Trips – The Easter trips all went very well.  All the families who attended the Canal Boat trips really enjoyed their day.  We had a coach load for the east Midlands trip, and although there was no steam train on that day (which the children all coped very well with), there was also no rain!  We had a really good day.  Thank you to all of you who donated your deposits to the DAS funds.

Coffee Mornings - these have been well attended.  The next date is Tuesday 8th May, 10am – 12noon, at the Children’s Centre, Ardeen Road, Intake.  We hope to see you there.

Luke Beardon talk – as I mentioned in the last newsletter, Luke is coming to Doncaster to talk about Aspergers Syndrome.  This is to take place on Thursday 26th April at 7pm, at Axholme House.  For those of you who contacted me, there are still places open for you; there are no tickets, so just turn up!  This is being arranged by the Aspergers Support Group.  If you are not able to attend, or if you wish to attend and have not contacted me already, please contact Hazel Lindley directly.                Tel: 832528.

Intensive Interaction – I recently went on a Seminar on Intensive Interaction.  This is basically an approach aimed at children with more severe ASD/ learning disabilities and who are non verbal.  If anyone wants more information about this please do not hesitate to give me a call.  Together information Exchange has managed to get Phoebe Caldwell to speak at one of their information days.  So watch this space!

Help! Programme Courses – there are a number of Help! Programme courses arranged by the National Autistic Society.  Please contact them directly if you wish to attend.

• -    Help! Programme – 6 sessions designed for parents/carers of children with ASD, aged 5-11.  Their diagnosis must have been made within the last 18 months.  The Course starts in June and is to take place at a venue in Leeds.  For more details contact Wendy L’Anson, Tel: 0774 7020269.    Please note that if your child receives DLA, you may be entitled to unpaid leave to attend this programme.

• -    Help!  Seminar - Supporting Siblings - 17th May, 10.30-2.30pm.  To be held at The Crown Spa Hotel, Esplanade, Scarborough. Contact Sian Figg – tel: 0115 847 3531

• -    Help Seminar - An Introduction on How to Write Social Stories – 18th May.  This is a practical seminar looking at the theory behind social stories, tips for writing social stories, and opportunities to write them for children aged 5-11, with a diagnosis of ASD. Contact as above.

• -    Help! Seminar - Managing Anger and Aggression in Adolescence with Aspergers Syndrome.  7th June, at the West Yorkshire Sports and Social Club, Wakefield, WF2 6ER.  This is a practical seminar focusing on communication strategies and dealing with difficult behaviours.  It looks at dealing with anger and various coping strategies.  It is aimed at parents/carers of children with Aspergers Syndrome (or ASD children in mainstream schools), aged 10-16.  Contact as above. 

•    -  Help! Seminar - Supporting Siblings of Children with ASD.  8th June.  Venue as above. This is aimed at parents/carers with a child with ASD who has additional siblings, up to the ages of 18 years old.  Contact as above.

                                                                                                                                                  
We hope the above information has been useful.  We hope to see you at the next coffee morning.
 

Apologies for not keeping this up to date - we are all volunteers and life can get a bit fraught sometimes.

We have a new venue for our coffee mornings - the SureStart centre in Intake - just around the corner from the Lonsdale Pub. We still meet on the second Tuesday of each month in term times.

We have arranged to meet on the third Tuesday in April due to the Easter Holidays - hope you can make it. Tuesday 17th April

We are arranging another trip to the Midland Railway Centre and three trips on the canal at Thorne during the Easter Holidays. Members should have received their mailings and confirmations by now.

Bye for now

Welcome 

Hello to all our existing members, and welcome to all our newcomers to DAS.  We recently set up a stall (alongside Little Rainbows) at the Together Information Exchange Pamper Day, and for the 1st time in a long time were really able to promote ourselves.  A big thank you to Eve for making the pamphlets look great; Little Rainbows for sharing their stall with us; and to all our members who came along and gave us their support.   

 

Trips 

Midland Railway Butterly - We were at last able to go on the trip, postponed from Christmas.  Unfortunately not everyone could make the new date, so sorry to all of those who were unable to come.  We had a lovely afternoon, although it was very cold!  The children really enjoyed the train ride and exhibits, and we will certainly be looking to run it again - although perhaps when the weather has warmed up a bit!  Thanks to everyone who donated their deposit from this trip.

 

Canal Boat Trips - We ran two trips in January and February.  Despite the sub-zero temperatures (again!), we were able to fill all the places, and had some really positive feedback.  Again we hope to run these as a regular thing, and will keep you posted as to future dates.  Please let us know if you want to go on a future trip. 

 

Coffee Mornings

We aim to continue our monthly get-togethers at the Lonsdale.  The next meeting will be Tuesday 14th March 10-12 noon.  One of our members will be presenting some very interesting research into Autism so please come along and show your support.

 

Eve Thirkle will be presenting the research that she has undertaken as part of her university degree. The research is entitled: "How do I, as a parent/carer of an autistic child, improve my parenting skills and adapt the home environment to my child's needs?"

Eve will be talking about her journey to finding out what works for her family and giving some practical examples of what she has done to answer this question. There will also be a display for people to look at which gives further details of her research. 

The role of the audience is crucial – as part of her degree course Eve will be asking the audience for questions about her research and constructive criticism of all aspects of her presentation and display. Feedback sheets will be provided on the day for you.

As a reward for your participation Eve will be supplying cakes on the day

to go with your usual coffee!

 

See you there.

 

The April Coffee morning will fall in the Easter holidays.  Although we do not usually meet in the holiday periods, we have decided to hold a "fun session" and welcome parents with their children.  There will be refreshments available, an entertainer plus we will be holding a raffle.  We hope to see lots of people there!

 

BLOGGING IT

We now have a blog site that anyone can access to keep up-to-date on everything that is happening at DAS.  Just log onto http://doncasterautistic.blogdrive.com

 

MILK FREE DIET

If anyone knows where members can buy dairy-free Easter eggs please let us know and we’ll pass the information on.  If you would like to share your favourite milk or gluten free recipes with other members send them in and we’ll post them on our Blog site.

 

TRAINING

We have been sent details of some training that might be of interest to you, if you are interested in attending then contact Marianne who will send you a booking form and further information.

 

1. ‘Do you have an Autistic Sister or Brother?’  to be held at The Old School House, Scunthorpe 1pm-3.30pm on 25/3/6 – Free.

 

2. ‘Key Issues in Autism’ to be held at Barton-upon-Humber 24 and 25 March 2006.

 

 

Dates for your diary

 

- Tuesday 14th March - Coffee Morning - upstairs at the Lonsdale pub.  10 - 12noon.

 

- Sunday 19th March - Doncaster Half Marathon/2 Mile Fun Run - 10.15am at the Hayfields Fishing Lakes, Hayfield Lane, Doncaster.  If you are interested in coming along and raising funds for DAS, please contact Marianne for a Sponsor form.

 

- Wednesday 12th April - Easter Coffee Morning, 10-12noon, upstairs at the Lonsdale.

GET TOGETHER

The raffle at the December meeting raised £7.00 – thanks to everyone who bought tickets.  If you have anything to donate for future raffles please contact us or bring it along to our next meeting.  A big Thanks to K.... C..... who raised almost £30 through the sale of Christmas cards.  

The second Tuesday in February falls in Half-Term and so there will be no coffee morning in February.  The next get-together will be 14th March 2006 10am – 12pm at The Lonsdale, Intake.  If you have anything to share with us or just want a chat, please come along.  We will be discussing future events, trips, etc.   Hope to see you there.

PANTOMIME

A great time was had by all (if there were any 'oh no we didn'ts' we certainly haven't heard).  So with this in mind, and considering the number of people who attended, we will book The Little Theatre again for Christmas 2006.

Many thanks to Mr & Mrs Bri..., Mr & Mrs Bro... and Mr & Mrs G.... who donated their £10 deposit to DAS.  This is greatly appreciated.

CANAL BOAT TRIP

We have booked two trips with Waterstart – one for Sunday 29th January and another during half-term on Thursday 16th February, 2006.  The Sunday trip has been filled from our waiting list but there are a few places left on the Thursday trip.  Please phone Marianne to book a place.  But don't worry if this trip is full when you call because we plan to book trips throughout the year and you can go on the waiting list for future canal boat trips.  Directions and further details can be found on the website www.waterstart.co.uk.

HORSE RIDING

Again, we have a waiting list so let us know if you want your name (ASD person only) added to the list.
 
TRAIN TRIP   

Due to bad weather the Festive Train Trip was cancelled.  We have now rescheduled for Sunday 19/02/05 - same details as before.  The coach was fully booked and priority will be given to those families who had been allocated seats on the 28th.  If you were not booked on the trip but would now like to go, please phone Marianne who will send out a booking form.

DONCASTER HALF MARATHON

Some of our families are taking part in the 2 mile family fun run on Sunday 19th March, 2006 to raise money for DAS.  If you'd like to raise money for DAS, get fit and have fun all at the same time then why not join us?  Sponsor forms are available from DAS.  The race starts at The Hayfields Fishing Lakes, Hayfield Lane, Doncaster at 10.15am.  You can either enter on the day or contact the organisers on 07739565284.  See you there!

OTHER NEWS

DAS is run entirely by volunteers who are all parents of an ASD child, just like you.  We always welcome extra help to organise trips, prepare mailings, fundraise and other things.  We would welcome any input, however little time you have to offer, just give Marianne a call if you are able to contribute in any way.  One way that everyone can help is by providing their email address so that we can reduce postage, printing and stationery costs as well as time in putting mailings together.

Please pass this newsletter to your family and friends or anyone who may be interested in hearing about DAS and would like to become involved.  We always welcome new members
and membership forms can be obtained by contacting us either by phone or letter.
 

There won't be a coffee morning in February as it clashes with the half term holiday. We are looking at the possibility of holding something in April when there is another clash with the school holidays.

Watch this space!