What we do
Information meetings
& workshops
We hold regular meetings and workshops on all aspects of autism, mostly for our parent members but also sometimes for our young people.
In the past year, we have covered topics such as mental health, puberty, social skills, and home education.
We try, whenever possible, to have speakers who are on the autism spectrum themselves and speakers have included:
Grace Kidd www.autisticempath.com
Alex Manners www.thealexmanners.com
Julia Daunt www.memyselfandpda.com
SIGNAL Facebook group
Our private Facebook group for SIGNAL members only is active and supportive. It has been an important source of contact during the pandemic when families haven’t been able to meet in person. Members can post questions, offer advice or just let off steam. We also hear about the successes and good days that our members have.
Trampolining
We offer weekly trampolining classes on Wednesday evenings at Downham Leisure Centre for children ages 4 and up.
Swimming
We offer weekly swimming classes for our autistic children with a maximum of 2 children per instructor.
Family days out
We organise family days out during the school holidays, ranging from big venues like Legoland and the London Eye, to more low-key trips such as forest schools and a day at the seaside.
They are great opportunities for our families to do things they might not otherwise be able to manage, and to meet and make friends with other SIGNAL families.
Coffee mornings
Our coffee mornings are a great way to meet other SIGNAL parents in a friendly and informal setting. If you are not a member yet, get in touch for more details.
Yoga classes
We offer a free online yoga class for all members on Tuesday evenings, run by SIGNAL member and yoga teacher Mary McInerney. It’s a very relaxed class and everyone is welcome – no experience or equipment necessary.
Signposting
We send out regular emails about anything autism-related that we think might be of interest to our members, whether that’s an activity happening locally, an interesting article or news about autism, or a request for people to take part in a research project.
We also send out details of workshops and meetings offered by Drumbeat Outreach, see link below: