Archives for "NAS"

Just before Easter I went to Harrogate’s National Autistic Society’s annual conference. The highlight of which was Dr Wendy Lawson’s training session for 300 attendees.

I think that the experience will remain with me for the rest of my life. As with all presentations it is very difficult to explain what it is that grips an audience, perhaps better to say “you had to be there” and leave it at that.

But I came away exhilarated that someone who had such a difficult start through lack of understanding at home, school, in the workplace and society could develop into such an amazing woman who can explain what it is like to grow up with Asperger’s syndrome so clearly to those sitting in the audience.

Dr Wendy Lawson MAPS: BPS, describes herself as an adult with high functioning autism.  “I didn’t talk until I was four and I didn’t read until I was nine. But I now have two degrees and I am studying for a PHD in psychology,”

Wendy’s training sessions focus on building bridges between the neurologically typical (NT) and autism spectrum (AS) worlds. She recognises that all relationships between these worlds; formal, informal, familiar or otherwise, need to be negotiated.  However it is in the field of learning that she rightly concentrates, believing that this is the key to allowing AS individuals to be truly involved in an inclusive society.

Wendy made available a number of strategies that the (typically NT) attendee can take away and implement in their own daily encounters with AS.  She uses her own experiences to add a poignant personal perspective to her presentations.

Wendy told us a story from her childhood when her mother answered one of her questions with “I don’t know”. This was the wrong AS answer and Wendy went on to repeatedly ask her mother the same question.  Wendy explained that when faced by an autistic person looking for an answer to a difficult (or impossible) question a good solution may be to ask “what should I answer?”

Similarly a parent asked, “How can I tell if my non-verbal autistic child was happy?” Wendy replied, “Do you know when your child is unhappy?” The parent replied “Yes”, Wendy answered, “Then you know when your child is happy”.

NT’s tend to get hung up on oral communication, said Wendy and it is crucial that time is spent finding the best way to communicate with each individual autistic person. There are many other methods of communication and modern technology is transforming the way we communicate. It is not true that all AS’s are visual learners, Texting can often be a useful communication tool, even when in the same room.

I bought two of her books, Life behind Glass which I have read which explains her life and  Concepts of Normality of which I’ve only read the forward.

If you are a parent of or work with someone with Asperger’s syndrome I strongly recommend you visit Wendy’s website www. mugsy.org/wendy I cannot stress how much it explained to me. It is almost like a Dr Wendy Lawson is the Rosetta Stone of Asperger’s. I can’t wait to read more of her books.