A I M N EW S

Sp ring 2017 | Leed s Autism AIM's offic ia l newsletter

A FREE servic e for a utistic a d ults in Leed s with little/ no sup p ort

Cha ng es to d rop -ins from Ap ril

- Va le Hub c loses on Thursd a y 30th Ma rc h
- New session a t Lovell on a lterna te Frid a ys, sta rting 28th Ap ril
- New hours for Tuesd a y session a t Lovell: 3.30p m -7p m
After responding to feedback and
funding changes, Leeds Autism AIM
will be trialling new drop in sessions
from April. The Thursday autism
drop-in at Vale Circles will close, but
we will be running a second, quieter
session at Lovell Park and reducing
the Tuesday session at Lovell to
3.30pm-7pm.
Many thanks to funding received from
Leeds South and East CCG (through
the Leeds Community Foundation) to
develop the Vale Circles drop-in and
wider support, and also to Vale users continuing to be more in-demand and one-to-one with people that need it.
and staff for their consideration in busy with several new groups, so we To manage this, we will be running
sharing the space with us. have agreed to trial a second session the main Tuesday session at Lovell
We have supported 111 people at at that venue. from 3.30pm-7pm from Friday 28th
this quieter drop-in and have also This will be every fortnight on Fridays April. We hope this will mean we can
been able to make links to services from 4pm-7pm from the end of April continue to build on the fantastic
to help support local autistic adults and will be a much quieter session partnership working we have
that we will continue to develop. for groups and booked appointments, developed and be able to continue to
The Tuesday drop-in at Lovell Park is so that we can follow up any issues support new groups and activities.

Leed s Autism AIM ha s a new web site

Leeds Autism AIM finally has a new
website, where you can find all kinds
of useful information about the
service and what else is on offer for
autistic adults in Leeds.
On the site, you will find news from
all of our upcoming events, as well
as an information content hub with
details of services on offer in Leeds.
There is also a dedicated section on
the Leeds Autism Strategy and a
page for our drop-in service. You can
go and visit the new website at
leedsautismaim.org.uk.
The new site coincides with the end
of the Autism Leeds directory. After
funding for the directory ended, we
analysed where it was most used,
then deciding to transfer information
about how to access services onto
the new site.
The new website also links to other
information directories if people want
to find out about a specific service.
We would like to thank The Brelms
Trust and Jimbo's Fund for giving us
the means to create the directory,
which gained well over 11,000 views
since it was published back in the
summer of 2014.

Leeds Aut ism AIM is par t of Advonet, a charit y which provides

a range of independent advocacy ser vices throughout Leeds.
Find out more at advonet.org.uk
 L E E D S A U TI S M A I M N E W S
vol unteer openevening
Advonet are holding an open evening
for volunteers and those interested in
volunteering. The event explores
what it means to be a volunteer and
will celebrate the diversity of those
who give up their time for different
groups, including Leeds Autism AIM.
The event is on Thursday 23rd
March at Cafe Leep from 4pm to
7pm. It's free to enter and free
refreshments will be provided. For
more info, ring 0113 244 0606 or
email office@advonet.org.uk.
mentorsget trained
Leeds Autism AIM have provided
training for seven new volunteer
mentors. The training, delivered over
two sessions, has provided us with
more people to be matched to any
autistic adults with little or no funded
support who would like a mentor.
If you want a mentor or to become
one, all you need to do is email
leedsautismaim@advonet.org.uk
and we will get in touch. Our next
training sessions will be held in
May/June.
empl oyabil ity drop-in
Aspiedent are now running a regular
employability drop-in, run on a
fortnightly basis. It is for any autistic
adults who need advice on making
themselves ready to step into work.
The drop-in will take place on
Tuesday afternoons, following on
from the DWP's employment advice
session at the Lovell Hub. They run
from 4pm-6pm.
For more info about what Aspiedent
do, visit aspiedent.com or come to
Lovell and meet them in person.

A U TI S M N E W S I N B R I E F
autismevent isl ooming
The 2017 #BiggerAndBetterInLeeds
annual autism awareness event will
be happening on Monday 3rd April. A
free event, it starts at 9.30am and
finishes at 3pm, taking place in the
Leeds Civic Hall's banqueting suite.
Guest speakers are author/activist
Janine Booth and autism charity
founder Anna Kennedy OBE.
Leeds Autism AIM, Leeds Autism
Services (LAS), Leeds ABC and
Specialist Autism Services (SAS) are
among the 20-plus stallholders. For a
little more information, please go to
biggerandbetterinleeds.org.
autismfil mnowonl ine
Leeds Autism Services (LAS) have
premiered a documentary, explaining
what it means to be autistic.
?A Different Way of Thinking? has
interviews with people who have
some experience of autism, including
parents and famous faces such as
Kay Mellor OBE, ??A? Word? creator
Peter Bowker and comedy writer
Henry Normal.
The film was screened at an event on
Wednesday 15th March and can now
be viewed on their website. To watch,
just visit las.uk.net and you'll see the
film on their homepage.
work withhospital s
Leeds Teaching Hospitals (LTHT) is
extending its work on reasonable
adjustments for people with learning
disabilities to better include the
needs of autistic adults.
Leeds Autism AIM are supporting
this work with a consultation group. If
you are autistic and have had
experiences of using hospital
services and you would like to pass
on your experiences or ideas about
how services can be improved,
please contact Wendy at Leeds
Autism AIM, using the details at the
bottom of this page.

I N F O R M A TI O N P ERSO N A LI SED RESO U RC ES

If you are not able to use
the drop-in or mentoring
services, you can contact
us for information by
phone or email at any
time.
We are able to make personalised hospital passports, which explain
Just send us a message resources for you at our Tuesday any worries and show info to GPs,
to the contacts below and drop-in session and via email. doctors and nurses.
we will do our best to Autism alert cards can be done to If you're interested in having a
help explain to people how being personalised resource, please
answer any questions. autistic affects you. We can do email us or come to our drop-in.

C O N TA C T U S Web site: leed sa utism a im .org .uk

Fa c eb ook: fa c eb ook.c om / leed sa utism a im
W E B S I TE Twitter: twitter.c om / leed sa utism AIM
SO C I A L Em a il: leed sa utism a im @a d vonet.org .uk
EM A I L Telep hone: 0113 244 0606
PH O N E Mob ile: 0758 157 1380 - a sk for Wend y