We Celebrate World Autism Awareness Week
World Autism Awareness Week
Monday the 26th of March saw the start of World Autism Awareness Week, culminating in World Autism Awareness Day on Monday the 2nd of April. This year, The Richmond Fellowship Scotland has decided to celebrate both along the theme of home and belonging. A number of events have been organised by autistic people we support and their support staff, throughout Scotland. Events include a Karaokethon, picnics with the community, a large BBQ, sporty events and hosting an afternoon tea. The aim of all of these events is to invite the local community to celebrate with the autistic people we support.
The theme home is an important part of the work we do on a daily basis. This involves working closely with the autistic people we support to develop specialist services, which are able to meet their needs and allow them to live a fulfilled life as part of their local community. WAAD has evolved in recent years, moving from raising awareness about autism to focussing on understanding and acceptance of autistic people in society. A recent study about the preferences of autistic individuals highlights that the majority of individuals prefers being called autistic, rather than being labelled as having autism.
The Richmond Fellowship Scotland has worked resolutely to support autistic people and their families, through a number of projects. This includes the development of the Positive Pathways training for family carers, development of services such as Teviot Court and Blackford and offering specialist support and training to our services across Scotland. We have developed all our autism training in line with the NHS Education for Scotland’s Autism Training Framework. This WAAW and WAAD we hope to celebrate together with all the autistic people we support and increase understanding and acceptance amongst local communities. Please follow out social media channels for updates of activities throughout the week.