Chris Morgan writes -

I run a project called DART, Dudley Autistic Resource Team, which works towards social inclusion of young people 16 and over who are higher functioning autistic. This includes those with Asprger Syndrome. The project began 2years ago as a year long pilot recognising that this group of people do not meet anyone elses's elligibilty criteria. Problem was that   no one had any idea how many individuals there were in Dudley MBC who fell into this group. I am employed by social services and began with a year long consultation process and an audit questionnaire trying to locate these young people who all live at home and mostly without any input from anyone, until a crisis occurs! I have 80+ people who access my project some are younger than 16 but parents become worried about leaving school and what happens then. The consultation was very interesting. It very much followed the pattern of the NAS 2003 Report Autism : Rights and Reality, and 6 key issuses were identified. The project is now permanent and I have been developing services and resources in line with the requests of the people involved and their parents. There is no question that this is a grossly misunderstood condition even by professional colleagues.

 

Currently I have set up a social club which has 5 or 6 functions a year and is open to anyone registered with the project and their families, I run a social group of 16 and they meet once a month. The aim of the group is to build  friendships, access leisure and recreational facilities around the area they live, alter perceptions of managers of facilities to accomodate their needs and help them to gain confidence and gain social inclusion. On Tuesday mornings I run a Drop In Centre at the Bonded Warehouse in Stourbridge, 10 til 12.30, again this is open to anyone registered on the project and it is an opportunity  for friends to meet, chat and play darts or table top games.

As a spin off from DART, a parent support group for parents of adult children with HFASD has developed and is called TOADS, Triumph Over Autism Dudley Support. This group is run by a mother of a HFASD son. TOADS meets at the drop in and has given parents support, information and activities. I have just succeeded in getting a grant to develop a sports and leisure programme for next year and this will be specifically for HFASD young people. I am working in partnership with health, housing, colleges and employment agencies to be able to offer  these young peoples life choices.  Our logo is a dart board with single dart in the bullseye and DART's  aims is to promote independence, maximise potential and gain social inclusion.  

Chris Morgan DART Project Leader.       

Dudley Social Services, FAO Chris Morgan, DART Project Leader, Ladies Walk Centre, Priory Lane, Sedgley, Dudley, West Mids, DY3 3UA or by phone 01384 813373 or email chris.morgan@dudley.gov.uk.