We are pleased to announce support from the Royal Society of Arts in the form of a grant to support our ongoing work and specifically, a new international online Autism Dialogue programme. The RSA created a new category of its Catalyst Award scheme, to support ‘innovative and impactful responses’ to the Covid-19 global pandemic.
- Read more about the RSA below.
- Read ‘Professional Dialogue for Autism’ on RSA website.
Are you an autistic adult, parent/carer or working/studying in Autism?
Wherever you are in the world, you can register to attend this exciting, fully interactive online programme, starting June 5th 3.30pm (UK time)
Join us for the launch. Find out more about membership here.
This funding will allow our work to expand internationally by paying for a new series of sessions through the Summer including facilitators, an international researcher and related costs. The series will be open to autistic people, family members/carers, academics and those working in the field, anywhere in the world.
Dialogica is the first organisation in the world to apply Bohmian Dialogue therapeutically, socio-therapeutically and specifically to the field of autism. According to the New Economics Foundation, connecting with others is the most effective way of staying healthy (2020). Research also shows that autistic people are four times more likely to be lonely than non-autistic people and are more likely to experience social anxiety (National Autistic Society, 2018).
Whilst we have been receiving interest internationally since March 2019, this part of the work is the real start of an International Autism Dialogue. The internet allows us to do our work easily and research shows people with Asperger Syndrome and (so called) high functioning autism are comfortable using the internet for communication purposes (Benford and Standen, 2009). We also work locally since 2017 and recently secured funding from the NHS in Sheffield. The connection between local and international beneficiaries is important to our developments of perceived cultural differences in autism and this new funding will help build a conceptual framework for proper international scaling, whilst remaining sensitive to trans-national and trans-cultural differences.
Register for our Global Autism Dialogue Programme Here
References
Benford, Penny & Standen, Pj. (2009). The Internet: A comfortable communication medium for people with Asperger syndrome (0S) and high functioning autism (HFA)?. Journal of Assistive Technologies. 3. 44-53. 10.1108/17549450200900015.
National Autistic Society (2018). Hidden crisis: Autistic people four times more likely to be lonely than general public (30 April 2018) https://www.autism.org.uk/get-involved/media-centre/news/2018-04-25-hidden-crisis-autism-and-loneliness.aspx
New Economics Foundation (2020). Five Ways to Wellbeing at a time of Social Distancing. https://neweconomics.org/2020/03/five-ways-to-wellbeing-at-a-time-of-social-distancing