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@imaginingautism
Imagining Autism on tour
Imagining Autism has made a series of funding applications to support an autumn tour of the Imagining Autism ‘pod’ to various national arts centre. The tour also hosts community engagement activities which include professional training evenings and ‘Autistic Community Cafes’ for parents, carers and the local autistic community. Watch this space! For more information about booking Imagining Autism, contact Melissa Trimingham on [email protected]
Imagining Autism CPD (Continuing Professional Development Training) at Beacon School Folkestone 2018
Imagining Autism is offering a series of CPD sessions in understanding autism and the imagination, and training in Imagining Autism techniques for the classroom, held at Beacon School Folkestone.
CPD schedule: 4 day-long workshops (10.00-14.30) will take place between February and June 2018. Each session will cover training in a specific area (see below). Attendees will be given tasks/suggested activities to try out and share with the rest of the group the following session. Bespoke resources such as suitable puppets will be provided. Mutual support, feedback and mentoring are an important part of this training and the Beacon Training Centre will provide visiting mentors to participating schools.
Puppets and objects as communication tools: practical strategies for using puppets as intermediaries in the social world, to enhance emotional resilience and to manage difficult behaviour. Feb. 20th
Sensing environments: we explore the world of autistic perception starting for example with exercises focused on sound. How to identify and harness sensory preferences and interests and how to use found materials in the classroom and home and simple equipment as resources for creative learning- for example working with microphones, texts and, where appropriate, food as a sensory and creative stimulus. March 20th
Inter/act: techniques for eliciting attention and engagement drawing upon active support andintensive interaction practices. Includes imitation, exaggeration, ‘sabotage’ techniques, and insights into autism and humour. 19th April
Creating autistic space: how to transform an everyday working environment into a creative space for working with the autistic imagination: following cues, being “in the moment” and perceiving differently.12th June
Learning outcomes
By the end of this training, staff will have an understanding of
· new ways that play, imagination and puppetry can be incorporated into the classroom
· the importance of the creative imagination and play in autistic children
· how creative approaches can lessen anxiety, give greater emotional resilience to children and engage their learning
For further information contact Beacon School on 01303 847 555
BILL (THE ROBOT) BLOG ROBOT C67-856YH23A DATA ENTRY Beep, blop bloop. Bing boop, bep broop, blip, breep boop brip bop bop bip, beap boip boop. Bipbip blip blop bloop brip boop boap beep boop bip beap beeeeeeeeeep!!! Beepeee boop boop boooooooooooooop!! Beep beep beep, blip bip beap booop bop bib beep boop boop bip bip beap blip bleeeep. Bing boop brip, bralp. Blarp bring beep boop bip brip, broop. APPROXIMATE TRANSLATION: “I am having fun but wish the little humans would leave my controls alone”.
GREETINGS EARTHLINGS - ACCOUNT OF AN ALIEN IN SOUTHPORT
I am having an amazing time hanging out in Southport in the Imagining Autism Space environment. Earth is great, although it’s really hard to see the sea from the beach here even with my long alien legs. I heard someone say the sea has gotten further away over the years which might be something to do with the environment and global warming? It's very warm on my planet in Outer Space. I hear the earthlings describe it as magical when they visit. They like the stars and planets on the shadow screen, playing with the multi coloured moon rocks, climbing over the boulders, meeting the little alien in the cave and seeing the space storms we sometimes experience here on the planet they visit. I never know when they are coming as they always arrive in a crash landing. They are on their way to the moon but something happens to the rocket and they land somewhere else. I call it planet Nowhere because it is always in the now and here in my time, a continuous present, if that makes sense. I am programmed to be in the moment with whoever arrives....
I have met so many creative, friendly Earthling kids this week in our base at the Atkinson centre. My mission was to befriend the Earthling children and not to frighten them! I don’t speak the Earthling language, but we manage to communicate anyway. I use my body and gesture and my own language which they seem to connect with so we get along ok. Sometimes they like to touch me, especially my hands and face. That took a bit of getting used to but it’s ok now. I need to collect as many space rocks as I can, as I am constantly hungry. All the kids have been helpful to me and fed me rocks even though I only like some of them, dependent on their colours and as the orange ones are yucky. I spit those out and the Earthlings seem to find that funny. Too many oranges and I get a tummy ache! I am meeting very different Earthlings. Sometimes they are very small, sometimes they don’t talk at all, but they still play. Sometimes they are as tall as I am and they come in with cameras and talk about making a film and can tell me what to do or sometimes pretend to be me! I am not sure how long these day trippers will be coming with Captain Faultless who is the person that brings them. He has lots of money and his own space ship for taking tourists to the moon. I don’t think it is a good idea as he disturbs our peaceful planet and it can be very disruptive and tiring. We also sometimes have other people visiting the planet later at night which can be pretty tiring. I feel as if I am being looked at and it makes me self-conscious. Also the grown up Earthlings don’t play as well as the child earthlings. And they can leave coffee cups on our nice clean planet…
On Wednesday and Thursday there were two groups of visitors, but on Friday there were four! The first group was all girls, which was great as most of the times, girls are outnumbered, in the groups that come to visit me on the planet whoo whoo (I named it myself and as I don’t speak earthling this is as close a translation as you can get). Sometimes the children give the planet a name…Plant Bill (the name of our Robot), Planet “Dank” and Little white planet are some of the names I’ve heard. We had three 13-14 year olds on Friday and I was told that they would talk a bit and knew a little bit about their interests and sensory needs which are pretty similar to mine. It helps me to know when they are coming so that I can prepare myself and to know a bit about them. One of the earthlings wore ear protectors as she was sensitive to noise. I was told they had many interests such as build a bear (apparently, this is a kind of manufacturing factory that creates bears dressed as human earthlings?) going to coffee shops, painting and Shakespeare (an Earthling writer). Earthling G was really bubbly and friendly and wanted to try me on for size, so my handler Annette Foster (very nice earthling) helped her try on the alien puppet, (me- I know this is getting confusing, right? Annette Foster is my Earthling identity! I sometimes feel as if I am two people, but that’s why I like drama) Annette helped her figure out how to make an alien voice and how to move the alien head and body. Earthling G was a natural puppeteer and was so good at being the Alien that I forgot it wasn’t me. Earthling M went with Robot Bill and helped her control the space ship, including the lighting and sound effects. Earthling J was the cinematographer and got some great film of me being very alien.
The next group was all boys who were a little bit younger, aged twelve and they didn’t speak as much, which was fine with me. These earthling boys were very friendly and loved things such as trains, bubble wrap (a fantastic sheet of plastic with air in it, that you can pop with your fingers) and fixing things. Earthling C didn’t like things broken but he loved Bill the Robot and liked to take out her circuits so that she malfunctioned. He especially liked to pull out the circuit that made her head shake back and forth really fast. Earthling C also had a go at sound and lighting and especially liked fading the lights in and out. Earthling L was very boisterous and loved to move about in space, he especially liked to jump on the trampoline and climb in the space cave. Earthling M loved me and all alien kind on the planet, he was especially good at feeding me green rocks and held my hand. Annette my handler had a lovely moment with Earthling M where they held hands and had sustained eye contact.
Sometimes I see myself in what is called a live feed, which makes it look as if I am in a space bubble with the Earthlings or their teachers. There is often a point when the moon rocks collapse on Captain Faultless during one of our space storms. He doesn’t move, everything is still and the Earthlings take over, deciding what will happen next. One day they even took my back to earth with them! The storm can be quite exciting as the colours change and there is some haze, but it doesn’t always happen like that. It depends on the passengers in space..towards the end, Bill the Robot tells everyone they are running out of fuel and need to go back to planet Earth. I often feel a bit sad to say goodbye but it is also nice to have some time to myself again and get the planet tidied up and ready for the next visitors. I hope to have many more adventures with these young earthlings in my space pod in the next few days.
Some beautiful images have come from Outer Space this week! The iA team are getting creative this week at The Atkinson.
iA at The Atkinson - The beginning
Day 1 for the Imagining Autism residency at the Atkinson Southport after the get in yesterday when the team on tour created Outer Space and planned our trips to Another Planet. The crew are the technician/Robot (Faith Austin), the comic captain of the moon tourism mission (Shaun McCrory), an alien (Annette Foster) and the researcher facilitators Melissa Trimingham (puppetry, scenography) and myself (dramaturgy). In addition we have some visiting guests, Mabel Giraldo (all the way from Italy) and Helena Taylor (Brighton). All the actors have professional backgrounds and have been specially trained in the iA approach. We have devised three “runways” as flexible versions of the space environment in response to the information provided by teachers. Runway 1 is a sensory exploration with a gentle “going to the moon” take off, an encounter with big and little aliens and feeding moon rocks, shadow theatre puppetry and interaction with the various loose elements (microphone, live feed etc). We worked through guided improvisation to follow the children’s cues. Runway 2 has a loose narrative with an unexpected landing on the wrong planet, a dust storm and a captain who panics and needs rescuing from collapsed boulders (UV foam). For Runway 3, the students are a film crew who create an outer space adventure, using the set and special effects.
Yesterday we had Runway 3 twice with two groups of 11-12 year olds. They put on their space suits and took control (as they so frequently do), delighting in the improvisation, making their own space ships, working the puppets and filming. The teachers completed en route observations. The crew included an 11 year old boy described to us as working away from class for 90% of his timetable and having “controlled outbursts.” Each student was asked how they felt before the trip, during the experience and after (and encouraged to describe themselves). This 11 year old chose his own words, selecting“anxious” “uncomfortable” and “excited”. Mid trip he was “calm” “creative” and “involved” and by the end of the trip he was ‘happy” and “creative” with his teacher noting him as being ‘more confident and attentive.” After the event, the participants went to reflective chill out space and we were given this account:
“I felt really happy that I did something to do with technology as I really like tech but trying a program I had never tried and controlling the puppets but a large puppet instead of a hand puppet.”
“I would definitely do something like that again and I think I might have found something I could use in the near future.”
“10/10 I would do i it again.”
iA team head to Southport
The Imagining Autism team will be visiting The Atkinson multi art-form venue in Southport next week, with over 150 children from two local schools, Rowan Park School and Presfield High School & Specialist College, launching into the outer space environment. The team will also be delivering a number of events for parents and carers, and for professionals who work with individuals with autism. For a press release about iA at The Atkinson click here.
Events:
Wednesday 8 March - Imagining Autism for Professionals
Monday 13 March - Imagining Autism for families
Tuesday 14 March - Imagining Autism for Professionals -SOLD OUT!
Thursday 16 March - Imagining Autism for families
This January and February 2017 we have set up training workshops in iA techniques to local artists and to people who work with the autistic community. We are opening up the first session ‘What is Autism?’ to anyone who is interested.
The session runs this Wedneday 18th January 4.30 - 6.15 in the Lumley studio, Grimond Building, Univerisity of Kent and will feature footage from the Imagining Autism project, an introduction to the basic techniques underlying the approach and try to share some experiences of the many autistic children we have encountered.
TRAINING IN iA TECHNIQUES
This January and February 2017 we have set up training workshops in iA techniques to local artists and to people who work with the autistic community. We are opening up the first session ‘What is Autism?’ to anyone who is interested.
The session runs this Wednesday 18th January 4.30 - 6.15 in the Lumley studio, Grimond Building, Univerisity of Kent and will feature footage from the Imagining Autism project, an introduction to the basic techniques underlying the approach and we will try to share some of our experiences with the many autistic children we have encountered.
This January and February 2017 we have set up training workshops in iA techniques to local artists and to people who work with the autistic community. We are opening up the first session ‘What is Autism?’ to anyone who is interested.
The session runs this Wedneday 18th January 4.30 - 6.15 in the Lumley studio, Grimond Building, Univerisity of Kent and will feature footage from the Imagining Autism project, an introduction to the basic techniques underlying the approach and try to share some experiences of the many autistic children we have encountered.
Imagining Autism is taking Outer Space to Southport
Imagining Autism is bringing its Outer Space adventure to the Atkinson. Specially designed by drama experts in the University of Kent Drama Department working with psychologists, Imagining Autism immerses children in a multi-sensory world that plays to their strengths- their sensitivity, their eye for detail, their imagination and their humour. Children take part in small groups supported by a team of practitioners trained in the iA method- which allows children to take the lead and set their own pace, and involves them as co-creators of the drama. Children are prepared through social story packs and anxiety is reduced through working closely with the teachers in advance to ensure this is a rich and enjoyable experience for them- no matter where they are on the spectrum. Children with communication difficulties will also benefit, whether or not they have a diagnosis of autism.
After completing the Imagining Autism for Families project, one of the mother’s contacted us with this feedback:
“I can't thank you enough for the incredible experience you have provided for us. 3 children have actually learnt more about themselves. All of it has been thought provoking in an "engaging" but positive way... Positive attitude is rarely come by in the ASD world.”
Nicola Shaughnessy has contributed to the above book, with a chapter titled “Curious Incidents: Pretend Play, Presence and Performance Pedagogies”, looking at the work of Imagining Autism. This is currently in press but will available soon.
The Imagining Autism team were very excited to welcome the press on 23rd June to see what we have been doing working with the families. We welcomed two families into the ‘pod’ and above is a still from the family who made it onto BBC South East news that evening.
In May and June, we worked with four families in our arctic environment. Family members (parents and siblings) were invited to come and work with practitioners in the pod, alongside their family member(s) who had been diagnosed as being on the spectrum. The sessions were lively, with the penguin causing mischief non-stop. It was a great opportunity for families to get hands-on experience of how we work, as well as give an exciting and enjoyable family experience.
In May, Imagining Autism invited members of the public to experience the tools and techniques we use through a series of training sessions, before they were given the opportunity to try their newly found skills out in a session with families. This was part of the Imagining Autism for Families project. Trainees were a mixture of parents, family members, professionals, students and those who identified as being on the autistic spectrum. Sessions were run in perceiving differently, clowning, ensemble and puppetry. Here is a photo of some of our trainees having a go at the puppetry, using soft toys.
Beacon Institute Short Film
Professor Nicola Shaughnessy stars in a recent short film, which discusses her role as the Director of the Beacon Institute. She talks about how her collaboration with Psychologists’ on the Imagining Autism project helped her to realise the benefits that the Arts can bring to the Sciences. The video can be watched here. More information on the Beacon Institute can be found here.
Imagining Autism mentioned in Guardian article
Imagining Autism has been named as one example of disability arts in Higher Education, in a recent article on ‘Disability arts: the challenge of ensuring momentum’ by Jonathan Meth. The article celebrates the wealth of work surrounding disability arts and poses questions as to what is in the future for disability arts. You can see the full article here.