Rainbowland Autism Services

Listening to parents share their stories about their children who have autism we can recognise two key things:

1. Their children are loved and enrich the lives of their families
   
2. Their children - and the attitudes of others around them - can present daily challenges that can be physically exhausting and emotionally draining.
   

Families and their children with Autism need support. Sometimes this comes free through informal support networks. But many important services are expensive and not always accessible.


Rainbowland Autism Services

Parents are advocates for their children. But who will advocate for families when they feel disempowered, exhausted or unsupported?

Rainbowland Autism Services states that they are:

“a modern, innovative and energetic organisation that demonstrates its passion for helping families living with autism through its dynamic services and commitment to global autism awareness. RAS strives to advocate for the human rights of families and promote community awareness and inclusion at every opportunity."

One Campaign

One Campaign that has been driven by Rainbowland Autism Services is the campaign for families of children with developmental disabilities to be eligible for disability parking permits. Listen to this video clip to find out why this is so important. Especially listen to Jacob and his family's experiences in the carpark (starting from about the 2 minute mark).





Autism Rainbow Day

But one of the biggest campaigns is the current campaign to build Autism Awareness globally. It is not about raising money, but raising awareness.

The key event of this campaign is on the 30th of April. This has been nominated as Autism Rainbow Day.

On this day businesses, schools, social groups are being asked to build autism awareness by wearing a plain coloured t-shirt. In their press release they state that the colours are to represent the colours of the rainbow - and the autism spectrum.

To support this awareness campaign, follow these simple steps:

1. Join the Autism Rainbow Day Facebook Group
   
2. Download your Rainbow Day Poster - print it and hang it everywhere.
3. Tell your school and workplace about it - and hang more posters.
4. On Friday 30th wear a plain coloured t-shirt (and keep a few in your car to share with those who have forgotten :) )
5. When people ask why you are wearing bright colours, tell them about Autism. To help you with this, Allison has put together an Autism Awareness Sheet which you can pass on to people. *

It's that simple!

So get out there and spread awareness :)

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* You could also use the Learn to be Buddies Awareness sheets:
The Underlying Difficulties - and Strengths - of Autism
Understanding Autism Spectrum Disorders

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Allison's Story

Kristie with Kelly Nester (Adelaide Newsreader)
at the Autism SA Masquerade Ball

I have a daughter with asperger’s syndrome and she is 11 years old.

She loves music more than anything else in the world. Every day she focuses on her singing and is pretty talented.

She is really good at singing and art. Kristie also painted the picture for the Autism Rainbow Day logo.

She struggles with language and gets anxious very easily. She also has difficulties reading other people’s body language and often thinks others don’t like her when they actually do.

Sometimes I, as a parent, find it hard when she misinterprets what is being said to her, which makes her sad. It is also difficult when she struggles with her school work because she becomes anxious to give something new a go, but she works very hard to overcome these problems.

But then I think about the special moments, like when she sang in front of 360 people at the Autism SA masquerade ball in October 2009. She was amazing and performed like a professional. It was one of those very special and proud moments as a parent.

Her performance:

I love her dearly and when she smiles, she lights up the room. Kristie is our little princess and we love her dearly.

Tell your story
and help build Autism Awareness

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The Toy Bug: Educational Toys

Getting appropriate therapy and help for your child with Autism Spectrum Disorders can be very expensive, hard to access or can be complicated by your child's difficulty working with relative strangers outside the home.

So what can you do? One thing you can do is to find toys and games that you can use at home to help teach or reinforce skills that speech and/or occupational therapists would be teaching. This perhaps doesn't replace specialist help, but it can make a significant difference to your child's development.

The Toy Bug

The Toy Bug is an online store started by Jo (whose son you met in our last post). She started this store as a result of her own efforts to locate toys used by her son's therapists, or toys that could keep Lachie's attention and help with his development. Her aim is to ensure that other parents benefit from her experience and efforts.

In short, Jo has done the hard work for you. You just need to pop over to her site to scroll through her range of toys and equipment to find what may best suit your child's needs.


Here are some places you might be most interested in looking at on her site:

Lachie's favourites: I love this as it provides some hints about what a child of his age and characteristics might find most enjoyable.

On Sale: Because we all love a bargain :)

Reward Charts and Planners: Routine and explicit, visual clarification of routines and expectations are so important for children with Autism Spectrum Disorders. These charts and planners are a great resource - and could be used in homes and in the classroom.

Books: Because she sells Dave is Brave :)


Donations for Camp Autism:

If you are looking for educational and sensory toys, then there is an added incentive to buy from the Toy Bug. The Toy Bug is donating 10% of its April sales to Camp Autism, an organisation that runs holiday camps for families and children with autism.

(Camp Autism website ... a post about this coming soon)

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Jo's Story

Lachlan

I have a son with Autism and he is 6 ½ years old.

He loves reading, numbers, puzzles, board games, swimming, going to the park and mum and dad.

He is really good at reading, math, giving hugs and has wonderful manners.

He struggles with noise, too many people, change without being informed way ahead of time, taking a different route to a place he often goes to (like school) and the most scary of all running away from us when out in public and having no fear of cars.

Sometimes I, as a parent, find it hard when people don’t have the understanding or awareness of Autism like when you are out in public and your child has a major meltdown and people stare or you hear comments about naughty children or when people do not understand that you cannot go to a specific outing as there are too many sensory issues for your child to hope with.

We recently went to a friend’s place for a BBQ and there were about 25 people there and we only lasted 10 minutes before our son had a major melt down due to the number of people and the noise. We were unable to calm him down so we had to go home and some of the people where like “what, you are going just because he is screaming” – they had no idea how hard it was for him. So as you can tell we don’t venture out much but I am hoping one day we might get to Australia Zoo or Sea World.

But then I think about the special moments, like when the children in his class could not believe how well he can read and they love him helping them with their reading.

When people compliment what lovely manners our son has – like when he greets someone at the checkout and says Hello …their name (that he reads from their tag), my name is Lachlan, how are you today? And that person is taken by surprise that he knows what their name is. Or when someone sneezes (no matter whom it is) and he says “Bless You”, and when they thank him he says “You’re welcome”.

When he comes and give you the biggest hug and says, "Hug to make you feel happy".

Tell your story
and help build Autism Awareness

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No Pity Please

Through My Eyes

Music by Fiona Johnson.
Words by Valerie Foley.
Sung by Thanh Bui

".... I don't need pity
I don't need tears
I just need someone to help me
Understand my fears

Show me you believe in me
Let me know that I'm OK
Help me feel safe in the world
And I will find my way

Because I'm not blind but I can't always see
I'm not deaf but things can sound strange to me
I'm not trapped but it's hard to feel free

Imagine what it's like to be me."

The recording of this song was made possible through the generous support of Thomas and Friends and HIT Entertainment.

Autism Spectrum Music ... Posted on YouTube August 17, 2009

This song is aimed to build awareness of what it might be like to live with an Autism Spectrum Disorder. It is available for download on iTunes Australia and all proceeds to Autism Spectrum Australia (Aspect) .

A blog post about helping peers empathise... not sympathise or take pity on... with children who have differing abilities.

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Michelle's story

Brayden

I have a son with autism and he is almost 10 years old.

He loves anything involving super heroes & special powers but only the goodies ! He loves Pokemon, Transformers, Bionicles, Bakugan and every super hero from Astro boy to Sonic the Hedgehog !

He is really good at construction, give him lego or Knex and he will build things out of his head that amaze me !

He struggles with school and controlling his temper, he doesn’t like noise around him or too much stimulation or being asked to ‘join in’.

Sometimes I, as a parent, find it hard when he gets out of control and I have to physically hold him down and when he gets sent home from school before 10am, and when he says horrible words to me out of anger.

But then I think about the special moments, like when he has learnt something new or had a good morning at school and comes home beaming with pride, when he sits and hugs me and tells me that he loves no one else as much as he loves me !!


Written By Michelle (SA)
Mother of Brayden (ASD ADHD)

Tell your story
and help build Autism Awareness

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Finding services

I was just listening to some parents who were trying to find services and supports for themselves and their children with Autism Spectrum Disorders. The consensus was that the most effective way to find what they needed was not necessarily through web research, but through word of mouth. That is, by talking to other parents and finding out what they have found most useful.


Finding other families

If you are looking for people who know a bit about the services in your area, then the best place to start is with support groups. But how can you find a support group in your area?


On the web:

Specific support groups I know about, or have been told about:

A 24-hour hotline: Autism Advisory and Support Service

Rainbowland Playtime (Grenwith, South Australia)

Hunter Connect (Medowie, NSW)

The Autism and Aspergers Support Group Inc (Sydney area)

Hunter Valley ASD Support Group


Playconnect: Playgroups for families with children who have or may have ASDs

Call your State or Territory Playgroup Association on 1800 171 882 (toll-free) for information or search...

ACT contacts

NSW Playconnect groups

NT playgroups (not clear if they have any playconnect groups at this stage, but give them a call to clarify.

Queensland Playconnect

South Australia Playconnect

Tasmanian Playconnect

Victorian Playgroups (including supported and playgroups for children with special needs)

Western Australian Playconnect


Places to find more support groups:

Autism South Australia's listing of support groups

Autism Queensland's listing of support groups

MyTime support groups



And here is an Aspect document that may be useful:



AUTISM SPECTRUM DISORDER SUPPORT GROUPS – NSW Last updated -


If you have a support group you would like to share, please post it in a comment or contact me and I will add it to this list.

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