People with ASDs may experience challenges in daily life such as anxiety, difficulty communicating with others or apprehending realities taken for granted by the neurotypical community.
Go Blue is a campaign to express awareness and support. Participants dress in blue, adorn buildings and vehicles with blue ribbons, study blue themes in school (for example, marine life), bake blue cakes, and so on.
A Research Forum was held on April 4 at the Mercure Hotel in Sydney. Topics for presentation included: outcomes from Aspect’s iPad trial; outcomes of the Aspect evaluation of Language Acquisition through Motor Planning (LAMP); and the evaluation of the Secret Agent Society program to teach children social and emotional skills and the impact of that program on their learning and development.
Aspect is well known for its provision of Autism-specific education services including schools and satellite classes at Hurstville South, Forestville and Bourke Street in Surry Hills. Students are supported in a structured environment. Teachers and programs aim to meet the individual needs of students.
People with ASDs may have all kinds of abilities and interests. They often have a unique perspective on the world.
Celebrating the Spectrum, an exhibition of paintings, drawings and photographs by artists involved with Aspect’s Adult Programs in Bexley, Canterbury and Ryde, was staged at Gallery Red in Glebe from April 12-30. Many of the artworks were sold and proceeds donated to Aspect.
Graham Knox’s untitled painting was part of a very diverse collection. Inspired by his love of vehicles, in particular trucks, the work comprises layers of blue, pink and olive green, and brushwork suggesting mass, movement and freedom.
