Cottage Autism Network Wexford: March 2010

Autism

Autism is a disability that affects a child's development in the areas of social interaction and communication. Children with Autism may show no interest in peek-a-boo or other interactive games. They may not communicate; instead they may "hand-lead" to the desired object. Many have poor eye contact.

Characteristics also include repetitive behaviours and resistance to tiny changes in familiar surroundings.

Sensory Issues: A child may have difficulty with clothing, noise and new situations. Some children have gastro-intestinal problems such as diarrhoea, constipation and food sensitivities.

The first signs of Autism, usually appear as developmental delays before the age of three. Autism is a "catch-all" word that is applied to a group of symptoms, some of which are mentioned above. These occur in varying degrees depending on the individual child.

Research has shown that early intervention plays a huge part in your children's progress. An appropriate education plan should be established immediately and should include - speech therapy, occupational therapy and behavioural intervention. Some parents have reported success with dietary and biomedical interventions.

If you are concerned about your child, contact your GP or Public Health Nurse and seek assessment for your child.

Sunday, March 21, 2010

Tonight Matthew I'm gonna be.....

STARS IN THEIR EYES

IN AID OF COTTAGE AUTISM NETWORK

FRIDAY 16TH APRIL

8.30PM SHARP

CAESERS NIGHTCLUB, BUNCLODY

ADMISSION €10

DOOR PRIZES

Three CAN members are singing Alan West, Adrienne Doyle and her mother May Doyle. Come along and support them on the night! Tickets available for them or Martina Redmond 0872679100

Fashion Show

Fashion Show

In Aid Of Cottage AutismNetwork Wexford

Friday 23^rd April 2010,

The Horse and Hound,

At 8.00pm

Featuring Designs From Noreen O’Donnell

Quay St, New Ross

Tickets €10 Door Prizes

Monday, March 15, 2010

Volunteers needed

There is a church gate collection organised for the three churches, Rowe St., Bride St., and Clonard in Wexford Town in aid of CAN on Saturday evening 27th and Sunday Morning 28th - Palm Sunday.

We are looking for volunteers to help us with this collection. Please let Hilary know as soon as possible if you can help just for half an hour on either day.

Saddle up your horses!

The CAN Horse Riding Easter Camp will be held this year at Butterfly Farm, in Camolin.

Dates: 6th, 7th, 8th & 9th April

Lessons will be 1:1 and each lesson lasts two hours duration.

Cost: €5 per day

Anyone interested please text your childrens names and ages to Rita on 087 2328730

Friday, March 5, 2010

CAN Easter Camp

CAN is running an easter camp again this year for our ASD children in mainstream school and their siblings.

Clay Animation

Dates: 8th, 9th & 10th April 2010
Two age groups: 7yrs - 10yrs & 11yrs - 16yrs
Venue: Scoil Mhuire 10.30am - 3pm

Anyone interested please contact Frederike 087 0505744

Wednesday, March 3, 2010

Night out for World Autism Awareness Day!

World Autism Awareness Day this year falls on April 2nd, and to mark the occasion, Cottage Autism Network is holding a social night for all members and non members. All too often, meetings are filled with talk of finance and grants etc., and leaves little time for socalising and getting to know each other properly. We would like to invite all to join us for a night of fun, come raise a glass, have a few nibbles and just chat for a while.

Venue The Bailey, Enniscorthy, Co. Wexford

Date Friday 26th March

Time 8.30pm til the early hours....

Tuesday, March 2, 2010

March CAN Meeting

The next CAN meeting is scheduled for the 9th March.

Time: 8pm
Venue: Spencer Room, Riverside Hotel, Enniscorthy

Guest Speaker on the night is Micheal Dunbar, Principal of St. Patrick Special School Enniscorthy.

New members welcome, hope to see you all there

Would also like to remind everyone to keep voting in the AIB Better Ireland Grant! Time is running out and all votes greatfully received. Text ENNISCORTHY followed by a space followed by A to 51303 (standard SMS rates apply). Alternatively you can vote free of charge by logging onto betterireland.ie select Enniscorthy branch and chose group A.

Occupational Therapy

What is Occupational Therapy (O.T.)?
Occupational Therapy aims to maximize a child’s participation in home, school, play and leisure activities i.e. activities of daily living. Occupational Therapy is important when a child’s ability to participate in/ or perform these tasks is affected or compromised by illness, disease, disability or disorder.

How Occupational Therapy Helps the Autistic Child

Children are assessed in terms of age-appropriate life tasks. Occupational Therapy addresses areas that interfere with the child's ability to function in such life tasks. An occupational therapist would assess the child’s fine motor skills, coordination and self-help skills. (eating with utensils, dressing etc) The occupational therapist would also look at how the child responds to and uses what he sees, hears, feels, tastes and smells. The occupational therapist would identify the child’s impairments and provide intervention services to develop skills in these identified areas.

Occupational Therapy benefits a child with autism by attempting to improve the quality of life for the individual through successful and meaningful experiences. This may be accomplished through the maintenance, improvement, or introduction of skills necessary for the child to participate as independently as possible in meaningful life activities.

These are some of the skills occupational therapy may foster:

daily living skills, such as toilet training, dressing, brushing teeth, and other grooming skills
fine motor skills required for holding objects while handwriting or cutting with scissors
gross motor skills used for walking or riding a bike
sitting, posture, or perceptual skills, such as telling the differences between colors, shapes, and sizes
visual skills for reading and writing
play, coping, self-help, problem solving, communication, and social skills

By working on these skills during occupational therapy, a child with autism may also do the following:

develop peer and adult relationships
learn how to focus on tasks
learn how to delay gratification
express feelings in more appropriate ways
engage in play with peers
learn how to self-regulate

And this from Andrea Roche, ASD Unit Teacher Scoil Mhuire Coolcotts Wexford.

The Benefits of Occupational Therapy for children with Autism.

In Scoil Mhuire Wexford we are lucky enough to have a purpose built, fully equipped occupational therapy room. We are also fortunate enough to have a group of dedicated parents from the Cottage Autism Network who have raised enough funds to employ an occupational therapist who works with children in our school and in St Senans, Enniscorthy and members of C.A.N county wide. This has provided us with a consistent occupational therapy service.

Each child has individual sensory and motor needs and so has an individual programme to meet these needs. The sensory levels of the children can change from day to day and moment to moment and because our staff are familiar with the recommendations and equipment, they can immediately react to calm a child who is over stimulated or vice versa. The recommendations are carried out not only during occupational therapy sessions but throughout the day when needed. Weighted jackets, weight bearing exercises, fidget toys, structured movement breaks along with consistent behavioural plans and vigilant staff have helped to reduce significantly inappropriate behaviour. These strategies have been a huge benefit to the children in aiding concentration, listening skills and participation in group work. We have also seen improvements in fine motor co-ordination, which is an area of great difficulty for our children. The use of slant boards, weights, pencil grips and specific fine motor exercise have aided this.

There is no doubt that occupational therapy is of huge benefit to children with sensory processing problems. We have found when it is used in conjunction with consistent behavioural plans by staff who are aware of the difficulties facing children with autism, the benefits are even greater.

Cottage Autism Network Wexford

Autism

Sunday, March 21, 2010

Tonight Matthew I'm gonna be.....

Fashion Show

Monday, March 15, 2010

Volunteers needed

Saddle up your horses!

Friday, March 5, 2010

CAN Easter Camp

Wednesday, March 3, 2010

Night out for World Autism Awareness Day!

Tuesday, March 2, 2010

March CAN Meeting

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