Autism, Trauma, & "Behaviour"

On Thursday 7^thMarch, Medica CPD brought together over 150 delegates for their “Autism, Trauma, & Behaviour” Conference in the Crutherland Hotel in East Kilbride. It was a truly fantastic event with great feedback, one delegate referred to it as “the BEST conference she had been to in 25 years’ worth of conferences!”

This event was a melting pot of expertise, featuring renowned speakers like Dr Luke Beardon, Geoff Evans, Dr Brodie Patterson, and Jim Taylor, each shedding light on different aspects of autism, trauma, and behaviour, as well as updating knowledge, providing practical strategies, and challenging delegates ways of thinking.

During his presentation, Dr Luke Beardon, an award-winning senior lecturer at Sheffield Hallam University, spoke on “inclusive practices don’t always equal inclusive attitudes.” He really made us think that just because an organisation, whether that is a school or a local authority, has inclusive practices in place to help autistic people, it doesn’t necessarily mean that the people carrying out those inclusive practices have inclusive attitudes. Think of it like this: if a school has a dedicated space for autistic children to go if they need time and space away from the typical classroom environment but teachers won’t let them leave class to go then the space is wasted. Dr Beardon emphasised the need for those working with autistic individuals to carry out their work with empathy and patience.

As part of Geoff Evans’ presentation “Autism, Trauma, & Sensory Processing” he discussed with the conference the practical ways in which delegates can support autistic individuals. He spoke of the significance of making reasonable adjustments to accommodate autistic people in society, from education to employment to social settings, he emphasised the importance of creating environments that meet the specific needs of the autistic person. This would create a society where autistic individuals cannot just survive but thrive.

Dr Brodie Patterson’s presentation “Challenging Behaviours in Autistic Individuals” urged the conference, made up of professionals such as, social workers, teachers, & health care workers, to think about the term “challenging behaviour” and its use in our society when discussing autistic individuals. He explained that language towards the behaviours of autistic people can cause trauma. He posed the question “is the behaviour challenging or is it different to what we expect.” He discussed that the term “challenging behaviour” should be reserved for dangerous behaviours that cause harm rather than differences in expression or communication. Dr Patterson challenged the conference to rethink their approach and language to save autistic individuals from thinking their normal behaviours are challenging.

Chairing the conference was Jim Taylor, director of Jim Taylor Knows Autism, he spoke about the assumption that autistic children and young people choose not to attend school rather than they can’t go to school for specific reasons during his presentation, titled “Tell Me Why? I don’t like Mondays… Tuesdays… Wed…” Reasons such as, the bus journey or the change of subjects throughout the day. He explained to the conference that schools and educational settings can often unknowingly be putting barriers up that makes autistic children not able to attend. Jim Taylor suggested to the conference that schools and local authorities should address the barriers and look to remove them so that autistic children are able to learn in an environment that suits their needs.

As we reflect on the thought-provoking discussions had throughout the day, a question we put to you is: should autistic children and young people be forced to attend school if it is not right for them and their needs? It’s a very interesting one.

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