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One of our parents designed this wonderful piece of artwork to celebrate Autism Awareness week. She
asked us to share it with you all.
Issue 34: Summer 2020
Brent Outreach Autism Team
Brent Civic Centre, Engineers Way, Wembley, HA9 0FJ
0208 937 4659
www.brent.gov.uk/boat
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Art work, invention and poem by Leo Smith-Nield
You know it in your heart
And your heart knows it
However small your flat is it’s never too small for love
By Jayden Vales
By Jayden Vales
By Saina Basnet
Thank you posters to our keyworkers at the NHS
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Mae getting creative in her back gar-den painting her fence pink.
by Mae Lysak By Odell Grant
By Leon Arthur
By
V
E
R
N
O
N
P
I
R
E
S
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Drum kit Fruit basket Easter eggs
Michael’s journal Pencil shaving art
''I love being myself
in my everyday
even in my
dreams”
Art work by
Michael
Akinwonmi—Pedro
Aishani has been busy getting creative during the lockdown. Painting, cooking, henna, arts &
crafts and lots more. - Artwork by Aishani
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Ethan’s mum bought him some flower bombs to plant.
He has been making some cakes too.
When it’s all over…
Here’s an idea of something you can do at home when
you and your family are missing things that are not
possible to do right now. Write down some things you or
your child/young person would like to do and put it into
a container for in the future when it is safe to go out and
do it again. If your child/young person asks to do or go
somewhere that they can’t right now, such as go to the
park, write down “Go to the park” on one of the bits of
paper and put it in the container to be later picked out
once it becomes a possibility. Make sure to only put in ideas of things that are realistic and will be
actually possible to achieve to avoid future disappointment. Writing down the things you usually do
as part of your regular lives will help this idea work best.
Free Picture Communication Apps
For children that use pictures to communicate there are
some free smartphone/ tablet Apps you might find helpful to
try at home. The two Apps above have been used by some
of our parents/carers to help support their children in making
choices about what they want as well as being used to
visually support giving an instruction. If you feel this would be something your child would find
beneficial please try them out and let us know how it goes.
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Here is one of our younger children having some fun in the kitchen, we love her noise cancelling
headphones.
Thank you so much to all of our wonderful children and their parents
for sharing your lockdown art. We are really impressed with the ac-
tivities you have all been doing.
If you want to put a picture of your creations or activities in the next
newsletter please email them to us at [email protected]
The A Word
The third series of The A Word, written by award-winning screen-
writer Peter Bowker about a young boy with autism, has started its
third season on BBC 1. The series started on May 5th and is
available on BBC IPlayer.
Transition and Social Distancing
A lot of parents will be worrying about how their children will adjust to
going back to school after such a long period at home. At BOAT we
have been working on ways that we can support pupils and schools with
transition whether this be moving to a new school i.e. reception and Year
7 pupils, year to year transitions in their current school or just
coping with returning to school in general. We have produced some
social stories about social distancing and returning to school that you
may find useful. We have included the social distancing story in this
newsletter and will send you social stories about returning to school in
the next couple of weeks.
Sadly many of you will have experienced bereavement during this period and we have also included
some information on supporting children and young people affected by grief and loss.
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Social Distancing
Coronavirus, which is also sometimes called Covid-19, is a virus that
has made many people ill.
Viruses are contagious which means people can catch it easily.
Coronavirus can pass very easily from one person to another,
especially when people are in groups.
Social distancing can help keep everyone healthy.
Social distancing means staying away from large crowds, busy places
and other people.
Other people means the people who do not live in my house.
Social distancing means staying about 2
metres away from other people, 2 metres
is about the same size as when two
people hold their arms out.
They should not touch.
If I do not know how much 2 metres
is I can ask my parents or my
teacher to show me.
My routine and activities may change so that I can keep my social
distance.
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At school, I might have to sit and play
further apart from my friends than I
usually do.
Some events at school like sports day
or assemblies might be cancelled to
keep people healthy.
I will have to change how I do things when I go out, or when I am at
school. For example, I may have to wash my hands or use
antibacterial gel more often, I may have to try to stay 2 metres away
from people who do not live in my house.
If I go to the shops with my parents I may not be allowed to touch
things.
I may get frustrated because I have to change my routine and the
activities I usually do.
I will try to remember that social distancing will not last forever.
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Supporting children and young people with
autism with grief and loss
All children and young people will experience periods of grief and loss
at different times in their lives. There are ways we can support and
help people with autism understand and cope with the situation that
can help deal with feelings in positive ways. Please see our top tips
below and know you are very welcome to get in touch with your
current BOAT support person for any individual support or advice you
might need, depending on your situation.
Top tips:
Explain and be honest about what is happening using visuals to support understanding.
Use specific and accurate vocabulary and terms instead of just saying someone is poorly or un-
well.
Give warnings to any changes of routine with as much notice as you can.
Give warning if a persons looks have changed or are about to change.
Use social stories to illustrate how other people might be feeling or to explain why things are now
different than they used to be.
Name and model a variety of different feelings/emotions in real life situations and provide
visual support for this where you can
Give opportunities for the child or young person to ask questions and reassure them that it is okay
to ask anything they might be worried about.
To help when people close to the child or young person are moving away try creating a photo
based book with them that includes how you will now be interacting with them (i.e. through
video calls or talking on the phone).
Avoid unclear euphemisms such as saying someone has gone to sleep or gone to a better place
when they have died as this might be taken literally and might be confusing or cause
anxiety.
All of the above can help children and young people work through significant changes in their lives and
help give them more understanding in how it will affect them. Every situation is different so please feel
free to contact your BOAT support person if you need anything further to help with
supporting your child or young person facing these situations.
Please find more information and advice on
the National Autistic Society website www.autism.org.uk/about/family-life
Or
There are several books available to help explain
loss to children and young people including:
What Does Dead Mean?: A Book for Young
Children to Help Explain Death and Dying
by Caroline Jay and Jenni Thomas
Badger’s Parting Gifts
by Susan Varley