Social and Life Skills Project: Autism NI (PAPA) [NI]
Age Group: 5 to 18 years
Specific Interest Group: Children and young people with Autism.
Description of Project:
With funding from BBC Children in Need, Autism NI is delivering Social and Life Skills training to children and young people with Autism across Northern Ireland. The project will help children on the Autistic Spectrum to manage the social challenges they encounter and to help them deal with day-to-day life issues.
How do the Children and/ or Young People participate? i.e. level of involvement and method?
Young people have already been involved in the planning through their expression of the need for social skills training. During the project itself, the children and young people will be involved in its delivery. After taking part in the social skills workshops, the children will then work with the Autism NI Project Leader to identify social opportunities for practising the skills learned. For example, the organised outings and activities will be decided and guided by the young people. They will suggest and help influence what activities they would like to do or what places they would like to visit such as the cinema, leisure centre, youth club or coffee shop.
What did or what has the project/initiative achieved in terms of positive change for the organisation or/and the children and young people?
People with Autism have difficulty with social relationships, in understanding other people’s feelings and are often unable to join in social activities. This is extremely isolating. Many young people with Autism are excluded from peer groups who may find their behaviour disconcerting. This leads to problems of frustration, depression, anxiety and anger.
This new and innovative project helps children to access social networks, local leisure facilities and the outside world that their typically developing peers take for granted. For most, basic social skills (e.g. turn taking, initiating conversation and telling jokes) are easily acquired and learnt by exposure to social situations, but for young people with Autism, the process is more difficult and often the skills need to be taught explicitly.
Contact:
Mrs Audrey Mullan
Social and Life Skills Officer
Autism NI (PAPA),
Donard,
Knockbracken Healthcare Park,
Belfast, BT8 8BH
Tel: 028 9040 1729
Fax: 028 9040 3467
E-mail audrey@autismni.org
Website: http://www.autismni.org
