Autism is a lifetime diagnosis and that means thinking about the condition’s evolving impact on a person’s life as they age. As the author of this blog knows,  there may well be a time in a decade or two when some social care support will be needed. Which brought us to our recent event on developing training programme for social workers who work with older autistic people.

The event’s presentation was with two researchers – Professor Rebecca Charlton and post doctoral researcher Laura Lennuyeux-Comnene at Goldsmiths.

Rebecca began with providing some background to the current collaborative project (co-produced with autistic older people), which includes a research, advisory and community panel – with the objective of creating updated training programmes for social workers supporting older autistic people. The intention is to target the work at a national, regional and individual level.

Laura followed up with ideas around implementation and delivery of training through the panel – these include podcasts, as well as resources for social workers & individuals. 

Members were given an opportunity to provide their feedback on the content of the podcasts and resources as well as to participate in the work going forward.

The audience questions and comments were an insightful reminder of growing older: worries about health, service delivery, asking for help, loneliness and the trust between carer and user.

Post event actions points highlighted intersectionality, how people’s needs change over time, using different formats of communication to better support autistic people and bringing good practice together.

This was a thoroughly enjoyable, interactive and information event. And my thanks to Rebecca and Laura for making this engaging evening possible.
Nick Stone, Autism Hub peer support facilitator & ALAG member, 7 August 2024