Jade, Autism And Me
Introduction
Thank you for visiting the JAAM website.
My daughter Jade was diagnosed as being on the Autistic Spectrum in 2002 when she was just 2 years old. From that day on our life changed forever. She is now 10 years old (almost) and Autism affects our lives every day. Over the years I have had the challenge of finding the help and support Jade needs to enable her to reach her full potential. There is a range of support available but it can sometimes be extremely hard to find and access. This leads me onto introducing you to JAAM. Jade, Autism and Me. JAAM is a new venture for me; I have designed JAAM based upon my own experiences of living with this lifelong disability — our way of life.
Motivation
Over the last 2 years I have worked closely with the Early Support services, this service is what our families need and deserve. Early Support is the Governments recommended approach for the coordination of services across England for families with disabled children. More information is available on the Early Support website. Part of my role is being an Early Support Trainer across Nottinghamshire, delivering the Early Support materials.
As part of the training team I bring my own personal experiences that are invaluable to practitioners.
Very good to see a parent's perspective rather than a lot of explained information. This added more depth to the cause on a personal level.
I have personal experience of receiving the early support approach as well as having to wade through services separately for support. I can give valuable insight to the emotions attached to receiving a diagnosis and what it is we parents need in terms of support.
Michelle's story was very good and gave real insight into a family's experience.
Since 2005 I have given my time on a voluntary basis to Early Communication Autism Partnership (ECAP) in Nottingham as a parental advisor. Recently, the Nottinghamshire Early Support Test Bed Groups looking to extend early support for children aged 5 to 7 years. In previous years I have also supported Barnardo's by guest speaking, training volunteers and raising the awareness of the need for social tolerance for children with Autism.
As a parent myself, we and our children face very difficult times and I am passionate that all parents receive the right support to help them come to terms with a diagnosis and support them through what can be very difficult times.
If you would like me to help your area by delivering Early Support training or would like a speaker to give a personal insight on having a child with a disability then please get in touch via the contact form.