Connected! Fife Autism Network News - Home Page

SOCIAL WORK SERVICEConnected!Fife Autism Network NewsFifth EDITIONONE STOP SHOPhttp://www.scottishautism.org/news/one-stop-shop-opens-in-fife/The PAPAS group is run by NHS Fife and is an Autism Awareness Workshop forparents of 9 -14 year olds, the programme started on February the 6 th and ran for 8weeks. Some of the parents who attended also contacted the One Stop Shop foradvice and information.The Art group has been popular with children under the age of 12, and is held onthe 3rd Sunday of the Month; with some of children liking painting while others likethe crafts. They also have access to the sensory room, which is very popular.We run an Employment group that is specifically for adults with ASD / Asperger’sSyndrome, where they are given advice from an employment professional on: howto write a Curriculum Vitae, help with application forms, interview skills and letterwriting. We discuss the social side of work, difficult situations they may encounterand how to resolve issues. Also, how to apply on-line for jobs as well as informationthat can help an employer understand the benefits of employing a person with ASD.The Employment group can be run for an individual or groups.We run a girls group where various issues are discussed in depth; employment,relationships, housing, health and personal care. Various social events are regularlyheld; such as games nights, quiz night, hand massage.The guys group is a small group which meets every week to play games likesnooker, pool, dominoes and cards. We discuss issues and topics including theirinterests and things in the news. We talk in depth about relationships, transitions,socialising and problems with communication, employment and health care.We encourage service users to take part and organise.The Early Bird Plus started on the 17 th of April, for 8 weeks, and is run by NHS Fifefor parents of 4 to 8 year olds.Since we opened we have had a number of enquiries from people with autism,parents, carers and professional all looking for help and advice. We were able to assistand give out information on services or help available to them, both locally andnationally.Spring 2013

Connected!ASD (Autism Spectrum Disorder)2We have strong links with Fife action on Autism and PHAD (Fife), who also supportpeople with autism in Fife and who have a good knowledge of services and supportsavailable.A multi-agency Steering Group, with representation across Fife Council and NHSServices, as well as voluntary sector, is providing positive support to One Stop Shopdevelopments.EXAMPLES OF USING ONE-STOP-SHOP SERVICES:-Hi“I like coming to the One Stop Shop in Dunfermline as it’s very nice and quiet, I canplay snooker and pool and speak to people about things, before the One Stop Shopopened I had nowhere to go and stayed in my house most of the time. I meet otherpeople who have autism and its very interesting to hear them speaking about theproblems they have. A lot are similar to what I have had to face.”Hi“I come to the employment club. at the club I have compiled my C.V. and discussedmy strengths and weakness. I have spoken about how my Autism affects me andthe challenges I will face getting work. The One Stop Shop has computer access soI can apply for jobs online. We speak about the social side of work and how thismight be hard for me.”Mother“I came to the One Stop Shop as I had problems getting help for my child at the localschool. After speaking with the One Stop Shop advisor I returned to the schooland spoke with the head teacher, who then contacted the professional Autism SpectrumInformation and Support Team, who have experience of Autism. I feel a lothappier now knowing that my child is getting the right help and support.”Father and Son“My son was having problems with getting his DLA form filled in; the One stop Shopsign-posted us to a voluntary organisation that helped him complete the forms.”Service User“I was referred to the One Stop Shop from social work, after recently being diagnosedwith ASD, I wanted to find out how to get more information on understandinghow I can cope with my feelings. I struggle with meeting people and getting out ofmy house. The One Stop Shop is helping me with my anxiety.”

Connected!ASD (Autism Spectrum Disorder)3Have a look around:EmploymentSensoryGames RoomLibraryMeeting Room

Connected!ASD (Autism Spectrum Disorder)4The Education and Learning Directorate StrategyGroup is continuing to work towards the aimsidentified in the current improvement plan. Goodprogress has been made in a number of differentareas, and the most recent survey of pupils withASD in Fife schools is almost complete. A summaryreport of this survey will be available for thenext newsletter. We are also looking forward toholding an ASD Learning Festival in June. Thiswill offer education staff in Fife an opportunity toshare good practice and learn from each other insupporting pupils with ASD. A summary reportfrom the Learning Festival will be available for afuture edition of the newsletter.Ken KeighrenEducation OfficerFife Council Education and Learning DirectorateSocial Work Supported Employment Service(SWSES), Adult Services (Resources), assistspeople who experience disability or health issues toachieve their work goals through the delivery ofsupported employment. SWSES provides:First Steps: pre-vocational training in workshopand group settings, adapted to suit individual learningneeds.Next Steps: tailored and person centred one toone support to help people progress into workSWSES manages Matrix Fife; a supported business with over 80% workforce with disabilitiesand health issues.SWSES is dedicated to upholding the rights of people affected by disability and health issueswithin the workplace.We have a responsibility to the community in which we live to promote work equity for peopleaffected by disability and health issues in order to build an inclusive society and encouragediversity within workforces.We strive to provide a service that is: Flexible, Local, Non-discriminatory and Tailored tomeet individual needs.Angela HamiltonActing Team ManagerFife Council Adult Services

Connected!ASD (Autism Spectrum Disorder)Moving on to Adult Life in Fife5Moving on from school to adult life is an important right of passage and a time ofchange for every young person. It is a time for celebration, for increased independenceand new opportunities. We all remember leaving school and embarkingour own journey into adult life. Many of the decisions we made would have beentaken in consultation with our parents, teachers, careers advisers and other relevantadults and would have involved advanced planning. Without timely planningand preparation, leaving school or college can be an anxious time for families ofyoung people with additional support needs, who require the continued support ofservices.A wide range of agencies and organisations support young people with additionalsupport needs, and their families, to plan for the future. A dedicated ‘Moving On’website and a ‘Charter for Transition’ have been developed. The website providesinformation on a wide range of topics which families may need to considerwhen making future life plans with their sons and daughters. 6000 signpostingleaflets have been distributed to schools, colleges, social work teams, NHS Fifeand voluntary sector organisations in Fife, to ensure that families are directed toinformation which will enable them to make timely and informed future life plans.The four standards set out in the Charter for Transition are:- Putting young people and their families at the centre of future life planning anddecision making.- Ensuring families are signposted to the right information to help them to makedecisions as their son/daughter moves from School and Children’s Services toAdult Services.- Working together to create a plan that will work best for the young person.- Getting the right service(s) at the right time.Councillor Andrew Rodger, chair of the Fife Health and Social Care Partnershiplaunched the charter. He explained “it is important that people know the standardof care and support they can expect from the agencies and organisations helpingthem. It helps young people and their families be realistic about what to expectand, if we fall short of the standards, then the charter is something they can referto and hold us accountable to. “Councillor Judy Hamilton, Fife Council executive spokesperson for Social Workand Health said, “Fife Council is very committed to making sure that young peoplewith additional support needs reach their full potential. We understand it’s an anxioustime making this transition from children’s services over to adult services sowe fully support the standards laid out in this charter.”Continues overleaf

Connected!ASD (Autism Spectrum Disorder)6The multi-agency Transition Implementation Group, which has been instrumental inguiding the development of these new resources and strategic transition processes,continues to meet. They have agreed a further 2 year plan for continued developmentsin the area of transition. This includes agreeing a calendar of transitionevents for young people and their families, and piloting an online forum for practitionersto enable them to share information and good practice. The group has alsoaccepted an invitation to pilot a two day transition course for staff, involved in supportingyoung people in transition. This will be delivered by experienced facilitatorsfrom the Scottish Consortium for Learning Disability in partnership with some youngpeople and families from Fife and members of the Children, Young People and FurtherEducation Working Group.A copy of the Charter for Transition can be downloaded from the ‘Moving On’ websiteat www.fifedirect.org.uk/movingon.The Scottish Transitions Forum seeks to raise awareness, to inform and to influenceapproaches to the transition of young people with additional support needs, at bothlocal and national level. The Scottish Transitions Forum, which is facilitated by ARC(Association for Real Change) Scotland, has also developed a website which complementsour own Fife transitions website. This can be found via the following link:www.scottishtransitions.org.ukLaunch of the Charter for TransitionGeraldine GoldieLocal Area Co-ordinatorOn behalf of the Transition Implementation Group

Connected!ASD (Autism Spectrum Disorder)7ADULT DAY SERVICESThe review of the service is complete and we are now implementing the recommendationfrom the review.The name of the service will change from Adult Day Services to Fife CommunitySupport Service.We will be creating three geographical areas: East Fife Community Support Service, operating from Dalgairn andRobert Gough centres Central Fife Community Support Service, operating from the St Clairand the Forward centres. West Fife Community Support Centre, operating from West Fife CommunitySupport Office and the Grange centre.We have also redesigned the management structure. Each area will now haveone manger and up to seven coordinators.Staff will be allocated into four teams within each area:1. Youth Team that supports people during the transition from school to adultservices, up the age of 25yrs.2. Over 25’s team that supports people who still want, and are able, to enjoy activebusy lives.3. Pace Team that supports people who due to age, ability or circumstances, atspecific time in their life, mean they need their support delivered at a slower moregentle pace.4. Independent Team that supports those more able people within our serviceswho, with the right kind of support, will ultimately be able to access leisure activities,employment or education with minimal or no staff support.Over the coming months, we will be considering the ways in which Self DirectedSupport and Fife Supported Employment Services can be used to enhance theopportunities we offer, to the people we support.Ian WilsonTeam ManagerSocial Work Adult Services

Connected!ASD (Autism Spectrum Disorder)8COMMUNITY LIVING SERVICEFife Council’s Community Living Service was established in 1987 andhas grown steadily over the years.The Service provides family based support to adults with disabilities,mental health and other support needs in the following ways:Long-term Support: which offers a place living with a family for aslong as this meets their needs and the carer is able to provide thesupport.Short breaks: which can be regular or one-off breaks, enabling themain carer to have a break, giving the individual a new experiencewithin a family setting.Day Support: This involves a carer supporting someone to accesstheir local community, or work on independent living skills in ahome environment.The Community Living Service has been registered with the Care Inspectoratesince June 2006. It is one of numerous similar schemesthroughout Britain, and is one of the longest running of these services.The Community Living Service is about sharing ordinary life experiences,being part of a family and living in the local community.Irene YoungSocial WorkerAdult Resources

Connected!ASD (Autism Spectrum Disorder)9Fife Multi Agency Child ASD Management GroupThe multi-agency Fife Child ASD Management Group, hosted by NHS Fife continuesto meet on a regular basis (every 2 to 3 months); to monitor, develop and considervarious aspects of the ASD diagnosis and intervention pathway.Membership of the group comprises a number of disciplines from NHS Fife, as wellas representation from Fife Council Education Services, Social Work Services, VoluntaryServices and the ASD Co-ordinator.The group has considered and developed various tiers of the diagnosis pathway, tomake them as efficient as possible, as well as foster effective communication betweenthem.The Children Under 3 or under 5, or not in statutory education services, DiagnosisPathway has been further developed; from an initial pilot, to a fully developed diagnosispathway.Due to the development of these pathways, over the last 2 years, we have seen asignificant reduction in the time from referral to diagnosis, for children who may bediagnosed with ASD.We are also currently developing an Intervention Pilot which supports families, followinga diagnosis of ASD for the child or young person.For further information, on the work of the multi-agency Fife Child ASD ManagementGroup, please contact:Alan RobertsProject ManagerLynebank HospitalKY11 8JHScottish Government: Scottish Strategy for Autism Alongside the 10 year strategy (launched November 2011) was an investment of£13.4million of funding. As part of this funding a £1m Autism Development Fund (ADF) was made availableto local and national organisations; in the first round 23 organisations,across Scotland, received funding. The ADF was increased to £1.5m, resulting in a further 30 organisations benefitingfrom the funding, in the second round. With the Scottish Government and CoSLA’s joint partnership, in October lastyear, £1.12m was made available across local authorities, to support the developmentof local Autism strategies, and associated action plans. Funding has been made available to the Open University and University ofStrathclyde, to offer courses to professionals to increase awareness of Autism;via distance learning and other methods of delivery. This 3 year initiative will enableapprox. 1,000 people to participate, free of charge.

Connected!ASD (Autism Spectrum Disorder)10PICTURE (© UK Parliament): David Nicholson, Stella Macdonald, John Borley(Chair), Rt. Hon. John Bercow MP & Rt. Hon. Hazel Blears MPOn 19th March 2013, the House of Commons, Westminster, hosted its‘Perspectives on Autism’ event. The event, attended by a mixed audience of approximately80, was Chaired by John Borley, Disability Champion and Director Generalof Department of Facilities, in the House of Commons; and proved to be a resoundingsuccess.Stella Macdonald, representing Fife Council Social Work Service, was invited to presenton her 5-year journey as ASD Co-ordinator; as well as report on the active andbroader attention being given to Autism, both throughout Fife’s public sector servicesand at a national level.The event opened with input from Rt. Hon. John Bercow MP, Speaker of the Houseof Commons, who spoke as a parent of a child with Autism; followed by DavidNicholson, Parliamentary Assistant to Rt. Hon. Hazel Blears MP, speaking about hisexperiences as someone with Autism. Completing the programme was Stella’s presentation,sealed by a question and answer session.Both John and David gave moving, yet encouraging, accounts of their experiences.Their honesty had a powerful impact on all present; a mix of people with Autism,parents, carers, MPs, Civil Servants and other interested parties.Stella’s presentation was well received, with members of the audience hailing Fifefor its forward-thinking; and that such an example of good practice should be promoted.

Connected!ASD (Autism Spectrum Disorder)11A FOND FAREWELL……..Goodness - how time flies! After 5 wonderful years, the post of ASD Co-ordinatorcomes to its natural end this June; the 28 th , to be precise.At times, I have felt like a sales person; as I was regularly asked “Why Autism?;What is Autism?; and Where does it fit in?”.In a nutshell, Autism challenges the very heart of the concept of ‘independent living’,where positive messages of:inclusion – citizenship – participation – contribution - person-centred – choice –respect - & othersmay be desired, but are poorly understood by those with an ASD. In fact, the ‘social’aspect of independent living, greatly challenges the Autism population; indeed, unwittingly,creates a deeper divide between them and the community around them.Having Autism may best be described as the antithesis of innate ‘social ability’. Aswith ‘social ability’, Autism is a ‘way of being’, not merely a stand-alone disability;which challenges the strong and positive message of ‘inclusion’, within our policiesas well as our communities.While in post, my experience has been that of an ‘access all areas’ approach anddiligence in ensuring that the voices of parents, families and people with ASD areheard and taken seriously; whether that be via Fife Action on Autism, PHAD (Fife),individually or through myself.With a focus on building upon individual’s skills, it was recognised that each personwith ASD is unique, and that their journey towards independence is a shared one;that of the community, family, person with ASD and services (independent, public,voluntary etc.), as may be required.Therefore, as ASD Co-ordinator, and paying equal attention to the above areas,much has been achieved; from data systems, set up to capture numbers of thoseaccessing services; to training and reflective practice; to input into policy, plans andstrategies; to ASD specific resources i.e. public library book collections; to webpageswithin Fife Direct; through to bringing an awareness of Autism into the community,including the Glass Wall Project at Kirkland High School.Work has been evaluated by a member of the Scottish Government Joint ImprovementTeam, and a report published in February 2012: which may be accessed viathe Autism pages within Fife Council’s website, Fife Direct:http://publications.1fife.org.uk/uploadfiles/publications/c64_ASD-Coordinator-Evaluation-Report-Feb12.pdf

Connected!ASD (Autism Spectrum Disorder)12As the end date for the post nears, I wish to take this opportunity to express mysincere thanks to all who have assisted and supported me over the years. It hasbeen a pleasure and a privilege, as we worked together; nothing achieved in isolation.Your input has been invaluable and a credit to Fife.Fife has a number of ASD specific multi-agency groups (membership includes individualswith ASD and parents); addressing Learning Disabilities (it is estimatedthat 55% of people with ASD have a Learning Disability – Baird et al 2006), educationand learning, assessment and diagnostic services for children and adolescents,and a steering group addressing services for adults. Apart from thesegroups, Autism is included within broader themes i.e. Self Directed Support, PostschoolTransition, Advocacy, and others.At present we are working hard, as we establish an ASD Champions Network(ACN), and have received 34 nominations, so far; including parents, people withASD and representation from: Education and Learning, the Cultural Trust(museums, libraries & theatres), Job Centre Plus, Colleges, as well as a range ofservices across Housing, Social Work and NHS Fife. The network also includesrepresentation from the recently opened One Stop Shop for Autism:http://www.scottishautism.org/news/one-stop-shop-opens-in-fife/The concept of the ACN is one of sharing good practice, delivering training, providingsupport amongst champions, signposting to further training opportunities, andothers; including linking to existing resources and courses provided by NHS Fife’sPlayfield Institute: http://www.playfieldinstitute.co.uk/ . Very generously, staff atthe Playfield Institute (PI) are supporting the development of the ACN; with the intentionof acting as host, once up and running.Although there remains much to do, there is equally much to celebrate! I am confidentthat Autism is in good hands.Sincere good wishes to you all –Stella MacdonaldASD Co-ordinatorN.B. This will be my final Newsletter – Future editions will be produced by the OneStop Shop. If you have any news or ideas; please get in touch with either EddieFowler (Manager) or Eileen McCrossan (Advisor) via the above weblink.