Here's how a social enterprise helps Autistic children across the Warwick district

Act for Autism, which is a social enterprise not-for-profit community interest company, was set up in 2015 by Tessa Morton and Jane Gurnett, who both have Autistic children.

Tessa and Jane run workshops, projects, webinars and conferences on Autism and how people can better understand Autistic people and their needs and how to connect with them.

Tessa said: "We started off delivering training in schools because my son, who's Autistic, was struggling at school and the teachers had not received training in autism so therefore didn't understand Autism at all nor how to support him.

"I joined forces with Jane, who was a teacher at my son's school, and we designed and delivered some workshops."

Tessa and Jane then went on to win commissions from Warwickshire County Council to design and deliver interactive training projects for parents who had received an autism diagnosis for their children.

The pair also developed training for professionals including medical professionals, police and social workers.

An important part of their work is also providing community projects. Tessa said: "The money we get from funded projects gets put back into the community. We have a drama group - which we have run for over 15 years - and we have Easter and summer Film projects.

"We have developed a way of working with young people which is all about building a relationship. We call it the 3 C Pathway.”

Tessa said that Autism is often thought of as purely a behaviour issue and says the condition is commonly misunderstood.

She said: "Often Autism is seen as a behaviour problem and people react with 'we have to stop the behaviour', 'if that child behaves better', 'studies harder' or 'sits still' then things will get better for them. We don't say that.

"We see Autism as a connection challenge - so it's our job to build better connections. It's a connection challenge because of the way their brain works.

"They don't always receive the messages from the body about the way things are going and they can't regulate sense and emotions efficiently especially when young.

"Autistic kids often have difficulty reading people - reading emotions, intentions, and facial expressions - it can feel like a different language and it can be over-whelming.

"We work with children to understand their differences and how they can manage in a world not designed for them and thrive even though there may be challenges.

"We try to project a very positive 'can do' attitude for the parents and the individual but we also know the realism about some of the obstacles.”

One of the projects that took place last week is the Easter film project. Act for Austin worked with group of children at the drama studio at Warwick School to create a film talking about their world and their experiences.

It was part four in the Autism voices project that has run for four years and won many awards. Previous films looked at school stereotypes, the brain and lockdown.

Tessa said: "Our Easter projects have been running for about 10 years and recently we changed from theatre projects to film projects.

"This was because we realised the children were giving us so much useful information from our discussions about their inner world and we wanted to capture it all.

“The kids write and produce films saying what they want to say.

"We then use them in our training courses and the kids can also promote and share them at their schools, on their social media and on Youtube. The films explain to the world how they see and feel the world.

"It was a fantastic two days. The voices of the young people are what it is all about and we are proud to work with them."

Speaking about the film project, Pernille, 21, said: "It's important as an autistic girl to get my voice heard. The films projects are a brilliant way of doing that."

Alice, 18, who also attended the filming sessions, said: "I look forward to the film projects every year. I have done five so far and they are brilliant."

George, 17, another project participant, said: "I feel safe to express myself when I am at the film project."

Lucca, 18, added: "Being part of the Act for Autism film project has give me so much confidence."

Act for Autism, which won the National Autistic Society's Autism Professionals Award in 2020, also produced a book called 'Connecting and communicating with your Autistic child'.

Tessa and Jane wrote the book during lockdown as a commission from a specialist publisher who had attended one of their workshops.

As a small social enterprise Tessa says she is most proud of the work they have done to empower young people to feel safe to talk about their autistic identity.

They say this is not only fundamental for their well-being and personal development but also gives the wider society, vital insight and awareness when they see the films.

Many parents have found watching the films a way in to understanding their own children better.

As well as helping children, parents and professionals in the Warwick district, Tessa and Jane have connected with people across Coventry and Warwickshire as well as globally through their monthly online webinars.

Through their work, some of the children they support also go on to work with Act for Autism - with some taking on roles in the leadership team, facilitating workshops and speaking at conferences.

For more information about Act for Autism or to find more details about the book and the films go to: https://actforautism.co.uk/