As a privately funded charity it is necessary for your child to have a diagnosis of Autism for Friends of Autism to support your family. They however are also an ASD Panel member for the delivery services being supported under FACHSIA. They in addition got a professional counselling service accessible to help your family when the need is identified.
Friends of Autism got a variety of support services and programs available for families that got autistic children aged between 0 and 18 years and all the way into adulthood. They provide social skills programs, behavioral therapy, counselling and support services, toy library and free information plus much more.
Friends of Autism was established and is steered by Dee Marlow, a mom of three Autistic children, passionate regarding enhancing the daily lives of people impacted by autism, adopted a family friendly and holistic approach.
Friends of Autism Services
This is a charity that helps families to be able to help themselves. Being a privately funded not-for profit charity, it’s not a must or necessary that your kid has to be diagnosed as having Autism for them to assist your family. They got an array of support services and programs available.
Teenager Social Group
Social Groups make an excellent environment for single individuals to make friendships, acquire a sense of some belonging, share experiences and interests, grow social skills and become skilled about ordinary social issues affecting their own age group.
The Teenager Social Group run by Friends of Autism presents an age appropriate and inclusive social setting best for teens to engage themselves in exciting social activities.
Activities in the Social Groups include: computer games, football, soccer, table tennis, bowling, movies, ipad games and MUCH more!
Every Social Skills Group activity will also entail food like: pasta, pizza or subway!
The Social Skills Group
These Groups offer an ordered setting for primary age kids to study and grow social skills in an environment that is welcoming and inclusive. Records of the Group outcomes for every kid are kept throughout the entire session and feedback provided to the parents or carers.
The Social Skills Groups aim at growing:
- Social communication and language
- Social Skills
- Recognizing emotions about self and others
- How to cope with personal emotions
The Curious Minds Group
The Minds Group present an organized setting for kids in upper primary age group to engage themselves in challenging and exciting academic activities whilst developing and learning social skills in an environment that is welcoming and also inclusive.
This Group aims at growing:
- Developing Social Skills
- Learning communication and Social language
- Mastering the Theory of Mind principles
- Learning more about personal emotional regulation
Friends of Autism Resources
Information
Friends of Autism got a large library packed with DVD's and books for professionals, parents, and children.
Toy Library
It could be very costly keeping your kid stimulated and also keeping up with their newest kid obsession. Friends of Autism got a broad assortment of toys on hand to help in cutting down your costs in this aspect.
Visual Aides
Friends of Autism got an extensive variety of visual aids which could assist at school or at the home. They got stock items plus the ability of customizing according to your specific requirements. The visual resources available include:
- Schedules
- Social Stories
- Pictures request books
Respite
Friends of Autism got useful information and contact with several respite agencies and could connect you with those that are suitable to your particular circumstances.
Home Therapy Packs
Modern research has indicated that a kid on the spectrum requires from 20 to 40 hours of therapy each week. In most cases, the available funding is not able to fully cover this amount of expenses and could become too costly for majority of the families. Friends of Autism motto of "helping families to assist themselves" believe that the condition of Autism is indeed a 24/7 undertaking and the small changes performed while at home could make a huge impact on skills, behaviour and home life for everybody concerned. Friends of Autism provides basic, intermediate and then progress to superior home therapy packs so that you could radically boost the therapy number of hours your kid gets through you doing this by yourself.
Support Meetings
They hold regular coffee mornings geared towards family support. Often they get adult people you could speak to on the Spectrum or a variety of guest speakers at such notable events. Even kids are welcome to these Support Meetings.
There is also a very special fathers’ group meeting, typically held at the local pub. Friends of Autism are looking to developing more adult support groups especially for those already on the Spectrum.
Volunteering at Friends of Autism
The Friends of Autism main fundraising event is Bankwest Movies by Burswood. This is an outdoor cinema running from December all through to April. The screenings are entirely staffed by willing volunteers and all the incoming profits get donated to a variety of charities helping kids in Western Australia.
Additional volunteering opportunities are:
- The yearly FOA street appeal
- Helping with the various group sessions during and after school holidays
- Helping in the information and toy library co-coordination.
- Join the Committee on Fundraising
- Volunteer at social and fundraising events
Donating
Being a privately funded not for profit charity, Friends of Autism is only able to keep running through the kind donations and support of others like yourself. All the donations above $2 become tax deductible, going directly towards assisting families that are affected by Autism.
The key areas of support are:
- One time donations
- Monthly Regular donations
- Bringing your change jar
- Get a Ring for a Cash & Carry card, which will let you shop at Carry & Carry through which you’ll be getting the advantages of their prices that are discounted whilst you make your donation that is dependent on the spent amount.
- Putting a tin for spare change at your business cash register.
- As Friends of Autism are community partnering with United Way, you could organize for your place of work to take part in a giving program at the workplace via United Way and then have Friends of Autism nominated as the beneficiary.
- Bequesting your will.
