Speaking on the Spectrum
One of my goals for this year (and I know the year's half over, but it's been a while in the planning) is to start a group at our library for folks on the autism spectrum and those who love them (family members, friends, etc). It wouldn't be a parent-with-autism vent group as so often happens with these things, but more focused toward learning more about autism and what it means throughout one's life. I'm going to call the group Speaking on the Spectrum because it will be topic-focused. Every (month? two weeks?) meeting will have a topic focus. I think the structure will go something like this....
Greeting/settling in
Open topic discussion (anyone who has things they want to talk about / ask about)
Specific Topic discussion / questions
Presentation
The presentation would be someone talking about their special interest, or about a book on autism they've read, or whatever. Our library has a great deal of resources - there are some very helpful books in our autism section, and I'd love for the community to be more aware of them. It could also be a section where we could bring in some guest speakers if I am able to swing that. I am in the process of having this approved by the library (I have to check in to see what times / dates they have available and where in the process we are, in fact) so I don't know when it would start but it's something I really want to do.
So for example, a meeting would go something like this... everyone would talk and settle in and introduce new folks and whahaveyou. Then people would have open discussion - someone could talk about a problem they had that week, or a new thing they tried, or whatever they'd like. Then we'd do a topic - such as Overstimulation and how to prevent meltdowns from it, or Improving your Executive Functions, or whatever. I or someone else will have researched the topic and present an information sheet, or lead the discussion. Then we'd have a presentation - say someone has a special interest in trains, they could give a talk about what interests them about it. Or if someone has read a relevant book they'd like to share as a resource, etc.
The only rules I can think of so far are that it will be adults only - you can be a parent of a child on the spectrum, but no kids running about during the meeting. You don't have to be an adult on the spectrum to attend though- you can just be a friend or family member or otherwise interested party. Oh and I don't know how to put this one within a ruleset but no crackpot theories - autism is not caused by vaccines, crystals aren't going to 'cure' it, etc.
Does this sound like a good structure for a meeting?
Greeting/settling in
Open topic discussion (anyone who has things they want to talk about / ask about)
Specific Topic discussion / questions
Presentation
The presentation would be someone talking about their special interest, or about a book on autism they've read, or whatever. Our library has a great deal of resources - there are some very helpful books in our autism section, and I'd love for the community to be more aware of them. It could also be a section where we could bring in some guest speakers if I am able to swing that. I am in the process of having this approved by the library (I have to check in to see what times / dates they have available and where in the process we are, in fact) so I don't know when it would start but it's something I really want to do.
So for example, a meeting would go something like this... everyone would talk and settle in and introduce new folks and whahaveyou. Then people would have open discussion - someone could talk about a problem they had that week, or a new thing they tried, or whatever they'd like. Then we'd do a topic - such as Overstimulation and how to prevent meltdowns from it, or Improving your Executive Functions, or whatever. I or someone else will have researched the topic and present an information sheet, or lead the discussion. Then we'd have a presentation - say someone has a special interest in trains, they could give a talk about what interests them about it. Or if someone has read a relevant book they'd like to share as a resource, etc.
The only rules I can think of so far are that it will be adults only - you can be a parent of a child on the spectrum, but no kids running about during the meeting. You don't have to be an adult on the spectrum to attend though- you can just be a friend or family member or otherwise interested party. Oh and I don't know how to put this one within a ruleset but no crackpot theories - autism is not caused by vaccines, crystals aren't going to 'cure' it, etc.
Does this sound like a good structure for a meeting?