What's On Information News What's On and Halloween top tips

Post date: Oct 17, 2016 11:27:39 AM

Rosie King – BBC The One Show

Rosie King made another appearance on the one show last week. She has now started University and is using the app Brain in Hand helped her with this transition and her independence. Some of you will have seen the video we show in parent sessions.

Click on the link to have a look.

Rosie King – The One Show

Kidz to Adultz North

Thursday, 7th November

Event City in Manchester

Completely free to attend and dedicated to children and young adults with disabilities and additional needs, their families and carers/professionals who work with them. There are over 100 exhibitors offering advice and information on funding, mobility, beds, communication, sensory, leisure and much much more!

Alongside the exhibitors there are lots of topical seminars for parents and professionals covering a variety of topics such as moving and handling, sleep issues, continence issues, finance and budgets, legal advice and many more!

For further details on this event, please follow the website link below:

Kidz to Adultz Up North Web Link

Autism Friendly Cinema Screenings

This month’s screenings are:

Odeon Cinema, Bromborough – will be showing Trolls on Sunday, 30th October at 11:30am.

Vue Cinema, Birkenhead & Cheshire Oaks – will be showing Ice Age: Collision Course on Sunday, 30th October at 10:15am.

The Light Cinema, New Brighton – will be showing Pete’s Dragon on Sunday, 23rd October at 10:30am.

Cheshire Oaks – Autism Friendly

Cheshire Oaks host a monthly Autism Friendly shopping experience, with a couple of adaptions to help ease the anxiety that shopping can cause and also to help build confidence for people on the autism spectrum and their friends/families.

The adaptions include; lights turned down low, music turned off/low, a number of quiet zones throughout the site for a place to go if feeling overwhelmed and need a break, staff have received training in autism from our award winning Autism in Practice Department.

Also if you visit the customer service office when you arrive, you can collect a map of the site which outlines all the quiet zones and also some autism alert cards which can be handed out to the public or staff if required.

The next Autism Friendly Shopping Night will be on Tuesday, 15th November from 5:00 – 9:00pm

Halloween

Make it a better experience

BOO! Take out the surprise factor

1.Talk about Halloween ahead of time so your child will know what to expect.

Social stories are an excellent preparation tool

As children with autism are visual thinkers and learners; meaning they think in pictures. Therefore good resources and teaching materials for any autistic child should be visual.

The goal of a social skills story is to try and help the child on the spectrum understand and learn the skill or behaviour they are struggling with like for example Halloween. A social skills story is generally written in first person text, following a set formula and will be in a manner the child on the spectrum can understand.

For some ideas Google- social stories for Halloween

2.Show them pictures of costumes they might see.

3. Make sure you show your child what it will look like when it’s dark outside.

4.Take a nighttime walk through the streets where you plan to trick-or-treat and look at the decorations.

Are there any houses you might want to avoid because they look too scary?

5.Talk to your neighbours.

Is anyone planning to dress in a costume and scare the kids as they approach a house?

6.Provide step-by-step instructions for how trick-or-treating works.

For instance, how we knock on the door and say “trick-or-treat” but don’t go into the house, put the sweets in the bag, say thank you, and go to the next house.

If your child has difficulty saying the words "trick-or-treat," you may want to use a card such as this one:

7.Have a dress rehearsal

For a child with sensory issues, costumes can pose some problems. The costume can be itchy, too tight, too loose, too hot or not warm enough. Makeup can be sticky, or smell and feel weird.

Masks can make it difficult to see or hear. Have your child try on their costume far enough in advance that you can make adjustments and alterations if necessary.

Also let him know it’s ok not to wear a costume.

8.Eliminate the fear factor

There’s a lot going on during Halloween’s evening hours that startles the senses. It’s dark and there are lots of people running around in scary costumes.

Go before it gets dark if your child would be afraid during the later hours or if you need a less crowded time.

If going door-to-door is overwhelming for your child, give her the option to stay home and pass out candy, or invite a small group over for a Sweet swap.

If your child stays home, consider the commotion. Will constant knocking at your door, or the doorbell ringing upset your child? Or the dog barking each time it rings? Or Children screaming “trick-or-treat”?

©2009 Pathfinders for Autism

To check out the Cheshire West Local Offer http://www.westcheshirelocaloffer.co.uk/kb5/cheshirewestandchester/directory/home.page