Autism Seminar with Sarah Hendrickx
Held Saturday 2 March 2019 at Chandlers Ford Methodist Church, we were delighted to welcome Sarah to present two sessions.
Sarah has been a keynote autism speaker at national autism conferences in the UK and overseas and specialises in speaking on all aspects of autism and Asperger syndrome including relationships, women, gender differences (sometimes with her autistic partner, Keith), employment and alcohol. She has an unusually blunt and humorous speaking style which is more informal and ‘says it like it is’ more than many professionals. She has written six books on the subject of autism.
Women and Girls and Autism:
What’s the Difference
For many years, autism was considered as predominantly a male condition, with few women diagnosed. More recently, there has been a realisation that autistic females exist in much greater numbers than previously thought, partly through historical bias and also because some girls and women process and present the autistic profile differently. Sarah will discuss how girls meet the diagnostic criteria for autism and why they get missed. As a late diagnosed autistic adult herself who works in the field of autism, she shares both personal and professional insights into the world of autistic girls and how to support them.
Social and Personal Relationships
on the Autism Spectrum
It is often widely assumed that autistic people are loners and do not seek friendships and relationships, but this is almost entirely untrue. Autistic people may view and value people and relationships differently than non-autistic people but this doesn't mean that love and friendship are not sought and desired. It may be that there are challenges in all areas of autism - social, coping with a flexible world, sensory/environment - that make finding, establishing and maintaining relationships harder work for some and this presentation seeks to look at what autistic want from people connections and how to help them achieve it - from childhood playmates to adult life partners.