NEW Training From TARGET AUTISM

Course led by
Ron Fortuna and Angela Capper

 

Developing Social Interaction

Practical strategies for school staff working with and parents of children and young people with an

Autistic Spectrum Disorder

Wednesday 4th December 2013

9.30am – 12.30pm

The Bee Hive, Harborough Road, Northampton.

NN2 8LR

£50 for school staff          £25 for parents

Includes a CD resource of useful materials and refreshments

For more details or to book a place,

please contact Angela on 07549 639929

or email angela@targetautism.co.uk

Using and writing Social Stories and Comic Strip Conversations:
“A practical introduction”

Led by Ron Fortuna & Angela Capper www.targetautism.co.uk  

17th October 2013

9.30am – 12.30pm

@ The Beehive(Former Greenfields Site, Harborough Road, Kingsthorpe, NN2 8LR)

At £30 per delegate

This Course will Cover:

• Social Stories are a gentle, positive and effective way to help children learn about the missing piece of the social jigsaw, prepare them for new situations and introduce helpful strategies. They are written to suit the age and ability of each child using language that is meaningful to them.
• Comic Strip Conversations are an effective tool to help unpick social misunderstandings with a child in a concrete, visual way. They can help the young person to understand the perspective of others and think of an alternative scenario for that situation.

Online Booking Form (Download, edit then email to Northampton Town Area Improvement Partnership): https://docs.google.com/document/d/1dbNQQYrw4tT1UlmOjeqsUxrxYnIWQvENYdYta-J7D0o/edit#

 

Transport and Autism Links

Today I was interviewed by BBC Radio Northampton about the experiences of people with autism on public transport. I noted that the National Autistic Society had two film clips on the subject. I will list the links below - and I will add the iplayer link to the interview when it is up and running. It was at the very end of Helen Blaby's lunchtime show today. It is 1 hour and 51 minutes into the show...the iplayer link will work for the next 6 days: http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p01fs71d

The National Autistic Society has produced two short clips showing what it may feel like to have autism and use public transport. Here are the clips, which are available on youtube:

Riding on a bus:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MPb5WPvpsU8

Issues with riding on a train:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q6G-OpGgo3c

New Autumn 2013 Training From TARGET AUTISM

Courses led by
Ron Fortuna and Angela Capper

Understanding and Managing

Children and Young People with

Autistic Spectrum Disorders and Anxiety

Practical anxiety reduction strategies for

school staff, parents and other professionals.

Wednesday 9th October 2013

9.30am – 12.30pm

The Bee Hive, Harborough Road,

Northampton NN2 8LR

£50 for professionals           £30 for parents

Includes a CD resource of useful materials and refreshments

For more details or to book a place,

please contact Angela on 07549 639929

or email angela@targetautism.co.uk

Understanding and Supporting a Child with 
an Autistic Spectrum Disorder in the 
Primary Classroom
Practical strategies for teachers, teaching assistants
and learning support assistants.

Thursday 7th November 2013
9.30am – 12.30pm
The Bee Hive, Harborough Road,
Northampton.
£50 per delegate including a CD resource of useful materials and refreshments
For more details or to book a place, please contact Angela on 07549 639929 or emailangela@targetautism.co.uk

Developing Social Interaction

Practical strategies for school staff working with and parents of children and young people with an

Autistic Spectrum Disorder

Wednesday 4th December 2013

9.30am – 12.30pm

The Bee Hive, Harborough Road, Northampton.

£50 for school staff          £25 for parents

Includes a CD resource of useful materials and refreshments

For more details or to book a place,

please contact Angela on 07549 639929

or email angela@targetautism.co.uk

One Year On...

A recent story about us on the University of Northampton website was a reminder of how far we have come  (in case you didn't see it :  http://www.northampton.ac.uk/news/a-social-enterprise-initiative-supported-by-the-enterprise-club-is-proving-its-success ) . A little over a year ago, we were facing a rather daunting situation. Our jobs on the county council's Autism Spectrum Team were coming to an end, but we had so much more that we wanted to do. As a student at the university, Ron noticed the support available to newly established social enterprises. This was a lifeline to us, as we had never considered the world of business before - and would have found it too challenging to contemplate without help and assistance. Taking part in the university's Big 2 bid helped us to clarify and formulate our business vision. Although disappointed that we did not win an award at the time, in retrospect - this was an important lesson for us. We knew that we were a dynamic team with brilliant, innovative ideas - but we were unable to clearly convey our vision to the panel of judges. We had to build up our confidence levels, rethink whether our business model was absolutely right and then venture out into the scary world of educational consultancy.

Fortunately, we felt well supported by the university - and were not on our own. Peter Anstee gave us sound business advice and served as an important critical friend in our early days. One of the biggest benefits was having access to the university's Social Enterprise Hatchery, which gave us a home. We had affordable office space with the facilities we needed - internet access and space away from our home kitchen tables! This was invaluable to us, and made our enterprise feel more of a reality. The university's Enterprise Club had very informative workshops for us to attend. Most helpful were those run by Susan Collini
( http://www.websitewings.co.uk/ ) - who helped us establish our social media presence and get to grips with the benefits that google and wordpress have to offer.

So now is a good time to reflect on the past year and see just what has happened. Here are our milestones. It is all down to the support of our customers - they have been so enthusiastic and encouraging! We are able to make a living, and are looking forward to a future in which we continue to help improve the lives of those in our community affected by autism spectrum conditions. A heartfelt "Thank You!" from us.

• 14 June 2012 - registered as a Public Limited Company
• Our website, designed by Nick Steel, was launched at http://www.targetautism.co.uk/
• We began our early forays into social media, creating blogs at wordpress and blogger, a facebook page and a twitter feed
• August 2012 we started to move into our new home - The William Shipley Centre in Brackmills
• We start trading officially on the 1st of September - and we already have secured bookings for training: The Bridge School in Ipswich and Kestrel House School in London.
• 12 September 2012 We speak at FACT Northampton and raise awareness of our service amongst parents
• Schools in Northamptonshire start booking our consultation support. Our 'credits' package is proving very popular, as schools find it easy to use and help them to budget for support that is available all year long.
• October 2012 Working together with other former colleagues who provide services to schools - we form a self-help joint marketing group called Independent NEST and roll out a mailshot and a blog to advertise our services. http://independentnest.wordpress.com/
• October 2012 The search for good training venues starts as we roll out our first non-school commissioned courses. 
• We establish a diagnostic service in conjunction with Educational Psychologist Philip Whitaker. https://docs.google.com/file/d/0B_64yIojKH57aXd1dWpOQ2UzdkU/edit
• By November 2012, we are astounded to be finding ourselves working nearly every day.  New avenues and directions start to open up - such as providing Autism Auditing reports for schools to assist in their provision  for pupils with autism.
• December 2012 saw the rolling out of an exciting project - as May Gurney became involved with the special needs transport in Northamptonshire, they wished to train up drivers and bus escorts to an equal standard throughout the organisation. By March we had trained over 200 staff in a wide range of special needs issues with our bespoke training package. Plans are afoot to further develop this package and potentially roll out this much-needed training nationally.
• March 2013 Our beautiful new logo, designed by Christina Economidou, comes into regular use.
• Spring 2013 Work continues to expand as we begin offering training to adult care homes, and assist schools with the transition of older students to post-educational placements.
• 19 May 2013 Our facebook site gains 100 likes 
• 23 May 2013 Ron Fortuna delivers training for the University of Northampton for the first time under the auspices of Target Autism.
• 17 June 2013 Ron Fortuna and Angela Capper delivered workshops for the University of Northampton's Autism Study Day.
• 26 June 2013 Our blogger site has achieved 1000 views.

We are now looking forward to the future - and will be moving to new premises at Northgate School's new building The Beehive in Northampton. There will be a conference venue on site which is run by the students. We feel that this fits in perfectly with our company's ethos, working together with the community that we are serving.

New Courses for May 2013

Primary to Secondary:

Successful Transitions for Children

on the Autism Spectrum

A course suitable for parents of children in year 6

and all teachers and support staff working with year 6 & 7 pupils on the Autism Spectrum.

Course led by

Ron Fortuna and Angela Capper

TARGET AUTISM LTD.

Thursday 9th May 2013

9.30am – 12.30pm

Malcolm Arnold Academy, Trinity Avenue,

Northampton. NN2 6JW

£45 for school staff          £25 for parents

Includes a CD resource of useful materials and refreshments

For more details or to book a place,

please contact Angela on 07549 639929

or email angela@targetautism.co.uk

Developing Literacy and Numeracy Skills for Primary School Pupils on 
The Autism Spectrum
A practical course for all school staff working with
pupils on the Autism Spectrum in Key Stages 1 and2

Course led by
Ron Fortuna and Angela Capper
TARGET AUTISM LTD.
Tuesday 21st May 2013

9.30am – 12.30pm

Malcolm Arnold Academy, Trinity Avenue,
Northampton. NN2 6JW
£45 per delegate
Includes a CD resource of useful materials and refreshments
For more details or to book a place, please contact Angela on 07549 639929 or email angela@targetautism.co.uk

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

New Courses for 2013

Here are our latest courses for 2013...including our new two day course for school staff new to autism coming in March 2013, led by educational psychologist Philip Whitaker (author of Challenging Behaviour and Autism: Making Sense, Making Progress ).

The Autism Spectrum:
Sharing and Understanding the Diagnosis 
A course for parents, school staff and other 
professionals to help children and young people 
understand their diagnosis in a positive way


Course led by 
Ron Fortuna and Angela Capper
TARGET AUTISM LTD.


Wednesday 30th January 2013
9.30am – 12.30pm
Malcolm Arnold Academy, Trinity Avenue, 
Northampton. NN2 6JW
£40 for professionals £25 for parents
Includes a CD resource of useful materials and refreshments
For more details or to book a place, please contact Angela on 07549 639929 or email angela@targetautism.co.uk

..................................................................................................................
Sexuality, Relationships and 
The Autism Spectrum
What do they need to know?
What do we need to teach them?
A course for parents, school staff and other 
professionals working or living with young 
people and young adults on the Autism Spectrum.

Course led by 
Ron Fortuna and Angela Capper
TARGET AUTISM LTD.


Thursday 7th February 2013
9.30am – 12.30pm
Malcolm Arnold Academy, Trinity Avenue, 
Northampton. NN2 6JW
£40 for professionals £25 for parents
Includes a CD resource of useful materials and refreshments
For more details or to book a place, please contact Angela on 07549 639929 or email angela@targetautism.co.uk

...................................................................................................................

Developing Literacy and Numeracy Skills for Primary School Pupils on 
The Autism Spectrum 
A practical course for all school staff working with 
pupils on the Autism Spectrum in Key Stages 1 and 2

Course led by 
Ron Fortuna and Angela Capper
TARGET AUTISM LTD.


Tuesday 19th February 2013
9.30am – 12.30pm
Malcolm Arnold Academy, Trinity Avenue, 
Northampton. NN2 6JW
£40 per delegate
Includes a CD resource of useful materials and refreshments
For more details or to book a place, please contact Angela on 07549 639929 or email angela@targetautism.co.uk

...........................................................................................................
Target Autism announces a two day training for schools, led by Philip Whitaker, Ron Fortuna and Angela Capper -
ASD in the mainstream: Practical strategies A two day course for teachers, support assistants and SENCo’s
Dates and Venues:

19th and 20th of March 2013
Woodnewton School
Corby

21st and 22nd of March 2013
Malcolm Arnold Academy
Northampton

The 2 days cover:

•The basics of ASD and their impact on learning and                                          behaviour

•Using visual structure to promote learning and                                            independence

•Strategies to promote receptive communication

•Developing relationships and social support

•Teaching social thinking and social skills

•Preventing and managing challenging behaviour

•Courses run from 9.15-3.15

•Important Note: Please bring your own packed lunch as lunches are not provided.

The cost of the two day workshop is £150.
For more information, or to book a place, please contact
Angela Capper by phone on 07549 639929
Or email : angela@targetautism.co.uk