Archives for "Aspergers"

Last weekend I was invited to see a friend of mine son in a production with Opera North in Leeds. I took my daughters, we were very excited to be going somewhere new. When we arrived it was explained to us that due to the large number in the audience children would have to sit on the floor!

We were then taken into a beautiful dance studio for the show. The show was called ” The True Adventures of the Future and the Past”. The play had been written by the 12 performers over the past eight weeks. The show was fantastic; there was drama, singing, jokes, music and apparently a lot ad-libbing! It was very funny and obvious to everybody watching that the performers were having a good time. At the end of the show many of the parents were exchanging phone numbers and promising to try to keep children in touch with each other . It really was a heart warming experience and a wonderful opportunity for all those involved.

This  weekly creative arts project was run by VERVE. It was for young people with Asperger’s Syndrome. It ran from January to March giving up to 25 young people aged 10 to 16 the opportunity to take part in the creative out of schools project for eight weeks. They worked alongside professional artists, a director, a composer and singer.

VERVE aim is to provide an opportunity for young people with Asperger’s Syndrome to participate in something they would not normally have access to. The positive atmosphere aims to develop young people’s skills, and give them the opportunity make new friends and try out new activities.

I know that there are many wonderful out-of-school activities that children can take part in. However for a child with special needs the choice is often limited and the volunteers running the club have little awareness or understanding of the child’s conditions and needs. So it was wonderful for my friend to find this opportunity for her son. It was also a great day out for myself and my daughters.