In a bid to raise awareness on autism, the Inspire Foundation recently organised a full-day conference featuring some of the foremost speakers on the subject, as well as persons who are on the spectrum.
The event, held at Mount St Joseph Retreat House in Mosta, offered a unique mix of experience and expertise on how connections evolve throughout one’s life journey for persons with autism.
Alistair de Gaetano, chairperson of Malta’s Autism Advisory Council, spoke about surviving vs thriving, the ‘high functioning’ curse and what one should be doing to empower persons with autism to be able to thrive throughout their life journey. He also emphasised that the biggest challenge for society was to change and social barriers to be removed.
Richard Mills, who has a long association with Malta and the foundation, spoke about the importance that teachers, clinicians and parents connected to, and engaged with people with autism on what they found to be helpful or unhelpful. He said the aim was never to try to fix autism, as what was helpful to people with autism was also helpful to anyone else.
David Perkins, founder of AS Mentoring (ASM), provider of specialist support to persons with autism and other neurodiverse conditions, spoke about the mission statement of the organisation he leads and how it supported clients to achieve their potential as individuals, through social inclusion and employment. Perkins explained the support they provided as twofold – facilitating change for the individual and affecting change in their environment.
Charlene Borg, who leads the Family Relations Department at Inspire, spoke about the various family dynamics typically affected by autism. She said a family was ultimately a group of people to whom a person feels a sense of belonging and well-being. For the second part of her presentation, she was joined by Marvic and Chris O’Dwyer, parents of Ronan and Joseph, both of whom are on the spectrum.
The biggest challenge for society was to change and social barriers to be removed
Jacqui Ashton Smith, experienced educationalist and trainer with 40 years of experience in autism, education and leadership, talked about the importance of resilience in supporting social connections and life changes. Underlining the importance of understanding young people,
Ashton Smith went through issues of education pressures and expectations, employment opportunities, social media and peer pressure, as well as mental health.
Wenn Lawson, researcher on autism, lecturer, psychologist, advocate and poet, shared his experiences of almost three decades active in the field of autism. Addressing the conference through a recorded presentation, Lawson spoke about his experience as a person with autism who is also a member of the LGBTIQ+ community.
Gina Gomez de la Cuesta spoke about the Brick-by-Brick TM programme, a learning through play-based concept involving collaborative LEGO play for children who need extra support with social communication, such as children on the autism spectrum.
She was joined by Jon Adams, a contemporary artist and neurodivergent advocate and researcher who has been actively involved in the development of the Brick-by-Brick programme.
Ruth Moyse, visiting research fellow at the University of Southampton, and a director and associate at AT-Autism, spoke about the problem of girls with autism, who have a greater tendency to drop out of the mainstream educational system. During her presentation, which featured findings from a research exercise and subsequent lessons on inclusion from adolescent girls with autism, she answered questions about language usage which shapes the narrative and perhaps expounds the problem.
The event was supported by the Preluna Hotel.