and associated difficulties the chance to meet others and gain expert information and advice in an informal, friendly setting.

Hundreds of runners joined us on 6th January at our annual 10km and fun run at the Somerley Estate in Ringwood, marking the start of the charity’s 50th Birthday year. 

Stuart, a resident at Middle Path Home, is celebrating overcoming his fear of heights by successfully completing an abseil. With the dedicated support of staff, he made the fantastic achievement on an activity holiday at the Calvert Trust in Exmoor.

You may have heard already, we are celebrating our 50th anniversary this year! Over the year you can celebrate with us!

At present, health and social care organisations in Dorset hold different sets of records about you. 

We are a parent led support group, for parents of children and young adults with ASD. 

Skills and Strategies for ASD, 9th May, 2018, St. Mary's Stadium, Southampton with world ASD expert Professor Tony Attwood.

Hundreds of people joined us at the Christchurch Priory for our annual Carol Service on 5th December. 

Here are some Christmas lunch events for adults who find themselves alone without family or friends at Christmas.

By Jon Leavitt

Free Day Courses and Sleepovers.

Poole Well-being Collaborative share news of Poole community/voluntary services, activities or events.

By Gillan Drew

Our Ambassador Sophia Grech and Guest Blogger Gillan Drew were recently invited to speak at Inservice Autisme, an international autism conference in Oostmalle, Belgium.

Save the date! 9th May 2018.

There is a weekly well-being group on Tuesdays, 7-9pm at Piddlehinton Village Hall.

Bournemouth Parent Carer Forum host weekly themed workshops on Thursday's from 6.30 - 8.30pm. 

Dorcheser drop-in group recently spent time discussing meeting up and getting on well in a group. They worked together and complied some tips for adults with autism.

Joely Colmer is an award winning, local author with Asperger’s Syndrome. 

A young football fan has played a key part in raising awareness of autism at Premier League side AFC Bournemouth. 

Internationally renowned opera singer Sophia Grech is celebrating her new role as an Ambassador for Autism Wessex by performing at our Carol Service this December.

The Artisan Autism Art group has been running for some years and is based at the the Artisan Community Art Studio in Recreation Road, Branksome, Poole, BH12 2EA

By Gillan Drew

A brief round up of some of the activity going on through our Advocacy Services team.

Here are some 'Disability Cricket Sessions' in Somerset from the Somerset Cricket Board.

Tune into BBC2 at 9.00pm and watch 'Asperger's and Me' with Chris Packham.

There is a new TV show called Pablo on CBeebies and the central character and cast are all on the autism spectrum.

We are delighted to announce that we are teaming up with our Ambassador Harry Redknapp to launch a campaign to make football more autism friendly. The Autism Friendly Football campaign will support football clubs to make small changes that will make a big difference to anyone affected by autism.

The World Health Organisation recognises Mental Health Day on 10 Oct 2017. 

Dan Palmer, a member of our Bournemouth Drop-in group, talks about his experience at Bournemouth Film and Comic Con.

An inspirational teacher will have a lasting positive impact on our lives. If we are lucky we will all have been positively influenced by at least one passionate, dynamic, inspirational teacher. If we are really lucky our children will experience such a life changing encounter for themselves.

We are delighted to announce the recent appointment of Siún Cranny as our new CEO.

By Laine Perks

Dorset Parent-Carer Council "Teenager 2 Adult 2017" Free Event

The Chatterboxes is a youth action project run by young people with disabilities aged 11-25 years old which has been running in Bournemouth for over 6 years.

We are pleased to announce we are running two more of our highly popular courses starting in January 2018.

Politics is just one of the many topics we have discussed at Dorchester Drop In Group. The group has been running for over 5 years now and has a regular membership of adults on the autism spectrum. During the 2017 General Election run up, our members wanted to learn more about the different political parties and what they stood for.

Did you know that new National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) guidelines published this month recommend that GPs set up registers of which patients are on the autism spectrum?   Many people are surprised that this is not something that already happens as standard but some people might have concerns about what this means. 

You can’t see autism and unless someone tells you they have autism, the following points should be considered when dealing with any of our customers. 

We're looking for speakers for our upcoming 'My Life With Autism' events...

Stagecoach Group has celebrated its 20th anniversary running South West Trains by donating a generous £10,000 to fund our Information and Advice service. We were one of four charities adopted by South West Trains in 2016 as part of its 20 for 20 campaign.

Author, Gillan Drew recently spoke at our latest "My Life with Autism" event. Gillan talked candidly about his experiences of living with autism. He touched on his childhood, workplace experiences and relationships, including those with his wife and daughter, sharing how his autism has presented both challenges and strengths.

Recently there has been lots of news coverage of tragic events which can difficult for us all to process. We have been thinking about how families can support children with autism with their understanding, thoughts and feelings about these events and have put together some ideas below: