Autism Resources Coordination Hub. A guide with words and pictures

Transcription

1 ARCH Autism Resources Coordination Hub A guide with words and pictures

2 This leaflet is for me as I am under 12 years old and have been told either recently or a little while ago that I have autism. This is an important leaflet which is intended to help me feel less alone or confused during this time in my life. Autism is a different way of looking at and understanding my world. It will be part of who I am forever. I can choose to read this leaflet on my own, or ask someone I trust to read it with me; like my parents, a teacher or carers. I might want to ask them questions after reading it, which is OK.

3 How this leaflet is organised: This leaflet will help me look at my talents the things I m good at. It will help me look at my not-so-strong points; the things I might find more difficult. It will help me look at some things that make me the same as other children. It will also look at the things that might make me different from other children who do not have autism, or a different kind of autism from me. There s a section at the end where I can write down what I ve learned, and some other places I can get more information about my autism. Abilities - My talents and not-so strong points Everybody has both talents and not-so-strong points. All people are good at some things, but not so good at other things... My talents and not-so-strong points together form my abilities...

4 Taken together my talents and not so strong points create my autism! As a child with autism I cannot stop having autism. I will have autism forever... So...it s just one of the differences we all have! As a child with autism I can have lots of talents! Tick each box if this is one of your talents. I have a different way of thinking and this can be a benefit... Some of these benefits are: I can be good at seeing the detail in things. I can have a good memory. I can be good with numbers, music, art, places and facts... especially if I have a special interest in them. I can have a really great visual memory, and remember things in pictures in my head.

5 Some things can be more difficult when I have autism: Tick each box if this is one of your challenges. I might find it hard to stay focused and stay on task with my work at school... Sometimes, people, places and situations can become too much for me and I might sometimes behave in ways I have no control over. Some people call this behaviour a meltdown... I might find it hard to make and keep friends.

6 I may prefer to play on my own... I might have trouble falling asleep or staying asleep at night. I might be sensitive to being touched, or to loud noises, smells and even the taste or feeling of some foods in my mouth... Or... I might like closer contact from my parents or other carers. Daily chores; like getting dressed for school, brushing my teeth and hair or going to the toilet might make me feel stressed... I might make myself feel better by moving in the same way a lot, or repeating the same words or sentences... I might find it hard to stop doing something I am interested in, especially when moving on to do something else like getting ready for bed... Sometimes I might take a little longer to understand what I m being told by others.

7 My Outside and my Inside... As a child with autism I have an outside... Everybody has an outside.. The outside is what you can see... It s called your appearance... Some parts of my outside are similar to other children... But a lot of my appearance is different from other children. Some children have blue eyes, others have brown. Some have brown hair and others have red hair. My outside is unique to me, like other children s outside is unique to them. The fact is I m unique!

8 My inside... Children not only have an outside but also an inside... Parts of my inside can also be the same as, or different from the inside of other children. My inside makes up my inside features. My Inside is... My bones, teeth and organs like my heart and lungs. My interests and abilities; the things I like to do... My nature, which is how I get on with other people... My knowledge, which are the things I know a lot about. My skills are the things I can do well.

9 The fact that I have autism means I am not alone...! Autism is different for each child. There is not just one kind of autism... There are lots of children with autism... For every 100 children in my school... there is at least 1 child like me with autism, but usually more than that... This means there are lots of school aged children with autism in the area I live in which is called South Lanarkshire... I can learn to cope with my autism There are lots of children and adults with autism who have learned lots of great ways to manage their talents and not-so-good points and feel good about themselves!

10 Who can help me manage my autism? Everyone who offers me support should know about autism and be able to help me do lots of the things I want to. This includes helping me with my abilities and my not so strong points so I will feel good about myself too! Some people who can help me are; my parents, my other family members like my brothers or sisters, or my class teacher. Here are some of the things I marked which described my autism talents and challenges that I d like to remember or find out more about.

11 Here are some other helpful things which can help me understand more about my autism... (I might need to ask my parents to help find some of these.) A great app for my phone!... Kloog 2 is an alien who needs my help to understand some of the rules on earth. This can help me learn some of the social skills along with him on his mission - These books by Alis Rowe from The Girl With Curly Hair project are really good to help boys and girls with autism understand their condition. Might be worth a read! ?url=search-alias%3Daps&field-keywords=alis+rowe There are some great apps for the iphone or ipad and this is a link to see what s available to help me learn more about how to manage my autism: ipad apps for students with autism We found some useful websites if you enter the 30 best children s books about autism They are for a wide range of ages from 3 upwards.

12 This is another booklet which can help me understand more about my autism: YouTube can be a great place to look at things one we like is everydaytspeech which has several social stories to help you look at things like making friends, but there are lots of others you might want to explore with your parents or carers: Contact ARCH on phone number , and we ll have a chat to you or your parent carer about what we have going on here for autistic children. If you need this information in another language or format, please contact us to discuss how we can best meet your needs. Phone: equalities@southlanarkshire.gov.uk Produced for Social Work Resources by Communications and Strategy /Jul17