Support WCC Children With Autism
Donation protected
Visit us at http://www.worldchangingcentre.org/autism/
The World Changing Centre is a UK registered charity run by volunteers, providing international relief aid to underprivileged children and young people (aged 5-25) in Sierra Leone. And here in the UK we would like to pilot a Saturday club for families with autistic children within our local community of Greenwich.
Our Saturday Club will target black Ethnic Minority children and young adults (10 to 19) with Autism to support, educate and raise awareness for parents and others about their children's condition. In addition to the main aims it will allow the members to be form a peer-to-peer support network amongst people in similar situations near them. The activities in these sessions would engage both parents and their young children in fun, simple activities that will help to support their relationship and understand each others’ worlds.
The funding will allow us to promote the project and then run the various activities in our 4-hour long Saturday club for 48 weeks, which will involve art/painting, music therapy, sensory circus and mentoring to help build confidence, bring down barriers and to make real and lasting impact in the children’s lives. All our young people will work in a small group or one to one depending on their needs-to explore their ability in the above activities every Saturday.At the end of each month we will have a display with photos using their work to showcase their talent and provide recognition of their achievements for both their own confidence and for their parents to appreciate with them.
The funding will directly fund the cost of one sessional tutor, 2 assistants per session, renting cost of building and 5 volunteers per session. In addition this we would use some of the funding to train assistants further allowing them to improve their ability in leading the art and music sessions. There is a severe lack of this type of service which hope to provide in the area of Greenwich. Utilising local links, networks and working relationships we have with primary and secondary schools they have helped identify this need and specific children with ASD who live in the Greenwich area. Additionally we hope for our project to change the old cultural perceptions amongst African communities present in Greenwich towards ASD through the education of and increased awareness levels our project aims to bring to the area.
Around 700,000 people may have autism, or more than 1 in 100 in the population. There is no register or exact count kept. Any information about the possible number of people with autism in the community must be based on epidemiological surveys (ie studies of distinct and identifiable populations). The latest prevalence studies of autism indicate that 1.1% of the population in the UK may have autism. This means that over 695,000 people in the UK may have autism, an estimate derived from the 1.1% prevalence rate applied to the 2011 UK census figures. Greenwich has the high level of deprivation, ranking as the 8th most deprived borough in London and has the 10th highest level of child poverty out of the 32 boroughs in the capital. However, Greenwich is also a borough of great contrasts and diversity. Most children with a form autistic spectrum disorder (ASD) grow up in areas of deprivation with poor housing and without access to resources or activities. There is also high rate of children with ASD within the borough.
The rate of children with ASD and with conduct disorder are estimated to be higher in Greenwich than in the country as a whole. The prevalence of mental health difficulties is highest among looked after children and children with special educational needs requiring statutory assessment, particularly where their primary need is a learning difficulty or autistic spectrum disorder.
One of the groups we identify was the African groups in the community who have little or no understand of Autism and if effect on their children social and communication skills. We aim to address the problem by visiting their Churches and events to raise awareness and build therapeutic relationships with them. Our activities involved every children and young people in the community that are under Autism Spectrum regardless of colour, language, religion etc.
People have better chances in life:
Our weekly music and Art therapy sessions will enhance the lifestyles of these children by supporting their ability to control various aspects of their behaviour like restlessness, aggression and noisiness with the most improvement seen through group activities. In addition Music therapy is engaging and enjoyable for autistic children because it brings about change in their social behaviour and cognitive ability through prolonged sessions. ASD children can engage in music therapy without having it feel like work.
Our art session will give children on the autism spectrum a powerful means to channel their inner life and experience. During quiet time at the club, we would have our children create their own guide to feelings by having them draw pictures of “Happy,"“Sad," “Scared," “Mad" or “Frustrated” faces. Laminate or otherwise protect the pictures and have them on hand for them to identify how he or she is feeling when words cannot. We encourage them to keep a daily art journal with supervision from parents to increase creative self expression which is going to be a key to enhancing their well-being. The various components of our Saturday club work towards improving the life skills of a variety of different types of autism effectively improving their life skills through stimuli and allowing their parent to have better knowledge.
Stronger communities:
Our project will raise awareness about people on the autistic spectrum from its outset. Simply through promotion and outreach we will be educating and raising awareness, promoting community members to help and support each other. Our assemblies in schools and promotion will begin to spread the word and allow people, both young and old, to understand more about people with ASD and how they can be supported. Our sessions through education for the parents and the community will allow for more people to be able understand and work together to tackle their problems.
Unfortunately, many children are growing up in a society that promote the values and traditions of violence, a society that would rather put our youth away than to fix the problems that have created communities ravaged with pain and fear. The future of our families and communities lies in our hands. With an appreciation of who we are and where we come from, with mutual respect and admiration for others and with an understanding that we are responsible for our communities to raise our children, we will be able to strengthen families and communities and provide our children with the values and tools they need to live healthy lifestyle.
The World Changing Centre is a UK registered charity run by volunteers, providing international relief aid to underprivileged children and young people (aged 5-25) in Sierra Leone. And here in the UK we would like to pilot a Saturday club for families with autistic children within our local community of Greenwich.
Our Saturday Club will target black Ethnic Minority children and young adults (10 to 19) with Autism to support, educate and raise awareness for parents and others about their children's condition. In addition to the main aims it will allow the members to be form a peer-to-peer support network amongst people in similar situations near them. The activities in these sessions would engage both parents and their young children in fun, simple activities that will help to support their relationship and understand each others’ worlds.
The funding will allow us to promote the project and then run the various activities in our 4-hour long Saturday club for 48 weeks, which will involve art/painting, music therapy, sensory circus and mentoring to help build confidence, bring down barriers and to make real and lasting impact in the children’s lives. All our young people will work in a small group or one to one depending on their needs-to explore their ability in the above activities every Saturday.At the end of each month we will have a display with photos using their work to showcase their talent and provide recognition of their achievements for both their own confidence and for their parents to appreciate with them.
The funding will directly fund the cost of one sessional tutor, 2 assistants per session, renting cost of building and 5 volunteers per session. In addition this we would use some of the funding to train assistants further allowing them to improve their ability in leading the art and music sessions. There is a severe lack of this type of service which hope to provide in the area of Greenwich. Utilising local links, networks and working relationships we have with primary and secondary schools they have helped identify this need and specific children with ASD who live in the Greenwich area. Additionally we hope for our project to change the old cultural perceptions amongst African communities present in Greenwich towards ASD through the education of and increased awareness levels our project aims to bring to the area.
Around 700,000 people may have autism, or more than 1 in 100 in the population. There is no register or exact count kept. Any information about the possible number of people with autism in the community must be based on epidemiological surveys (ie studies of distinct and identifiable populations). The latest prevalence studies of autism indicate that 1.1% of the population in the UK may have autism. This means that over 695,000 people in the UK may have autism, an estimate derived from the 1.1% prevalence rate applied to the 2011 UK census figures. Greenwich has the high level of deprivation, ranking as the 8th most deprived borough in London and has the 10th highest level of child poverty out of the 32 boroughs in the capital. However, Greenwich is also a borough of great contrasts and diversity. Most children with a form autistic spectrum disorder (ASD) grow up in areas of deprivation with poor housing and without access to resources or activities. There is also high rate of children with ASD within the borough.
The rate of children with ASD and with conduct disorder are estimated to be higher in Greenwich than in the country as a whole. The prevalence of mental health difficulties is highest among looked after children and children with special educational needs requiring statutory assessment, particularly where their primary need is a learning difficulty or autistic spectrum disorder.
One of the groups we identify was the African groups in the community who have little or no understand of Autism and if effect on their children social and communication skills. We aim to address the problem by visiting their Churches and events to raise awareness and build therapeutic relationships with them. Our activities involved every children and young people in the community that are under Autism Spectrum regardless of colour, language, religion etc.
People have better chances in life:
Our weekly music and Art therapy sessions will enhance the lifestyles of these children by supporting their ability to control various aspects of their behaviour like restlessness, aggression and noisiness with the most improvement seen through group activities. In addition Music therapy is engaging and enjoyable for autistic children because it brings about change in their social behaviour and cognitive ability through prolonged sessions. ASD children can engage in music therapy without having it feel like work.
Our art session will give children on the autism spectrum a powerful means to channel their inner life and experience. During quiet time at the club, we would have our children create their own guide to feelings by having them draw pictures of “Happy,"“Sad," “Scared," “Mad" or “Frustrated” faces. Laminate or otherwise protect the pictures and have them on hand for them to identify how he or she is feeling when words cannot. We encourage them to keep a daily art journal with supervision from parents to increase creative self expression which is going to be a key to enhancing their well-being. The various components of our Saturday club work towards improving the life skills of a variety of different types of autism effectively improving their life skills through stimuli and allowing their parent to have better knowledge.
Stronger communities:
Our project will raise awareness about people on the autistic spectrum from its outset. Simply through promotion and outreach we will be educating and raising awareness, promoting community members to help and support each other. Our assemblies in schools and promotion will begin to spread the word and allow people, both young and old, to understand more about people with ASD and how they can be supported. Our sessions through education for the parents and the community will allow for more people to be able understand and work together to tackle their problems.
Unfortunately, many children are growing up in a society that promote the values and traditions of violence, a society that would rather put our youth away than to fix the problems that have created communities ravaged with pain and fear. The future of our families and communities lies in our hands. With an appreciation of who we are and where we come from, with mutual respect and admiration for others and with an understanding that we are responsible for our communities to raise our children, we will be able to strengthen families and communities and provide our children with the values and tools they need to live healthy lifestyle.
Organizer and beneficiary
Bernice Langley
Organizer
Martin Malamah-Thomas
Beneficiary
