‘Autism & Communication: Verbal and Preverbal’ seminar
ON November 20, Castlebar will play host to the ‘Autism & Communication: Verbal and Preverbal’ seminar hosted by AsIAM, Ireland’s national autism advocacy charity, and sponsored by SuperValu.
The seminar is part of an ongoing series of seminars which offer support and much-needed information to the autism community. The community support events, sponsored by SuperValu, have been driven by the autism community and are delivered by autism experts with each event focusing on different topics.
The ‘Autism and Communication: Verbal and Preverbal’ seminar is targeted towards parents whose children are struggling with communication skills and will cater for the pre-verbal and verbal, with each speaker focusing in on one topic each.
The free seminar is taking place on November 20 at 7 p.m. in Ellison Hotel, Castlebar, and those interested in attending need to register for tickets online at https://asiam.ie/event/autism-and-communication-preverbal-and-verbal/.
Commenting on the seminar series, CEO of AsIAm said: “We are delighted to bring a programme of community support events around Ireland, thanks to the generous support of SuperValu. Our 24 community support events will provide much needed information and guidance to autistic people and their families on issues as diverse as employment, sensory processing and making friends. Often our community can feel isolated and under-supported, these events bring people together to share experiences, identify possible local supports and listen to subject matter experts.”
Commenting on SuperValu’s partnership with AsIAm for the seminar series, Ray Kelly, marketing director at SuperValu, said: “At SuperValu our ambition is to build more inclusive communities across Ireland. Our work with AsIAm for autism over the past year has opened our eyes to what we can do beyond each store to ensure we use our unique position in the heart of Irish towns to make positive changes across the entire community.
“These seminars will work to support deeper awareness of autism and help to increase inclusion across Ireland.”
Said John Page, manager of Kavanagh’s SuperValu, Castlebar: “We are delighted to be involved with this seminar and are committed to making our store more autism friendly. Currently we run autism friendly shopping evenings in store every Wednesday from 6 to 9 p.m.”
SuperValu is committed to raising understanding and awareness of autism among its customers and staff. With over 50,000 families in Ireland living with autism, those affected face barriers to inclusion because of the attitudes of people who may not have first-hand experience of autism.