‘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