Autism Berkshire
WORKSHOPS designed to help autistic girls stay safe while surfing the internet launch next week.
Run by charity Autism Berkshire, the Safeguarding Autistic Girls sessions will be led by local autism advocate Carly Jones, who has two autistic daughters.
The workshops are for autistic girls living in Berkshire, their parents and carers, and professionals who work with them and draw on material from Carly’s online safeguarding course Boundaries, Bodies, Abuse and Reporting it for Autistic Girls.
They will look at the differences needed in explaining boundaries to autistic girls, why boundaries may be harder to recognise and how to recognise and report abuse, should it occur.
Ms Jones said: “Safeguarding for all young people, autistic or not, is vital. However, for autistic girls a one-size-fits-all approach to safeguarding may leave them less empowered than their classmates.
“The course aims to highlight issues like the challenges for autistic girls around use of slang – would ‘Netflix and chill’ mean consenting to intimacy or would it mean watching films to you? Also, what is the difference between someone caring for you and controlling you? How can you distinguish between the two if you need extra help every day? And what does help mean and what does it look like?
“With non-autistic-specific sex education in schools and with many autistic girls being home-educated, I hope to help as many young girls as possible, who could otherwise slip through the net.”
There will be three workshops:
For parents and carers, on Wednesday, December 13
For mothers & daughters (aged 10+), on Monday, December 18
For professionals, on a date to be arranged in February 2018
The workshops this month will be held at the Autism Berkshire office in Richfield Avenue, Reading.
The session on December 13 for parents and carers will run from 9.30am to noon, with tea and coffee available from 9.30am and the workshop starting at 10am. Tickets cost £15.
The session on December 18 for mothers & daughters will run from 4.15pm to 6.30pm, with refreshments available from 4.15pm and the workshop staring at 4.30pm. Joint tickets for a mother and daughter cost £20.
For more details of the workshops and to book places, log on to www.autismberkshire.org.uk, email admin@ autismberkshire.org.uk or call 01189 594 594.