Programme Review Newsletter
of the DAAS meeting held on
Tuesday 17th January 2012, 7pm
The Retreat, Bournemouth University, Wallisdown
| Welcome | Martin Hedley hosted the meeting having kindly volunteered to stand in for Carole Driver who has had a bad fall and broken a bone in her foot. We all wished Carole well and a speedy recovery. Martin welcomed everyone to the first meeting of 2012 and looked forward to an interesting and successful year. | ||||||||||||||||||||
| N O T I C E S | |||||||||||||||||||||
| Issues | We asked people to note down some of the things that were on their minds so that it might help us to prioritise issues to focus on at future meetings or when pressing for action at various consultation meetings. The forms could be completed anonymously and were collected in a box at the end of the meeting. There was an excellent response and some important and interesting issues were highlighted. Many thanks to everyone who contributed. The exercise will be repeated at the next meeting to allow other people to add to the list of subjects. Then a summary will be produced so that we can share ideas and hopefully identify some ways forward. | ||||||||||||||||||||
| Membership | Martin highlighted the fact that joining DAAS membership for the final quarter of the year (Membership runs from April to March) is now half-price and encouraged people who had not already signed up to do so now. The size of the membership can add weight to our voice as representatives of DAAS when we press for action or change in relation to services for people with Asperger’s and their carers. Forms are available at meetings or on the DAAS website. | ||||||||||||||||||||
| BBC South | Earlier in the month BBC South featured 3 short case studies about people on the autistic spectrum. Martin was one of the people who appeared. But he explained that the story he told was not the one which was finally edited and transmitted. Originally his case study was intended to be about his success in relationships, gaining an understanding of his own needs and learning how to mesh these together with the needs of the other people in his life. But the film footage had been edited to focus on employment aspects and had not presented the full picture. There are on-going talks, however, with the programme producer about a possible follow-up programme. Martin referred to the BBC Ouch programme which covers all aspects of disability and the web site has links to his item. There is also a blog site at http://www.bbc.co.uk/blogs/ouch/ to keep up to date. We are hoping to be able to obtain copies of the programmes and Martin will then put them on You Tube. He has already up-loaded some of his songs on You Tube and was disappointed his music was featured only very briefly in the BBC South item. If you’re interested in hearing Martin’s music try this http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5G4xHaGrvGA . | ||||||||||||||||||||
| Spring Programme | Diane encouraged people to come along to our next few meetings. In February the Manager of Poole CAB, Richard Bristow, will be giving us the latest information on Welfare Benefits, Where are we Now. This co-incidentally meets the requests of several people who filled in the Issues forms mentioned above. In March we will be following up on the subject of Sensory Integration which was introduced last October by Kate Cartwright the CAAS Occupational Therapist. Ros Urwin who will be with us in March is at the forefront of this topic in this country and will be sharing with us her insight into the SI assessments and how the results can be interpreted and used to explain behaviours and to develop coping strategies. Our April meeting will have more of an informal flavour and will once again feature our own members and their experiences, insights and advice. | ||||||||||||||||||||
| Job Opportunities | Although the 5 Voluntary Directors do their best to keep DAAS running there are several areas in which we really need help and Martin outlined three opportunities where a volunteer would be very welcome.
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| DAAS & Community | |||||||||||||||||||||
| Carers | Diane pointed out that anyone who is a carer should make sure that their GP knows this and makes a note on their record. GPs should also keep a Carers Register. This applies even if the person you care for is not in receipt of services. Carers may have needs as a carer in addition to any other health concern they may be consulting a GP about. Carers are also entitled to request a Carer’s Assessment. It was agreed to look into some other aspects of carers rights, particularly about respite breaks, and report back at a future meeting. | ||||||||||||||||||||
| Main Event | |||||||||||||||||||||
| Exploring your Interests for 2012 | The background and context to this subject was the discussion a couple of months ago when we were exploring various aspects of relationships and several people recommended shared interests as a proven basis for developing friendships, improving self esteem and helping to avoid isolation. Talking about interests can also be a way of making social communication easier. Martin introduced Paul Brayshaw who gave us an enjoyable and thought-provoking talk and an introduction to his own interest which is wood turning and making wooden spoons. In his everyday life Paul is an engineer but his interest in wood-turning gradually developed, learning initially from DVDs & videos, but being put-off from his original intentions of carving a bowl because of fears about using the equipment. When his lathe re-surfaced in the garage some 5 years later Paul decided to try again and when he came across the Dorset Coppice Group at a Country Fair he realised that there was a whole range of country crafts which people were involved in – hurdle making, thatching, art-work, pyrography (burnt poker work)etc. He took up the offer of a one day course, learned to work safely and produced his first wooden bowl and goblet. His hobby developed into producing more wood turned bowls which not only solved the Christmas present problem but also produced income from stalls at country fairs. Ray Mears (the Bushcraft and Survival expert) provided the inspiration for a change of direction from making bowls to carving a wide variety of wooden spoons, with the help of You Tube videos to learn the basics. Paul’s very first hand carved spoon sold for £10 and over the last 4 years since then he has developed a range of different styles of spoon for cooking, eating or simply for decoration. People involved in country crafts are always keen to help others learn and small groups will meet up, often in the fresh air and countryside to practice their skills and enjoy spending time together. Making something by hand gives a lot of satisfaction and making things together in a group gives you something to talk about. Beginners can learn from those more experienced and focusing on the tasks acts as an ice-breaker for social communication. Paul now teaches other groups and people can achieve a good result even at their first session. Doing something creative, designing a spoon, following the grain of the wood, can be therapeutic and help people put aside their troubles for a while. Every piece of wood will produce something a little bit different and different types of wood produce varying effects, with their colours and grains, and also provide different challenges and uses. The Dorset Coppice Group has permission to use several local woods, including one in Blandford where they have built a classroom, and they run various woodland courses throughout the year – hedge-laying, basket making, pole lathe turning, carving etc. There are regular open days and in October a Have-a-go/Taster day where you can try out different woodland crafts. All the wood used is local coppiced wood and coppicing is an important element of woodland management, conservation and encouragement of local wildlife. Further details are at http://www.dorsetcoppicegroup.co.uk/ Paul and his family had set out a display of spoons and other items he has created and Paul explained about the process of making wooden spoons, the fairly simple tools needed, the oils he recommends and the outlets and opportunities for selling finished hand crafted items. Finally we had a demonstration of the full process from a cut pole to a finished spoon and an opportunity to examine and even purchase from the range of hand carved items on display. Spoon making may not be for everyone but Paul’s talk illustrated how exploring and developing an interest can have unexpected and beneficial spin-offs. We appreciated the chance to learn about something new and enjoyed the display of this centuries old woodland craft. We had intended to develop the session into a broader discussion about people’s interests and collected a wide list of topics from members of the group – many thanks to those of you who put forward your suggestions. There were some really interesting subjects but time ran out on this occasion. We will, however, be developing this theme at a future meeting. | ||||||||||||||||||||
| Next DAAS Meeting | Tuesday Frebruary 21st Venue: The Retreat Speaker: Richard Bristow Topic: Welfare Benefits – Where are we now | ||||||||||||||||||||
| Thank You | As always we are very grateful to those people who help to make the meeting run smoothly. The January team included Aldina Taylor (Refreshments) Shirley Halliday, Pat Cave & Diane Waters (Welcome Desk) Arsenal Whittaker (Room set-up) | ||||||||||||||||||||
| Can you help? | 1. We need ideas and hosts for carers events 2. Can you assist by Hosting a meeting? 3. Can you help out as part of the Welcome Table team or with Refreshments? | ||||||||||||||||||||
| Contact Details |
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