I’m Mike Osborne, Adult Services Manager with Autism Bedfordshire. The charity started over 20 years ago when a group of parents of children with ASC got together to support each other. Over the years we have grown to the charity we are today, offering services to the residents of Bedfordshire.
The Children’s and Young People’s services offer over 400 places in term time groups, summer schemes and teen age groups across the county and are well respected and relied upon by the families and individuals we work with.
The Adult Services really started to develop just over two years ago when the Autism Act and strategies were in their infancy. We were invited to join the local strategy groups and became actively involved in enabling the authorities in Bedfordshire to work together, join forces and become leaders and innovators in the development of adult services.
Strategies agreed and in place, we created the Autism Partnership Board, aiming to put the strategies into action.
Chaired by two of our services users, this popular and influential meeting involves professionals, commissioners, managers, service users, their families and carers and anyone else interested, to meet and influence the development of services across the county.
Whilst not yet perfect nor all inclusive, we now offer social groups and activities across the county, skills and employment focussed work in the three authorities, education programmes (for up to 6 per group), personal support and a Helpline service offering advice and assistance by phone, email, drop in visits and social media.
We have also been involved in delivering a widely acclaimed programme of Autism Awareness training. In 2012 over 600 professionals attended and the feedback was excellent. The courses, presented by a Speech and Language Therapist and adults on the spectrum has been commissioned by the local authorities and the NHS, and a programme for 2013 is currently underway.
Training has also been given to prison officers within the local prison, GP surgeries and GP symposiums, Fire and Rescue Services, Police trainers, Social Work Teams, schools and colleges, residential services and accommodation providers. Whilst still having a long way to go, noticeable improvements for adults with ASC have been noted already.
The next stage is the development of a diagnostic service within the county. This is expected to be up and running very soon and will provide adults in Bedfordshire a diagnostic and treatment service and long term care coordination.
All of the above would not have been possible without close cooperation and partnership work between the local authorities, the NHS and the voluntary sector. Having all of us around the table not only enabled the development of realistic and achievable strategies, but allowed agencies to work together in the creation and delivery of these services.
Mike OsborneAutism Bedfordshire
No comments:
Post a Comment