David’s blog – raising awareness of autism
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Our tenant David is part of our Customer Voice Group, helping to identify what we do well and making recommendations for improvements in areas where we could improve. Read his blog about raising autism awareness and his work with the Lancashire Autism Peer & Self Advocacy Service (LAPSS).
“It is very rare in life that you get a fresh new page to start from, to build back better and stronger than you had before. But in the final months of the Covid lockdown with Lancashire Autism Peer & Self Advocacy Service, this is exactly what happened.
During the first six months of lockdown, I referred myself to a support organisation that gave weekly phone calls to people who had requested them as a means of emotional support. To make things more interesting, the man calling me the most was my cousin-in-law Nick (small world, eh?). I had also been in my parents’ support bubble, which helped a lot and meant the first model railway in my dad’s shed had been built remarkably quickly. As a result of this, I developed more woodworking skills!
When it was clear the lockdown rules were being lifted because of the vaccination program, Nick recommended to me a new autism group (later known as LAPSS). Daniel Hall, Service Manager at L.A.P.S.S, got in touch with me and we discussed how I could be involved.
Our first meetings were via Zoom or Teams and we didn't all meet in person straight away. When we did it was whole new experience for us all. But one thing was clear from the start - I thought, here is a chance to build back better and stronger than what we had before, to learn from past mistakes. We had a chance to develop new approaches to autism, along with first-class services for the autistic community.
Sharing the message of the group
We felt that as part of this new approach the group had to be as proactive as possible to really get the message across. And like all successful organisations, nothing happened overnight. It's taken time to get this far, but we have succeeded beyond our wildest hopes at times.
Our public debut took place during World Autism Awareness Week 2022 when we had a travelling exhibition of our creative talents at libraries across Lancashire. It was very successful for us in recruiting more members and developing contacts. At Christmas in 2022 I became leader of our arts group and we made Christmas cards and gift tags for public sale, and we made a respectable amount for the group!
Our ‘big splash’ came during 2023's World Autism Acceptance Week at Preston City Hall. We had our own table promoting the group in which more members joined, and we developed some really good contacts with related organisations (including the Mayor's office).
In September 2023, we had tables at Progress Housing Group’s Cultural Awareness Day and a week later a gazebo at Preston Pride where we again raised awareness of autism and of LAPSS. For Christmas we recorded a ‘talking heads’ presentation where we discussed our thoughts, experiences and advice on how to cope through the festive season. We're continuing in 2024 and beyond, looking ahead and building on our successes.”
David has previously written a blog for the RWP website, living with autism. Click here to read it: Living with autism - RWP (residewithprogress.org.uk)