Hi, this is Anna Kennedy and we're at women's radio station supporting women's well-being and we're talking all things autism We're live and we're at Covent Garden So last week it was autism awareness week and it was such a busy week for me But I'm still buzzing from Friday when it we were at the Apple store in Covent Garden the flagship of all stores for Apple and Autism's Got Talent Showcase there. It was amazing. The kids were just amazing I was just so proud of them and they were still buzzing. They've still messaging me saying what a great time they had So we had six performers. So three singing three street dancers And then one of our ambassadors spoke about her neurodiversity campaign, which is going to be happening at the end of May So we're here today and I have two lovely ladies with me from autism anglia and they're both parents of Children who are on the autism spectrum So I'm going to read a little bit about each of them so you can get a little snapshot about what they're about So I have Jenny Jackson and Jenny's a mother of three children two of whom are on the autism spectrum About six years ago She had a change of career from a senior IT manager to becoming a volunteer Training as a facilitator to set up a parent support group for parents of children with additional needs Soon after she was employed by the charity Interact as a youth worker for teenagers with disabilities and then trained to be an independent support for families and individuals Assisting with the educational health care plan process So now she works for autism anglia as a senior autism education advisor as part of the autism advice service While continuing to do a small amount of youth work as she enjoys it so much and i've just learned now She also loves singing so I might get her to give me a tune of it So welcome jenny And we also have annie sans and annie is the manager of the welfare rights and she's also a senior advisor So she is a single parent mom to two lads with autism and learning difficulties The oldest alexander has been sectioned and has a history of psychosis He went into supported accommodation where he was abused resulting in a severe attack which left him fighting for his life Sebastian is now living a life as a benedictine monk In abracavelli. There has been a difficult road supporting him with his calling I she was invited to lambith palace to take part in a disability inclusion workshop Which she which couldn't sorry which shouldn't be about inclusion, but belonging She works for autism anglia and as a senior welfare rights advisor and welcome to annie Hello So we're here today and we're going to be talking about if you don't mind your sons and talking about Yeah and daughters talking about a little bit about your journey and what it was like So first of all jenny, were your um children diagnosed quite quickly. I always like to ask this question. No, are you kidding? It wouldn't be that easy. Okay. So how long does it take? Um, my son was nine years old and my daughter was 10 And it was quite incredible looking back what I know now about autism Was that certainly for my son? It should have been picked up so much earlier Okay, um, but I still think there is a real gender difference between boys and girls and I can see that You know, my daughter presented totally differently. So yeah, how old are they now? Um, my daughter's now 16 and my son's 19. What are they doing? Um, my daughter is flying the flag for uh women and she is the only girl on a construction course Learning plastering in a mainstream cottage. Oh, wow She is just all of a sudden really blossoming which is lovely to see Um, and my son is just finishing a level three engineering course and he's looking at universities Wow, so proud moms very proud and very very long It makes it sound easy when I say that but an incredibly long and complex journey for both of them. Okay. Thank you So annie When we also was diagnosed and how long did it take um sebastian was diagnosed when he was five Just before he was about to go into school Um, no mainstream school would take him. So the pediatrician felt that we should go down the diagnostic route And alex was diagnosed when he was seven Alex was also diagnosed with ADHD Along with autism, but he also had some brain damage to the left occipital cortex when he was born So his was quite complex and my daughter who's 40 has now just been diagnosed with aspergis. Wow 40 40. Yeah Um, really talented young woman. She's a bit of a comedian. She sings as well Um, I always thought there was something a bit odd about her when she was tiny, but I never knew what it was Tell me a little bit about the process of um seb applying to be a benedictine monk. Was that an easy process? No, it wasn't sebastian had gone to special needs school and then at 16 had gone on To another school in transition. It wasn't smooth at all Um, the only school that he could go to was one where young people had quite severe learning disabilities So he went there but at 15 Sebastian suffered quite severe mental health problems and had tried to take his life self-harming And then sort of had an epiphany and felt that he had got this call in by god to do something which was quite um difficult because he was under the mental health team So thought he was developing a psychosis and schizophrenia and asked about voices And in fact, it wasn't it was a genuine calling. So we found a church took him along to the church Where they were really really supportive Discovered that his calling was very real But of course, it was really difficult because he'd got autism and a learning disability and I couldn't find anybody To support him through colleges or through that calling and father jeremy of the church that we went to Supported him to make an application to holywell in abigabenny. Okay, and he's there now Is there with support and doing really really well. He can only stay there for two years So then now um at the moment they're looking to for a more sort of nursing type of an environment for him for People that are monks or priests So that's what he's going to be doing next So i'm going up to see him in two weeks to do a mind map with him to decide Exactly what he wants to do, but it still wants to do the he's still got this calling So would you say both of your um children would you say that it was difficult to help them with their career choices because obviously Navigating the system can be quite difficult. Yeah, I don't know when obviously my own son. There's a huge cliff edge still Any transition is going to be hard for them going from Special needs school to mainstream college, which is often the route they kind of have to take. I mean we campaigned to get a local Mld college sits on college in our area because the nearest was miles away and finally we've got that but in the meantime They both ended up in mainstream But then they tend to use they lose the ehcp education health and care plan that they previously had And the support just tells off or you actually get choices I could have thought to have kept the ehcp for my son, for example But then they would have deemed him as not being suitable to do the vocational course that he wanted to do So sometimes you is almost caught between a rock and a hard place Um, so but for both of them i've been guided by their talents Um, my son always had this incredible visual memory Um from a young lad and it's no surprise that he's ended up really talented in engineering And for my daughter, I think it's really important that she sort of discovered her own strengths And she's found that she's quite a perfectionist hence plastering. She wants to make her walls just perfect And she's beating all the boys. She's doing really well with no background at all But I did um, I did mind mapping as well with my son and looked at all the options So they need a lot of support. How did you feel about your daughter being the only girl working? I think actually that there's a lot of sort of social dynamics between girls And actually I think she finds the sort of rather the more blunt nature of some lads, you know So I find she she finds that easier to deal with it sounds like a role model to me She's a bit um one of your sons is a dancer, I believe He is he's not got autism. Although votes out on that one, but um, yeah, he's he's um On a three-year scholarship at a performing arts college. So he's doing really well And it's quite interesting because his journey has been relatively easy, you know, i've left him to it whereas Certainly for sabastian. He didn't have the skills Um to to seek that advice independently and so and I think you know People with autism are a real disadvantage group anyway, you know, um even when it comes down to employment and making career choices, so As a as a parent of somebody with autism, you've you know, you've got to support them through the whole process of College university and at the end of it hopefully employment Okay, so autism anglia both work at autumn anglia So what what type of calls do you get because and what would you say? Uh, would you get a lot of calls about so i'm always interested to speak to charities about what type of calls do you get? Are they from moms are they from dads of the adults themselves or on the spectrum? I think most of our calls are parents in crisis. Okay, usually parents often mothers Um, because I think women bear the brunt of domestic responsibilities. So therefore you're always going to get women phoned up but certainly mental health Uh education and benefits and with the introduction of universal credit We've seen an increase in in those calls But what's noticeable is they could phone up about one topic So it could be education is the primary topic they call about And then when you speak to them you actually find out that they're living in totally inadequate housing Or they might be about to be made homeless and that actually is that home life as well That is having an impact on on what's happening to their autistic children So it's actually having that we're able to sort of help with the whole holistic approach to that So autumn anglia, do you support only people in your local area? We're supposed to It doesn't work like that. No, it doesn't we we have our phone calls as far away as um, china japan. Yeah What kind of calls? Oh from japan. Yeah housing Well, they want to move to england. No, they were wanting housing advice for japan. Oh, okay So we put interest in watch to find an english speaking autism Support group there. Wow those so we wouldn't turn anybody away It is primarily though essex stuff. I can offer that we support but we do go over the board as we give out autism alert cards as Well, okay that um someone's listening who's a parent of newly diagnosed. What is an autism alert card? Do you want to say? No, I'm sorry um, it's a credit card, um sort of size card and they can show that on uh transport or if something is If they're having to deal with a child that needs very distressed or needs help just by showing the card to Um a professional or someone you're dealing with they understand that actually that person might need extra support And as someone growing up and becoming more independent Perhaps they've forgotten to get the ticket for the the chain or the bus And when they're challenged about it can be very stressful and they can just show the card And it's produced in conjunction with the police So so if they got in trouble with the police they could show that and they would get support that they would need Okay, so that's interesting. So if you didn't know about that, I'm sure you'll be able to find out information on autism angry We'll give the advice line out later. Thank you very much. So we're at women's radio station supporting women's well-being We're live we're at Covent Garden. If you want to um, ask any questions, you can come through to the charity website Which is www.anna kennedy online.com or you can contact me on twitter, which is at Anna Kennedy one Instagram at Anna Kennedy or be or facebook page Anna Kennedy online Welcome to women's radio station the voice of women worldwide I'm sarah louise ryan and welcome to love lessons live on women's radio station Hello and welcome to future classic women awards with me Hello and welcome to julie may is listening. Hello This is Anna Kennedy at women's radio station live voice of women worldwide talking about all things autism women The possibilities are endless. 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That's what makes us different Hi, i'm zina miss coney head of business development at women's radio station Radio advertising is the most cost effective way of reaching a huge audience globally Moreover our sponsorship and advertising packages can be tailored to your needs Whether it be a product or brand service you're looking to promote If you are interested in sponsoring or advertising, please contact me on 0 7 9 5 6 3 7 1 4 8 3 or alternatively zm at women's radio station dot com This is anna kennedy and we're talking all things autism. We're in coven garden and we're live and we are supporting women's Well-being my two guests today are jenny and annie and before I go over to speak to them I just wanted to say that I have been speaking to a couple of parents recently and they were asking with me about obviously their Sons and daughters are growing up and they're going into the workplace and they were asking about reasonable adjustments What sort of things can they ask for what sort of things say for example when patrick went into work? He would ask for can I have more as much information as possible about what i'm going to be doing each day To lessen my anxiety and he works better like that He's also got himself like a little book that he keeps and he's got his own area Which he can decorate the way that he wants so that when he has a break he goes into the area He's got photographs of dinosaurs or whatever it is that he's interested in He's got a chair there where he can sit down and just spend five or ten minutes where he just can relax And then be ready for the next part of his work So some of the things that you can do is you can ask for noise cancelling headphones These help to block out background noise in a busy office or a warehouse a screen filter for a laptop Or a desktop pc this helps to make a screen seem less bright Minimizing the risk of sensory overload the use of a quiet secluded part of the workplace This is useful for avoiding all the noise and movement that can trigger sensory overload if it gets a little bit too much Time management and project management apps these can help with scheduling tasks and finding out what's happening on each of the days Instant messaging and text-to-speech apps for those who are non-verbal or aren't confident in using the phone or face-to-face Conversations these apps can help to break down communication barriers So there's quite a few different reasonable adjustments that you can make within the workplace so that you can be able to do your work Day-to-day with the least amount of anxiety as possible So with your sons and daughters Can you think of any reasonable adjustments that they might make that might help them get on with their day-to-day work? What works for them? Um, I was thinking about our office. We're trying to make our office as autism friendly as possible Um, I think decluttering is really important as well because you can come become very visually overloaded Um, if people are in an office you could have um screens that absorb noise And quite often an echoey environment would be absolutely the worst kind of place to have Um, and I think yes being allowed to go out and take those Brakes when you feel they need them is the most important thing and hypermobility as well I was thinking for my daughter she's doing a very physical job now with the plastering Um hypermobility is quite prevalent, isn't it with autism? Not quite sure about what the link is Um, but I think it would be really important for that sort of fatigue and for those regular breaks for the actual sort of The body time to relax and yeah Something else that Patrick found useful as well with a fan if he needed it because he used to get a little bit hot Yeah, so then he could have just had a small fan and where he needed to use it I think processing Often times with delayed processing or they just need that little bit more time or maybe repetition of instructions Um, I think that's that's key in sort of breaking things down into small reasonable chunks for them And all of these things can be really easily done visuals on the on the ball that says what's going to happen when just as a reminder So it reduces that stress and overload of trying to keep too many instructions in the brain at one time What about you Anna? I think for Sebastian what they've done is they've got lots of um whiteboards up which has really helped But they've not singled him out as somebody that needs those whiteboards so that everybody is using it And I think that's really important that they don't feel any different So also lots of strategies lots of things that are written down so that he knows exactly what's happening Um, Sebastian doesn't work very well with if you instantaneous instruction He has to know and that's probably where Being in the environment he's in it's very good because it's very repetitive. It's always doing the same things But certainly they have you know, I didn't want them to single him out I didn't want them to put up whiteboards with just his name on so everybody has a whiteboard It's like in our office if you introduce them for everyone and be finding them, you know, they can be useful for everybody Yeah So have you got anybody doing work experience or working who's an autistic adult in the office? We have we do have people who have autism who work for autism anglia um, we have volunteers as well who volunteers come in who have Background in autism usually a parent. Okay. We have our offices like a drop-in center We've always got people coming in and out that have autism because we provide residential setting and supported living So they are in an in and out and it's an incredibly welcoming environment for those with autism It is um, obviously i've been to see you a few weeks ago now, um, and I you're going to be moving soon So i'm looking forward to seeing your new office space So tell me a little bit about more about what autism anglia do now One of the things that I know that you do do is obviously benefits that's like horrendous It's just like such a hard job to fill out these forms and the you know What do you write and parents sometimes say when they're assisting them or don't don't write things that you can actually do You know make sure you hold some things back because then you're not going to get the benefit And I know you shouldn't be sort of saying things like that But it's you've got to think out of the box and think how am I going to get support for my son? Or how are they going to get support when they're filling out the forms because they are horrendous these forms You need to degree sometimes when you're filling them out I think certainly from with the introduction of personal independence payment. It is very very different to disability living allowance Personal independence payment is based on your functionality and not on your diagnosis So we get lots of people that will say well i've got autism So therefore I should get it and in fact it isn't so you what I would suggest to People that are filling out the personal independence payment form is first of all I've produced a leaflet for people with autism and probably those with mental health problems how to complete a pip form looking at the descriptors and Seeing where you which descriptor you fit because with pip you've got to score the points. Yeah The other thing is is that people seem to think that you're going to be called for an interview in actual fact They don't want to call you for an interview. They'd much rather make a paper-based assessment Yeah, so people will go along and take a gp letter send it off with their personal independence payment Form but the gp may letter may only just say this person has autism. It doesn't show any functionality. So you need Letters and reports that show a level of functionality. So certainly your education and health care plan is a good one because that will show the difficulties Unfortunately education establishments always look on the positive and for personal independence payment You're always looking on the negative side of it I would also advise not to do your worst day, which people seem to think that they should do because if you did end up in tribunal That's not your you know, that's not going to Be show that's not going to show how you function day to day So you need to be really honest in them but look at questions and certainly we've produced the leaflets of parents and Carers and those that are completing their forms can look at it And I think it it's harder for those that are more high functioning or those with a spur just that seems to be the hardest group However autism maybe I do have 100 success appeal. So that's pretty good I'm just going to say so you can appear because some parents don't know about appealing and they think oh, it's too stressful I'm just going to leave it. No you so when you get the report Um, the reports are often not very reflective of that person, you know, they say oh the the Healthcare professional lied through it and they don't lie what they do is they have a series of questions So when we know somebody's going to for an assessment, we always prepare them for that face to face assessment If it comes back and they've not they've been told they're not going to get the benefit It's always best to ask for them to look at it again. So that's a mandatory reconsideration So they ask for them to look at it again and lay it out, you know Say this is exactly what they don't agree with. Yeah, and then if it comes back that they don't get a mandatory reconsideration Then they can go to appeal. So how long does this process take? So some parents, um, obviously it's different within Different local authorities. So In where you live in in cultures in Essex, how long would the process I think certainly it's the same around the country You know a mandatory reconsideration. We usually get decisions back within six weeks, but for an appeal I mean we've i've got somebody that's waiting for an appeal and we've come up for two years Oh my word, so it's a long time But the thing is there's a knock-on effect of that. So You may have somebody that's gone from disability living allowance to personal independence payment So the parent may have been getting carers allowance and income support and all those things that go with it suddenly they've got nothing so their carers allowance stops and everything else stops and It's absolutely devastating. So we have actually seen an increase in handing out food bank vouchers Because you know the needs of that young person doesn't change just because they're changing over to personal independence payment So we have seen a massive increase certainly an increase. Um and I I've prepared the insight report for ias which used to be atos Which is supposed to help health care professionals when they're assessing people with autism Um, and what I would suggest is that when they go for their face-to-faces say, you know Have you read the insight report that's been prepared for you because it it's quite clear what they should be doing and what they should be asking For those with autism So if somebody listening in who might think they might need food vouchers, but where would you go? Well, how what's the process? Well, certainly for hours if somebody comes along and said all my benefits have stopped We can hand out food their food bank vouchers, but they can go to their church They can go to the local authority. I think some libraries, but you know what we shouldn't be going to I know But i'm just thinking if anyone's listening and they'll think oh, I don't know where to go I wouldn't even know where to start So, um, I know what really helped me with angela when I was filling out my pip was um the community care Assessment that I had and it was quite detailed and I could use a lot of what was in there within the pip form Um, and yeah, they said they wanted to come to meet angela and they said they wanted to interview him And then obviously angela was non-verbal. So I thought well, yeah come along and then obviously He saw straight away that, you know, angela was obviously quite profoundly affected by his autism and had significant sensory processing condition He was actually very nice So I think the thing is sometimes you just got to go through the process And there are some very nice people out there who just want to do their job But you do hear some horror stories as well when you look across Social media so if anyone's interested in some of those pip forms that you're talking about They're like the help forms. Where would they find them? They can find them on our website So if they just google autism anglia, if they just google autism anglia, you're gonna ask me the website It's www.autismanglia.org.uk So say that again. Sorry to make it clear. I'm gonna make sure that it's right now It's um www.autism-anglia.org.uk And you're on social media as well We are autism anglia on twitter. Yeah and autism anglia on facebook and we also have a benefits autism anglia benefits page Okay, we've got an advice line as well, which is oh three hundred one two, double three one double two. That's great Thank you very much. So again, if you want to ask questions contact both annie and you can contact jenny If you want to contact me, please contact me through the charity website, which is www.anna kennedy online Dot com or again on twitter at anna kennedy one and on facebook anna kennedy online We're at women's radio station supporting women's well-being We're in coven garden and we're live and the website for women's radio station is www.womensradiostation.com Thank you very much Women's radio station is a fresh new broadcasting platform driven by love and passion Connecting women around the world in a global network is all about diversity from opinions career ethnicity Education we aim to show the individuality of every woman everywhere providing opportunities and a platform for your voice Women the possibilities are endless. 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Turn to us as a national charity helping people struggling to make ends meet Job loss illness or bereavement can cause a real financial crisis We give practical help to get people back on track Whether you're thinking of having a baby Trying to get out of an unhappy relationship or just unsure what benefits you may be entitled to We can help visit turn to us.org.uk Women's radio station is creating a global network for the empowerment of women and we want you to be involved Join us on instagram and twitter at women's radio stn or facebook women's radio station To keep up to date with all our exciting news Hi, i'm zina miscalini head of business development at women's radio station Radio advertising is the most cost-effective way of reaching a huge audience globally Moreover our sponsorship and advertising packages can be tailored to your needs whether it be a product or brand service You're looking to promote if you are interested in sponsoring or advertising, please contact me on 07 956 371 483 or directly zm at women's radio station dot com Hello, this is anna kennedy. We're at women's radio station supporting women's well-being and we're live we're at coven garden My guests today are jenny and annie from autism anglia and before I go over to them I just wanted to remind you about the autism hero awards So if you know somebody that you feel is going the extra mile and you would like to nominate them, please check out www.akoautismheroawards.com And we have 12 different categories So if you feel you know a teacher, you know a mom, you know a carer, you know a dad, you know a business You might know a reporter It's just somebody who you feel is going the extra mile that are really supporting children and adults who are autistic So check out the website. We're in our fourth year now, and it's such a fantastic Um event we have had so many nominations already and the closing day is the end of september So please check out the website and please check out all our other events We've got autism's got talent coming up, which is in may we have got we're still looking for some talented people in saint ives So if you feel you want to be part of autism's got talent roadshow in saint ives The closing day is may the 12th and the show is actually it's such a fabulous place as well saint ives I love it around there and there will be at the end of june. So please come along and see us. So autism and homelessness So annie you and I have obviously been supporting someone but you've been talking to me about So many people that have been contacting the charity. Can we just chat a little bit about that? Okay, so I think certainly with the introduction of universal credit. We have seen an increase in homelessness I also think there's less stock less housing stock Affordable housing stock for individuals, but also there isn't the right type of housing So somebody with autism could present as homeless. They might not meet the criteria. They may not be in priority need But even if they are they're sort of just given somewhere to live without any thought to the environment or any adjustments that might Be required also, you know that person may need support To move into that property but may also need ongoing support and then it's looking at a care package or looking at a care needs assessment And that in itself is a whole new ball game So certainly I would definitely say with the introduction of universal credit There has absolutely been an increase not only in homelessness, but also an increase in mental health issues So if they find themselves in this situation where they've got nowhere to go Where would they go? Who do they go to? Who do they contact? Well, they would need to know that they need to go to the council and make an application for homelessness and see the homelessness officer You know and hopefully that somebody within that department have had some training or some knowledge Of autism and I think that's where the difficulties are, you know, and um, certainly I think In our area. It's very hit and miss on who receives the service and who doesn't So, um, can you talk to me a little bit about the type of people and what sort of age group are we looking at? We're looking at families that are affected um Because they're one of their children for example might have huge sensory needs um and Mental health emotional difficulties that are going along with the autism And they're sharing may share a bedroom with a sibling who um Because they need so many adaptations for their autism and the siblings affected and then it affects their emotional health Um, they might not have her garden It might be a small flat then it affects the parents relationships with each other. Okay, so you've got parents They'll also end up with emotional health problems um, sometimes there's um a comorbid diagnosis of ADHD So they might need a lot of sort of stimulus and to to enough a garden would be ideal for that Um, so then you end up with parents who spend for example, the whole six weeks holiday Having to entertain the children, which means that the sibling also has to go out with them whether they want to or not so it affects the whole family And um, they I know of a family that have been on an emergency waiting list for five years. That's emergency It's an emergency. Yep. Oh my word and they're still not at the top of the list so there's different or there's other cases that I know where they're they're due to um Lose their house any day. So everything is packed up in boxes, which means then the autistic child It's another transition and change they have to deal with so that's now um causing them to be aggressive at school and at home They're not sleeping. Um, and again that that parent is now in you know Needs extra help to support their child So the the sort of knock on effects of not having the right accommodation not knowing where they're going to end up Or are they going to be homeless tomorrow? It's just it's devastating for the whole family So dealing with these situations every day does that have a knock on effect the way you feel you take the work home with you we We work nine till five But often jenny and myself we are supposedly often jenny and myself are working Well into the night half past twelve last nights. Yeah, so the reason being so why would you work? Because at the end of the day, that's a humane thing to do, isn't it? And we care about people, you know, and we're all What is it they say one wage seller one wage pack it away from homelessness ourselves But you know both of us as moms of young people with autism, you know That could be us and we know what they're going through. So yeah, we do we do work from home We we're often around each other's houses trying to put the world to right and we do all the time trying to look at for solutions Beaver in a way on the internet seeing what's available, you know So and at the moment what we're going to do is jenny and myself been talking where we want to write a toolkit of homelessness and autism Not just a toolkit that we can send off to Statutory agencies and local authorities but a toolkit where we can get them in a workshop make them listen to what we're saying Get them to really understand the conditions and the cases that we're talking about make it real life for them And maybe actually get some changes To reflect so we got the autism strategy. Yeah, it's just we're 10 years on Under review and yet we have so many cases and we also help people trying to get diagnosis And yet I know adults with their gps are still saying to them. Why would you want to get diagnosed? There's no cure for autism, you know, and we hear these things every single day So we need to go out there and talk to professionals whether they're in housing Or work with people like health watch and actually sort of change the attitudes of people and really get them to understand And reprioritize autism to get the help that they need that sounds good I'd be interested to see well to also also to make them aware that the autism act Actually says you've got to listen to the person with autism Because they're more representative of their needs than anybody any professional can be and yet parents are still discounted by professionals in fact sometimes even seem to Want to um collude together to say, you know, what is this parent talking about? So that's happened to us throughout our lives And it has been a constant battle to try and get people to listen to us even now So it sounds like you probably need more people working in the office with you So how how do you how do you get funded? Where's the funding coming from to fund your charity or to fund your positions in well? We we have to rely on the goodwill of people because we receive no statutory funding and yet statutory Um agencies are seeing an increase in the in people that need their services Sort of like for instance social workers who are inundated with caseloads But so are we so we get seem to get the fallout from the cuts But with no extra funding So that is um a big issue and we've got a wonderful fundraising Um department that are helping us and supporting us to look for funding And obviously we're doing the variety show next year that you're going to be involved in also talk to me a little bit more about that Okay Well, um, we've now got a bigger venue because you said 280 wasn't enough so we've got a bigger venue of 800 Wow, you've gone from one to the other We've got we're looking for sponsors we're desperately looking for sponsors to support us through that we've got lots of acts Local performing arts colleges evolution who are brilliant and very supportive So hopefully we're going to have a fantastic time in february february next year. Okay, uh clapton princess theater Oh, wow, that sounds good. So looking forward to that Yeah, the thing is you have when you're a smaller charity or when you're a charity You have to think out the box all the time, you know, how how what can we do next? What can we do to raise awareness and acceptance? But also bring money in the charity so we can continue to do what we do because I always Give a big shout out on a tuesday charity tuesday It's like smaller charities are the lifeline to a lot of families It's not only the bigger charities that obviously support families, but it's the smaller charities that are a real lifeline to families I was chatting to um, Annie Oh, I think it was a couple of weeks ago when you were talking to me about some really sort of heartbreaking cases of Adults that you know, we're talking about committing suicide and again, that was to do with homelessness. I believe It's to do with homelessness and universal credit. Yeah, universal credit So what is universal credit? So say somebody's listening i've never heard of it. What is it universal credit is a new benefit that Incorporates five of the old legacy benefits. So housing benefit income support tax credits, you know And it's supposed to make things easier and I suppose it is a good idea having one benefit Yeah, however, it's the implications of that benefit and how to apply it how to apply for it Um, the complications that come with it and the sanctions and the sanctions We've had lots of suicide ideation over the sanctions. The other thing is Individuals are expected to understand the criteria So instead of they would fill a form in and that would go off to the department for work and pensions Yeah, the onus is now on the individual to know The criteria for universal credit, which is incredibly difficult for somebody who's got autism and maybe a learning difficulty You know, so but some of the stories have been incredibly harrowing. Um, you know involved now with mental health And I would like to personally I would like to see it all halted sorted out and then Look at it again. Okay. Is there um, a a site where people can look at where there's tips of Exactly what to put in this particular form to help them because obviously it's quite difficult to navigate well citizens advice bureau have now Got the funding to help people with universal credit. Okay, but they can also go on to the autism advice Um autism anglia's website, but also we've got autism autism anglia benefits advice facebook page as well So they can go on there and look for tips. Okay, just to remind people, um, if they want to check out your website What's their website address again? Www.autism anglia autism anglia. No, hang on. Sorry Www.autism-anglia.org.uk And again, if they want to contact you on social media autism anglia on twitter and autism anglia on facebook and the helpline number is 0 300 1 2 3 1 2 2. Okay. I just want to say um, obviously i've been to the office, you know You're a great bunch of people and you can see very passionate about what you do and you're doing a fantastic job But you need more money. So we're doing a bit of a shout out here. Please Support autism anglia. They need sponsorship. They need donations again All the information is on the charity website again with my own charity hannah kennedy online We also need we know we don't get any grants or anything. We have all volunteers There's no paid staff in anna kennedy online So we need um as much sponsorship as we possibly can to do what we're doing and our charity website just to remind you It's www.anna kennedy online.com At anna kennedy one on twitter anna kennedy online on facebook and we're at women's radio station Welcome to women's radio station the voice of women worldwide I'm sarah d'Oise ryan and welcome to love lessons live on women's radio station Hello and welcome to future classic women awards with me Hello and welcome to julie may is listening. Hello This is anna kennedy at women's radio station live voice of women worldwide talking about all things autism women The possibilities are endless. That's what makes us different I'm saskia at sable forx And we specialize in saving individuals and companies money on their international money transfers or foreign exchange So in money's crossing currencies whether it's euros to yen or rands to pounds. That's where we can add value So for all your foreign exchange needs i'm saskia at sable. You can contact me on saskia.jonston at sable international Dot com or my number is 0207 759 7541 Hi, i'm helen prosper. I'm a health coach and I support people to take back control of their health So they feel radiantly well and vibrantly alive Because it's from that place of health that we really can do more be more give more play more And co-create a better world If living your life to the full is of interest to you Then take a look at my website livewellandprosper.uk And let's speak soon Do you need mediation? We are the a project charity We provide convert resolution and community engagement services Our service include community mediation for neighbor disputes family mediation for separating couples Special education needs for parents carers and their children and younger adults as well as workplace mediation and restorative services To find out more head to women's radio station.com or the a project.co.uk Okay Women's radio station can give a voice to your brand with a wide range of sponsorship opportunities Including individual programs. We can tailor your experience to you For more information on how you can sponsor a show go to women's radio station.com Women the possibilities are endless. That's what makes us different Hi I'm zina miskoni head of business development at women's radio station Radio advertising is the most cost effective way of reaching a huge audience globally Moreover, our sponsorship and advertising packages can be tailored to your needs whether it be a product or brand service You're looking to promote if you are interested in sponsoring or advertising, please contact me on 07 956 371 483 or alternatively zm at women's radio station.com Hello, this is anna kennedy and we're at women's radio station supporting women's well-being and we're talking all things autism My guests today are annie sandes and jenny jackson from autism anglia And before I go back over to them, um again, just wanted to remind you if you wanted to Make a nomination for women's. Sorry, not even women's. Um, the autism hero What's got women on the brain so autism hero wards, there's 12 different categories and please check out the charity website We're always doing something different. We're doing zumbathons. I got to do talks. We have workshops So please check out the charity website and also check out autism anglia So why is autism anglia special to you? Jenny and to you annie Well, i'm the new girl So how long have you been there? I've only been there a couple of months Full-time, um, I just went into sort of a system really didn't I in the sort of a few hours here and there to start off with Um autism anglia has been special to me. They've really helped me Through my journey with my children Um when I was faced by sometimes hostile health professionals, they came along to meetings with me um helped with benefits forms Um, and like I said, i'm fairly clued up about the education process because i've worked with education helping in education for the last sort of four or five years But even now when i'm sort of faced you're on the other side and you get quite emotionally involved as a parent It's very different from acting on someone else's behalf as a professional And you can still need support yourself even though, you know the system um since i've joined I have to say they've been very um Empathetic and you can tell that the kind of people that would listen and really understand the issues Um that people face and they support all ages, which I think is a nice aspect of the charity So from zero to yeah, whatever so adults as well So someone was starting this process now and their child has just been diagnosed with autism What advice would you give to them? What little nuggets would you give to them advice? Oh, that's a hard one um I think be Don't be scared which is easy to say, isn't it? And there will always be that jolt when you get the diagnosis even if you really kind of welcome it Is it is a lifelong condition, but they can you know, your children will still learn and develop To me since i've entered the special needs world if you'd like to put it in that manner I have met the the best people ever my closest friends are now from that community I have grown as a person so much. I think i'm a far better person now Because i've been on this journey with my children and I would say celebrate the differences and be led by your children I think it I think the spectrum is quite hard to get your Mind around to start off with because every child is so unique. They'd be unique anyway But I have two children obviously a boy and a girl Um so different in the way that they present Um, one of them is slightly pda. So demand avoidance. Yep and you would um Respond to them in a very different way than you would for someone who perhaps needs would welcome more structure And I think you've just got to be led by your child do research but call up organizations like autism anglia And talk to them and the feedback I get from people is that when they've talked to one of us on the team That we're the first people they've spoken to in a long time that really understands what they're going through and it makes People feel so much more resilient just by knowing that they're not alone with what they're going through I think they need a sounding board sometimes and also you discover strengths that you don't you never Thought that you would have So annie, how long have you been working at autumn anglia? And why is it special to you? Oh crikey I think i've been there about eight years now Incredibly special to me when I was going through a very difficult time with Alex who had been abused and was in hospital The autism advice team as it was then and the head of autism Advice joe came out to see me and was just an amazing support for me I could not have got through all of that without her Um, it's different every day every day you go into that office. There is something different You have the best work colleagues ever when you wake up and you know, you're going to work. It's just wonderful They're just great people They are leaders often our leaders, um who head the charity are fantastic and passionate They allow us to develop our department, you know, they listen to our moaning They listen to our stories the campaigns if we identify a campaign that needs to be done and they will Yeah, we'll pick up on that. So it's like I said, it's quite a creative and this responsive environment. That's good working, that's what um I think you can have a good laugh as well. Can't you which is like the best medicine? We absolutely do it It's just brilliant. It's just it's like it's like one massive family Yeah, we have lots of people that are in our supported living who come in to visit us I've been really lucky recently to do some shifts in some of the residential homes And I just love it and I have such admiration for our adult services and what those carers do, you know They don't get enough recognition. They are marvellous people. So what sort of services do autumn angley have so obviously you've got advice So what other services we've got outreach. Okay, um headed by the wonderful emma wellen, um outreach We've got adult services, which means we've got supported living and residential care We have um op centers where people can go to Do things, you know learn different skills. I've got one in colchester and one in norfolk. Okay School we've got school. Okay. Where's that? Do scroft is in a ash green in colchester. In fact sebastian went there and I absolutely know i had sebastian not gone How old are the children that are there between three and 19 I think okay and They offer respite. I was going to say have they got any places if someone's listening in do you think? I've got i've got clients at the moment at our prime for the school. So yeah, I support them through that process So it sounds like there's a lot going on with autumn angley. We've got training We've got big conference coming up. Oh, when's that then the 27th in culture. So at essex university That's going to be fantastic In fact even popping out to london today We've been coming into shops in coven garden saying would you like to come to our conference and sponsor us? So we never stop working even when we come up come up to london. Who's the speakers we've got speakers We have got speakers. I think i'm i'm doing a workshop External people coming in as well. Okay, so if they check out the autumn angley website They'll find out a little bit keynote speakers on the website. Yeah, brilliant. Okay, so Being a mom Obviously you have to juggle many hats What do you do to relax because i'm always banging on about because I didn't do anything for 11 or 12 years I was so focused on what I was doing Um, obviously i've never set up a school before it was just all encompassing um, so then I decided I needed my tap dancing back and it was just for me and I felt That sometimes you forget about yourself and you just because you know You're filling out forms and trying to set up a school or whatever it is that you're doing you forget about relaxing and you know Like a sleep and everything else that you do. So what do you do to relax? I always ask people this because i'm interested to know what do you do? What rocks your boat? Um, annie. Well, I like I quite like crocheting. I do. However, I don't think We do much relaxing. We don't do very much relaxing, but I do like crocheting Okay, and i run a sunday school at a church my son used to go to because i've not quite left there yet I do want to but I quite like doing the children Meet up with jenny and she I quite like when we meet up because we do relaxing then we're putting the world to us It's quite relaxing for anyone but we do There aren't enough school options out there And you know, we've been looking at what we can do to like I said We got helped get the new sixth form together and we're always looking at sort of gaps that we can fill Doesn't seem very relaxing does it but walking the dog is important for both of us. We both got um, We've got spaniels, okay. Yeah, so we walk dogs Um, I go to church as well methodist church, okay on a sunday But even now i'll start talking to the the ministers afterwards about um homelessness because methodists are doing quite a lot about um Yeah about food banks and day centers for homeless and doing so they'd like to support us with campaigns So I don't think we actually ever quite stop with our minds ticking over about how we can still make a difference But yeah, I would say the same as you that for years. I think jenny sort of disappeared. I was just A mum. Yeah, or a wife. Yeah, i'm fulfilling all those roles Um, and now I suppose that I am beginning to understand that I do need some time for myself and i'm quite I do a lot Of work on resilience So I I actually teach other people about the five ways to emotional well-being And what's important for that? And so I think I want to start doing that myself while you're on there Oh now i'm gonna remember four not five fully. Yeah, um, it's really important to connect with other people Um to do some learning whether it's informal or formal through, uh college or work Um to give to your community is important Be mindfulness and live in the moment and also get some physical exercise. I remember Be kind like a lot of people are just not kind are they just like and it costs nothing And that's just like why would you want to make somebody miserable? That's the giving you see even if you see you walk past someone in the street You say oh, it's a really nice coat or something. That doesn't take much for yourself But you could actually make that other person's day And afterwards if you see a smile on that other person that makes you smile. I'm always smiling on time My son says somebody nobody should be as happy as you And I think also the other thing is um When your child leaves home you lose that care and responsibility and that's massive and I think I don't think there's enough said about that. So certainly when both my sons left home I was I think I had to keep myself busy because I knew otherwise it would affect my mental health. So I think once your Child leaves home Make sure that you look after yourself. That's really important Because I know obviously patrick's going to be looking for a flat towards sort of september october time angel I'm, not quite sure but I like my life is just around my two boys and everything else that I do and angel Needs an incredible amount of support during the day at night time, you know Can't go to sleep until he goes to sleep. It could be one could be two o'clock and then he's up again at five o'clock and you know, it's still um Soiling wet in the bed all those sort of things And it's just you just do it because you're like almost like on automatic pilot because you know It's got to be done because no one else is going to do it for you So even like watching a program like you have to keep stuff Starting or if I leave it running, you know, I might say to my husband what's happened. What's he done now? Why is she there and what she's done? It's just like yeah, it's just but that's just the way our life is And I know my sister says um, if you lived my life, she said you'd be bored out of your head We said on the way here. We haven't had one day of boredom That's for sure And I don't think anybody explains the tiredness and it's really interesting because sometimes i'll find you on twitter at the same time I'm on twitter. Yeah, because if samastian used to get up at opus three every morning I'm still getting up at opus three every morning, but you can get so much done You can you can I talk to lots of people as well on social media from different countries at that time as well So thank you very much ladies. I've really enjoyed talking to you. You do an incredible amount of work at autumn angley I'm proud to be one of your ambassadors. So, um, yeah Just looking forward to doing lots of different projects together and obviously the musical theater next year Which is like something I really love if you'd like to be one of my speakers on um women's radio station Please contact me either at anna kennedy one or you can contact me through the charity website Which is www.anna kennedy online.com and i'm going to finish this off with be kind It doesn't cost anything. Please be kind to everyone and i'd like to say goodbye and on that note Women's radio station is a fresh new broadcasting platform driven by love and passion Connecting women around the world in a global network is all about diversity From the opinions career ethnicity education. We aim to show the individuality of every woman everywhere Providing opportunities and a platform for your voice Women the possibilities are endless. That's what makes us different Hi, i'm liz van linden the uk travel consultant for hazel may travel People come to me as they want unique experiences and a personalized service This happens from the moment that they inquire till they come back here. I work with luxury tour operators You can contact me on 07825 44 12 12 and liz spelled l i s at hazelmaytravel.co.uk I'm tamila zaman founder of empower and enrich when it comes to money. Do you clam up or get confused? Do you wish you could save more money or are you hoping you have enough for retirement? 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