This conference is a collaborative venture between Belle Vue House Assessment Centre and Edge Hill University. It attracts a wide audience every year; over 300 delegates attended in 2013. The 2014 Edition will take place on June 20, 2014 in Ormskirk, United Kingdom at the Edge Hill University and carries the main theme “Communication — the Key to Success”.
If you are a relative or professional living or working with a young person who is diagnosed with Autism you will know that the barriers within education, employment, and social situations are significant. The impact that the complexities of Autism has upon life situations is very real.
Communication is a key factor in addressing the needs of young people with Autism and by addressing this issue, windows of opportunity are opened, enabling young people to progress, in terms of furthering their education and employment options, by improving self-esteem and confidence or simply by offering an opportunity to feel included in society, to feel valued and understood.
Keynote Speakers
Professor Temple Grandin
Temple Grandin is inarguably the most accomplished and well known adult with Autism in the world. She hasn’t let Autism prevent her from living life to the full and has helped to redefine the perception of what is possible for people with Autism. Temple has been featured in major television programmes and national publications and is a prominent author and speaker on the subject of Autism. She presently works as an Associate Professor at Colorado State University. Her latest book is entitled ‘The Autistic Brain – thinking across the spectrum’.
Saskia Baron – Sibling and TV Producer, ‘The Autism Puzzle’
Saskia Baron is a documentary maker and journalist. She is also the younger sister of Timothy, an Autistic man with learning difficulties, now in his 50s. Her father Michael Baron was one of the founding parents of the National Autistic Society in 1962 and continues to campaign for the rights and improved support of adults with Autism. Saskia’s films include ‘The Autism Puzzle’, made for the BBC in 2003; she is working (slowly) on other Autism-related projects.
Dr. Peter Vermeulen – Lecturer and Consultant, Autisme Centraal, Ghent, Belgium
Peter Vermeulen, PhD has a Master in Psychology and Pedagogical Sciences at the University of Leuven, Belgium (1985) and PhD in Social Sciences at the University of Leiden, The Netherlands (2002).
From 1987 until 1998 he worked for the Flemish Autism Association, first as home trainer for families with a child with Autism, later as director of the home training centre and finally as trainer/lecturer. Since 1998 he has been working as Autism consultant/lecturer at Autisme Centraal. He is co-director of the Centre for Concrete Communication, a European training and education centre for Autism spectrum disorders.
Peter is editor of ‘Autisme Centraal’, bi-monthly magazine of the Autisme Centraal and a member of the editorial board of the Belgian-Dutch Journal of Special Education, Child Psychiatry and Clinical Psychology. Several articles on Autism and more than 15 books have been published – the latest of which are entitled ‘I am Special’ and ‘Autism as Context Blindness’.
Call for Papers
You are invited to submit abstracts for oral and/or poster presentations focussing on any innovations, developments or research in the area of working with young people with autism, with particular emphasis on communication. The abstract should not be more than 300 words in length (papers describing work in progress are eligible).
A panel of assessors will judge submitted summaries on soundness of approach, clarity of description, and accessibility, importance and relevance of content for a national and international audience. If a paper is accepted, presenting authors must register for the meeting as a delegate. Oral presentations will be allocated 25 minutes plus 5 minutes for questions.
Audience
The conference would be of interest to:
- Teachers, Support Assistants
- LEA staff
- Allied health professionals
- Speech and language therapists
- Educational psychologists
- Parents/carers or others who are meeting the needs of those with Autism
- Academics
- Medical practitioners