NAS Surrey Branch Mini Survey

We are planning our (limited) resources and budgets for 2018 and would like the views of members so that we know what the most important things are for the branch to do to help support families. Just a reminder, the NAS Surrey Branch is run by parent volunteers and is focused on providing support for parents and carers – we are not involved with the children’s’ and youth clubs or ASSIST services which are run by the NAS Resource Centre - a separate part of the NAS run by professionals

Please spend just a few minutes completing the short survey here to help us prioritise how we use volunteers’ time and spend our money, which all comes from donations: https://www.surveymonkey.co.uk/r/PS3CF23

Cygnet Courses Hosted by NAS Surrey Branch in 2018

We are once again hosting two 2-day Cygnet programmes for parents of children aged 5 – 18 with autism. They are being run by trainer Liz Waters:

Dorking – Weds 7^th & Thurs 8^th  March

Guildford – Tues 8^th & Weds 9^th May

The two-day programmes are designed to:

• • Increase understanding of autistic spectrum conditions 

• • Help parents / carers develop their knowledge of how a child on the autistic spectrum experiences the world and what drives their behaviour 

• • Learn about practical strategies to use with children 

• • Find out about relevant ASD resources 

• • Let parents / carers meet with others to gain support and learn from each other.

Topics covered include autism & diagnosis; communication; sensory issues; understanding behaviour and managing behavior.

This two-day course is FREE for families in Surrey to attend. BOOKING IS ESSENTIAL. To reserve your place, we require a £10 deposit per person but your deposit will be returned on completion of both days. We reserve the right to retain the deposits of people who have booked but do not attend. To book your place, please email Sarah Mead at events@nassurreybranch.org with ‘Cygnet’ and your preferred location in the subject line.

Workshop on Behaviour in Guildford January 2018

FULLY BOOKED. Workshop on behaviour in children with ASDs on Thursday 18th January 2018 from 8.00 – 9.00 p.m. Coffee will be served from 7.45pm.  Booking essential.

The workshop is being delivered by Sue Goldman, who has taught autistic children for over 20 years at locations including the NAS Sybil Elgar School, The Little Group and Papillon House. She has experience in the ‘Attention Autism’ approach, Makaton and TEACCH (Treatment and Education of Autistic and related Communication-handicapped Children).

Update on NAS Surrey Service Clubs and Family Support

As families who already use the NAS Surrey Service after school or youth clubs, or the Family Support service know, its services for under-18s are being changed or cut following the consultation by Surrey Short Breaks during May and June this year. 

There is information about the changes on the Surrey Local Offer website.

From 1st December 2017, there will be just two after-school and two youth clubs run by the NAS in Surrey – details of venues will be announced in the autumn. Clubs in other areas will be delivered by the YMCA.

Sadly the NAS Family Support service will stop from December and new referrals are no longer being taken. For queries, contact 01483 521743 or email SEResourceCentres@nas.org.uk. 

The new address for NAS Surrey Services is Birch House, No 6 Godalming Business Centre, Woolsack Way, Godalming GU7 1XW.

John Williams to Perform at NAS Surrey Branch AGM 5th July 2017

Our Branch AGM will take place from 8.00pm on Wednesday 5th July in the Brooklands Room at the Doubletree Hilton, Victoria Way, Woking GU21 8EW. Coffee will be served from 7.30pm.

We are delighted and excited that our speaker this year will be John Williams, stand up comedian and author of the book and blog  ‘My Son’s not Rainman’. Here’s what his website says about him:

"I'm a comedian... it's what I do. I used to always talk about family life on stage, but there was one crucial bit of our story I always missed out, and that was the bit about my son having autism and cerebral palsy. Yet despite his diagnosis, and maybe even sometimes because of it, there is joy in our world. That's all this is about. It isn't a story about autism - it's a story about a young boy who happens to have autism, there's a difference.

The show first premiered at the Edinburgh Festival in 2013. Since then it has been performed at theatres, comedy clubs, headteacher conferences, autism events, teacher training days and fundraisers across the UK and Ireland. An excerpt was recorded for Radio 4 'Four Thought' and was selected by the BBC as one of their Magic Moments of Radio 2015 as well as featuring on Radio 4's Pick of the Year. 

The book telling our story 'My Son's Not Rainman' was published by Michael O'Mara Books on 1 September 2016." 

The first 30 minutes or so of the meeting will deal with our AGM buinsess, including voting in a new Chair. As you may have seen in the newsletter, current volunteer chair Emma Whitfield is stepping down this year after six years in the role, but very happily past chair Sara Truman has been persuaded to stand for re-election. Haywood Drake has also kindly agreed to stand for re-election as treasurer. If you would like to put your name forward for either of these roles, please email Sara at nas@mugsy.org by 15th June. 

If you were to see John perform in London, Manchester or Edinburgh, you would pay £15 or more, so we are asking anyone who can to donate £10 for the evening. You can either give cash on the door or donate via our justgiving page: www.justgiving.com/nassurreybranch

We look forward to seeing as many of you as possible on 5th July - please email Emma at emma@mugsy.org with ‘AGM’ in the subject to let me know if you are planning on coming so we have a rough idea of numbers.

NAS and interAKtive Ice Skating Event 8th July 2017

We are holding our annual ice skating event, along with the charity interAKtive, on Saturday 8th July from 4.45 – 5.45pm at Guildford Spectrum Ice rink.  

We take over the whole ice rink, get the flashing lights and loud music turned off and provide plenty of pushalong penguins to help children who aren’t confident on the ice. You can also come straight into the rink through a back door without having to go through the noisy reception area if that works best for your family.   

Please note, children remain the responsibility of their parents at all times and we ask that children under 12 are accompanied on the ice by a responsible adult. Guildford Spectrum recommends that children under 10 should wear one of the helmets supplied (they can wear their own if they prefer).   

To book your place, go to https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/nas-interaktive-family-ice-skatingjuly2017-tickets-34191180742. Suggested Donation: £4.50 per skater  For more information, contact Sarah Mead on 01483-454245, email sarah_mead@hotmail.co.uk   

‘Day around the Autistic Spectrum’ Event in Godalming

Carers Support Waverley and Carers Support Guildford are holding a ‘Day Around the Autistic Spectrum' for parents, carers, or friends of someone on the Autistic Spectrum of any age.

Date: Thursday 19th January 2017
Time: 9.30am to 4pm
Venue: Guildford Rugby Club, Guildford Rd, GODALMING, GU7 3BU

The event will include a workshop by The Curly Hair Project covering topics including rigidity, refusal or ignoring requests, avoidance, behaving in non-socially acceptable ways in public and physical aggression and meltdowns.

The event will include information stalls covering most aspects of being a parent, carer or friend of a young person including disability, education, behaviour and respite. There will also be an opportunity during the afternoon for one to one advice from Core Assets, Surrey Welfare Rights and other agencies and community services.

Visitors are welcome to come to all or part of the day. If you would like to go along, you can book your place by calling 01483 458123. 

Sensory Conference in Dorking

The SEND Teaching School and Surrey County Council are holding a Sensory Conference for up to 150 delegates. The event will include a series of presentations with regular coffee breaks, and there will be an exhibition of local organisations during the coffee and lunch breaks – NAS Surrey Branch will have a table at the event.

The event is aimed at both parents and professionals from both mainstream and special schools.

Date: Friday 27th January 2017
Time: 9.00am – 3.30pm
Venue: Denbies Vineyard, London Rd, Dorking, Surrey RH5 6AA

To find out more, contact Vicky Jones, email: courses@sendteachingschool.co.uk Tel: 020 8330 3009 extension 237. 

Easy to Use Postal Library Service

We now offer a postal library service for NAS Surrey Branch members which enables you to borrow up to 3 books at a time from our library of over 300 titles about autism and related issues. We have books suitable for parents and carers, children and adults with autism and professionals working in the field. Please carefully read ALL the steps and rules below which explain how to borrow books. 

Step 1 

You can view our books on a spreadsheet here (if the link doesn't work, paste this into your browser: http://bit.ly/2e7WGDA). This takes you to a spreadsheet that allows you to view all the library books and DVDs and decide which books (maximum of 3) you wish to borrow from those shown as AVAILABLE. Please note, it may take a bit of time to load the first time you view as it contains images of all the books. 

Step 2

If possible, make a donation of at least the cost of the postage cost shown (which includes return postage) via our Justgiving page www.justgiving.com/nassurreybranch or by a cheque made payable to 'NAS Surrey Branch' and sent to our postal address: NAS Surrey Branch, c/o Mayfield, 74 Hersham Road, Hersham Surrey KT12 5NU.

Step 3

Email parent volunteer librarian Susan on nassblibrary@gmail.com to request the book/s you want, giving your name and full postal address, including postcode.

Step 4

When you receive the books in the post please remember to KEEP THE JIFFY BAG and the RETURN POSTAGE ENVELOPE safe. 

Step 5

When you are ready to return the book/s you’ve borrowed, you will just need to put them into the jiffy bag they arrived in, and then into the pre-addressed plastic postal wrapper supplied, which will already have the appropriate amount of postage. You can then just pop it into a postbox. 

Family Voice Surrey Free Parent Carer Events

The parent participation group Family Voice Surrey is holding a series of free events for parents of children with any type of disability or special need. Upcoming events are:

25th Jan - Caterham
Trainer: Mark Brown, Special Help 4 Special Needs
Understanding the behaviours or obsessions of a child with additional needs is key to helping them develop and deal with the world around them. In this session, Mark will offer top tips for developing your understanding of your child’s behaviour and a ‘tool box’ of interventions to help you support them effectively.

9th Feb - Camberley
Trainer: Mark Brown
This workshop, called "Just a few more minutes - getting more sleep" gives hints and tips on how to manage sleep issues, based on Mark's 30 years of experience working with people with additional needs.

22nd March - Staines
Trainer: Laura Kerbey, PAST
Laura will look at sensory needs and behaviour, positive behaviour management techniques and look at how you can build your own resilience.

Choose from a daytime (11am – 1pm) or evening (7pm – 9pm) session. For more details and to book, please contact Family Voice on contact@familyvoicesurrey.org or call 01372 705708. For more details about Family Voice Surrey go to their website.

Bowling Event in Frimley Sunday 19th Feb 2017

We are partnering with a new parent-led support group, Sparklers in Deepcut, to run a bowling event in Frimley for families that include someone with an ASD or other learning, communication and developmental difficulties.

Date: Sunday 19th February 2017
Time: 2.00 – 3.00pm
Venue: Pine Ridge Bowling at Pine Ridge Golf Club, Frimley 
Suggested donation: £3.50 per head

We have reserved the bowling facility at Pine Ridge for up to 30 people for members of Sparklers Charity and NAS Surrey branch. The event is designed to let families and youngsters meet one another in a relaxed and fun environment.

We will have exclusive use of the bowling facility between 2.00pm and 3.00pm, but suggest arriving around 1.50pm to change into bowling shoes etc. There are six lanes with five or six players per lane, so you may be put with other members. Please note, children remain the responsibility of their accompanying parents/carers at all times.

You can book places online via our Eventbrite page. For more information, contact Harriet Agbenowu at Sparklers on 07854 571041 or email sparklers.charity@yahoo.com 

Talk on Short Breaks Leisure in Guildford 18th January

Our speaker in January is Jane Stark, Manager for Short Breaks in Surrey. Short Breaks are part of the support provided to families of disabled children and young people and are designed to have positive benefits for both children and their parents and carers. Short Breaks are currently being re-commissioned, so Surrey County Council recently worked with Family Voice Surrey to run a survey and focus groups to find out what outcomes families, children and young people want to see from Short Breaks. 

In response to the priorities set by families, they are now looking to turn some of the creative ideas that families suggested into a Short Breaks offer that meets a wide range of needs with the money available.

Date: Wednesday 18th January 2017
Time: 7.45 for 8.00pm til approx. 9.30pm
Venue: Guildford Institute, Ward Street, Guildford GU1 4LH

Please email emma@mugsy.org if you are planning on coming along 

Calendar of Events, Activities & Courses Jan – Feb ‘17

NAS Surrey Branch support groups, talks, parent programmes and activities are great places to meet other parents and get support - please contact the parent-volunteer who is hosting for details and to check that the event is still on a day or so beforehand. Our activities and courses get booked up quickly - to find out about things early, join the branch for FREE at www.nassurreybranch.org 

For events run by other organisations, please contact the organiser direct.

JANUARY 

Weds 11th 10:00am to 12:30pm, Parent Workshop - Dorking
NAS Family Support service ‘Understanding Challenging Behaviours’. See p9 for details 

Fri 13th 10.00am – 12.00noon Support Group, Guildford. Contact Sara Truman nas@mugsy.org 01483 822630 

Fri 13th Jan 8.00pm Dad’s Group meal out, venue to be decided. Contact Martin Trenaman trenamans@talktalk.net 01737 360069 

Mon 16th 9.15am Support Group, Frensham. Contact Christine Malik Christine.malik@btinternet.com / Bonnie Noyce jbnoyce@yahoo.com 

Tues 17th 7.30pm Parents of Adults Group, Reigate. Contact Sara Truman nas@mugsy.org 01483 822630 

Tues 17th 6.00pm Parent workshop - Esher
NAS Family Support service ‘An Introduction to autism and Teenagers’. See p 9 for details 

Weds 18th 10.00am – 12.00pm Support Group, Woking. Contact Sarah Norris sarah4ian@ntlworld.com 

Thursday 19th ‘Day Around the Austistic Spectrum’ Godalming. Run by the Carers’ Support organisations in Waverley and Guildford. For details see page 5. 

Friday 20th 10.00 am, Parents of Girls Group, Woking. Contact Rachel Pearson racheldpearson@gmail.com 01483 727378 

Friday 20th 11.30am Parent Workshop, Godalming
NAS Family Support service ‘‘Introduction to Autism’. See p9 for details 

Tues 24th 10am – 12.30pm, Parent Information morning ‘Autism, Anger and Anxiety’, at Woking Children’s Centre. Run by members of the Freemantles Autism Outreach team. For details, email info@freemantles.surrey.sch.uk or go to www.freeoutreach.org.uk/training 

Wed 25th Jan 10am – 12 noon, Redhill Support Group. Contact Helen Ruffhead h.ruffhead@ntlworld.com 01737 212043 

The branch is hosting a two-day Cygnet course on 31st Jan – 1st Feb, which is fully booked. To find out about future courses, email Sarah Mead sarah_mead@hotmail.co.uk

Weds 18th 7.45 for 8.00pm NAS Surrey Branch TALK 

Guildford Institute, Ward Street, Guildford GU1 4LH. Talk by Jane Stark, Manager, Short Breaks - An update on plans for Short Breaks in Surrey and a chance to have your say. Please email emma@mugsy.org if you are planning on coming along. 

Weds 25th 8.00 p.m. Spouses & Partners Group, Guildford. Contact Sara Truman nas@mugsy.org 01483 822630 

Weds 25th Jan – Family Voice parent carers event, Caterham 11am – 1pm or evening 7pm – 9pm. Mark Brown, Special Help 4 Special Needs. Contact Family Voice Surrey  contact@familyvoicesurrey.org 

Friday 27th 9.30 – 11.30am Support Group, Café Rouge, Queens Road, Weybridge. Contact Fi Phippen fionnula.phippen@surreycc.gov.uk 

Friday 27th 9.00am – 3.00pm Sensory Conference. Organised by the Surrey SEND teaching School. Contact training@linden-bridge.surrey.sch.uk for details

FEBRUARY 

Wed 1st Feb 7.30 p.m. Parents of Adults Group, Farnham. Contact Hilary Dyce 01276 66032 Hilarydyce@yahoo.co.uk 

Fri 3rd Feb, 9.15 – 11.15am Support Group, Chertsey. Contact Emma Whitfield emma@mugsy.org 

Mon 6th 9.15am Support Group, Frensham. Contact Christine Malik Christine.malik@btinternet.com / Bonnie Noyce jbnoyce@yahoo.com 

Thurs 9th Family Voice Surrey Parent Carer event 11am – 1pm or evening 7pm – 9pm by Mark Brown, Special Help 4 Special Needs.  Contact Family Voice Surrey contact@familyvoicesurrey.org 

Fri 10th Feb 10.00 am – 12 noon Support Group, Guildford. Contact Sara Truman nas@mugsy.org 01483 822630 

Weds 15th Stay and Play in Deepcut. Contact Sparklers Charity sparklers.charity@yahoo.com

Wed 22nd Feb 10-12pm Support Group, Woking. Contact Sarah Norris sarah4ian@ntlworld.com 07543 920917 

Friday 24th 9.30 – 11.30am Support Group, Café Rouge, Queens Road, Weybridge. Contact Fi Phippen fionnula.phippen@surreycc.gov.uk 

TBC 2.00pm Support Group, Hinchley Wood Primary School. Contact Juliette Sturge juliettesturge@gmail.com