10:30am on Wednesday 6th June 2012

At the Respite House, Co-Action Centre

St Mary’s Hill

Dunmanway

Come and help shape the future of Autism West Cork.

Agenda:

1. Greetings and introductions.
2. Election of officers.
3. Autism West Cork – the way forward. Have your say on how Autism West Cork should develop.
4. Events report and discussion.
5. Any other business

Kevin Baskerville-Educationalist, manager of the Leicestershire autism outreach services has agreed to do two of his highly acclaimed workshops in Cork. Kevin has been involved in the field of autism for almost twenty years, he has taught across mainstream, special and unit education environments and has also worked with adults. The two workshops are:

1. ‘Understanding and teaching friendship skills.’ Friday June 8th at Maryborough House Hotel and Spa, Douglas, Cork.

2. ‘Disclosure and self Esteem.’ Saturday June 9th at Maryborough House Hotel and Spa, Douglas, Cork.

These workshops will use lecture style presentation, group activities. Question and answer opportunities blended with videos and anecdotal evidence.

The cost for each workshop is €40 and includes refreshments and light lunch.

For further details and to book place please contact Nicola on 042 9330252 or email ei.sevitaitinidsanull@nettap.alocin.  Further information can also be obtained form Kieran Kennedy at The Shine Centre in Cork 021 437 7052.

It is a 90 minute session for children from aged 8 upwards. The numbers will be limited to 20, and adults and/or siblings may take part as long as no child with ASD is excluded.

No decision has yet been made as to the extent to which this event will be subsidised, but the cost of €25 per head will be heavily subsidised by AWC, and I would expect the actual cost for participants will be in the region of €5 per head. Actual cost will be notified as soon as it is decided.

In the meantime, so that Rebel Adventures can have an idea of overall numbers, please could you e-mail me as soon as possible to let me know whether your child/children (and how many, if more than 1 is coming) are intending to come along. My e-mail address is ten.mocrienull@nedrowmot.

Finally, could we also ask all of you who receive this to communicate its contents to any parents of children with ASD who you think may not have computer access.

More information from the Laser Quest website.

January

·    Coffee Morning – 2nd Friday of the month (13th January) at The Courtyard, Clonakilty at 10.30am -come and meet other parents for a chat and a coffee, new parents are always welcome!!

February
·    Fundraising Table Quiz: The Phoenix Bar, Clonakilty at 8pm- Grab some friends  and enjoy a night out !!
·    Cinema Trip: Bantry Cinema on Saturday 11th February at 10.30 am (movies to be advised) A family event. 3 screens to choose from, the lights are turned up and the sound is turned down…..just for our kids.
·    Coffee morning-2nd Friday of the month (10th February) at The Parkway, Dunmanway, 10.30am- relax over a coffee and make some new friends, who understand caring for a  with a child with asd.

March

·    Coffee morning  : 2nd Friday of the month (9th March )at The West Cork Hotel,      Skibbereen, 10.30am- monthly coffee morning, we’d love to see you there !!
·     Fun  family Day Out at The Quality Hotel Clonakilty on the 11th March at 1pm – Let the kids run off energy in the jungle gym, enjoy the pool and for the older children (over 10’s  the arcade is open )
·    Homeopathy Talk (dates to be advised) –  How homeopathy can help children with   autism.

April 2nd is World Autism Awareness Dy and in fact the month of April is Autism Awareness Month so we have jam packed month !!

April

·    Fundraising Table Quiz at The Parkway Hotel, Dunmanway at  8pm: Have some fun and a great night out !!!
·    Easter Egg Hunt 11th April starts at noon at Manch near Ballineen – Come and join us in a family adventure hunting for  eggs, bring a picnic and join in the fun!!
·    Flag days:  We are always desperate for volunteers for our flag days, so any help at all no matter how small will be greatly appreciated in any of our towns

• Dunmanway: 7th April
• Clonakilty: 13th April
• Skibbereen: 20th April
•  Bantry: 28th April

Cinema Trip : Clonakilty Cinema-Our cinema trips are created for children with asd, the cinema is booked out for AWC, the lights are turned up and the sound is turned down!
May
·    Coffee Morning:   The Celtic Ross,  Roscarberry at 10.30am –meet up with friends and enjoy a coffee.
·      Laser Tag:    7th May at -lots of fun for all the family
·    Social Welfare Talk information from Carmel Thoome (date and time to be advised)- know your rights!! What help you are entitled to and how to get it !!!

June

·    Fundraising Table Quiz-The Maritime Hotel, Bantry at 8pm- Enjoy a night out with us and raise money for AWC
·    Coffee Morning – The Maritime, Bantry 10.30am – Last coffee morning before the summer hols !!

The annual World Autism Awareness Day is April 2, 2012. Every year, Autism organizations around the world celebrate the day with unique fundraising and awareness-raising events.

Throughout April, Autism West Cork will be holding fundraising events throughout West Cork to help raise valuable funds for the children of area. We would greatly appreciate your support if you see our collectors out on the streets!

If anyone would like to volunteer an hour or two of their time to help out,or if your school, club or community group would like to help to raise awareness of Autism, please contact us on 083 009 4285.

All fundraising ideas greatly welcome.

Sorry for any inconvenience caused. It will be rescheduled for after Christmas

Irish Autism Action  is a young dynamic, innovative and passionate organisation formed in 2001 which is bringing positive change into the lives of those affected by autism. The range of services which Irish Autism Action provides includes awareness raising, early detection diagnosis, education support, advocacy, counselling, helpline, home based support, transition planning, social housing, research information and advice for families upon receiving diagnosis.

This talk will appeal to parents, grandparents, carers, Teachers & SNA’s. Everyone welcome.

Thursday Nov 17th @ 8pm Quality Hotel Clonakilty

O’Donovan’s Hotel Clonakilty on Friday November 11th from 10am to 2pm.

Please support by spreading the word.

We have written and called to the schools to let them know what our plans are and have asked them to sent the details out to all parents inviting them to an information evening on

Tuesday November 8th in Ahamilla (Clonakilty GAA complex) at 8pm.

Pablo Alvarez – Psychologist with the CoAction ASD team will give the talk that he has developed for schools and we will have parents there to talk about their experiences with raising a child on the spectrum.

If this is a success and we hope it will be, we will take a look at other areas and try to get as many schools together as possible for another information evening. We hope to do this across West Cork and to cover all primary schools as soon as we can before we embark on secondary schools.

Details of the event will be posted on this website so watch this space!!

We’ll let you know when the meeting has been rescheduled.