Conference

Our annual conference is a “must” for parents and carers, and we also welcome professionals from the worlds of medicine and education as delegates. It usually attracts in the region of 80-100 people, and provides a great opportunity, not only to learn, but also to meet and socialise with others who share similar problems.

Over the years, the topics have been varied. They include:

• Growing Up with Autism
• Play: Practical and Imaginative Ideas and Activities
• Research into autistic spectrum disorders
• Sensory Processing and how it affects people with ASD
• Emotional Development (and the implications for those on the autism spectrum)

Among our speakers, we have welcomed:

• Dr Vicky Slonims – Clinical Lead Speech & Language Therapist for Children with Complex Communication Disorders, Newcomen Centre, Guy’s and St Thomas’ NHS Trust
• Dr Jeremy Parr, a paediatrician who works in the departments of Paediatric Neurology and Child Psychiatry at The University of Oxford, and a Consultant in Paediatric Neurodisability at Great Ormond Street Hospital
• Luke Beardon, senior lecturer in autism at Sheffield Hallam University
• Peggy Walpole (then deputy head-teacher) and Rachel Watt (then Head of Further Education) at Linden Bridge School
• Stephanie Lord, Director of Special Educational Needs for the Licensed Trade Schools