Category: Updates

Australian self-advocate Tom Oliver discusses his work helping autistic individuals caught in the justice system.

Posted on by Gregory Wood

I often wondered how many people in the prison system struggle with autism and do not know it.  I have always felt based on my own experience in having to pay out of pocket for mental health care.  If I did not have the resources to get answers what would have happened if I had ended up in the criminal justice system.  Greg

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i_j5jOadcVc

(VIDEO – 30 mins) Tom Oliver is a TEDx Speaker and Global leader on autistic individuals caught up in the justice system. He is expected to graduate with LLB and BBioMedSc from The University of Notre Dame Australia, in 2023. He plans to graduate with First Class Honours in Law, in 2023. Subsequently, he plans to be admitted into the LLM at Harvard Law School, in 2024. Tom further works as an Autism Consultant at Savannah Legal Barristers & Solicitors, advising on autistic offenders, and assisting in obtaining tailored, non-custodial sentences. He has a keen interest in litigation, governance, human rights law, intellectual property law, criminal law, banking and finance law, and genetics/neuroscience.I often wondered how many people in the prison system struggle with autism and do not know it.  I have always felt based on my own experience in having to pay out of pocket for mental health care.  If I did not have the resources to get answers what would have happened if I had ended up in the criminal justice system.  (VIDEO – 30 mins) Tom Oliver is a TEDx Speaker and Global leader on autistic individuals caught up in the justice system. He is expected to graduate with LLB and BBioMedSc from The University of Notre Dame Australia, in 2023. He plans to graduate with First Class Honours in Law, in 2023. Subsequently, he plans to be admitted into the LLM at Harvard Law School, in 2024. Tom further works as an Autism Consultant at Savannah Legal Barristers & Solicitors, advising on autistic offenders, and assisting in obtaining tailored, non-custodial sentences. He has a keen interest in litigation, governance, human rights law, intellectual property law, criminal law, banking and finance law, and genetics/neuroscience.

In his spare time, Tom mentors fellow autistic youths across Western Australia. He also speaks at global events/seminars/webinars, advocating for autistic individuals caught up in our justice system, and in gaining employment, through: TED; the Institute of Neurodiversity; CoderDojo; The Business of Autism; IBM’s Neurodiversity Celebration Month as Keynote Speaker; Visa; Asda; Tesco; Hogan Lovells; Rolls-Royce; radio stations (89.7fm); Engaging Education; the Western Australian Association of Teacher Assistants Inc. (WAATA); People with Disabilities WA (PWdWA); The Annual Summit on Autism Expo; and The Law Society of Western Australia.

To find out more about Tom’s work, visit: https://tomoliver.biz/ 

His TED Talk can be seen here: https://youtu.be/i_j5jOadcVc  

Researchers, advocates rush to aid autistic Ukrainians

Posted on by Gregory Wood

by Laura Dattaro

Starting over: A child who fled Ukraine with her family attends school in Romania. The war in Ukraine has displaced millions of children, including those with autism, who now need services in unfamiliar countries. Andreea Campeanu / Getty Images

Two months ago, a two-story peach-colored building with a playground housed a kindergarten for 30 autistic children in Kyiv, Ukraine. But since Russia attacked the country on 24 February, the structure has served instead as a shelter, with the families who once received therapy and an education there — and the therapists themselves — now taking advantage of its secure basement, kitchen and food storage. All autism-related services, save for a few online sessions, have stopped. (For the group’s safety, Spectrum is not naming the center.)

The director of the foundation that runs the center, Iryna Sergiyenko, has pivoted too: Instead of running a school, she’s fielding requests from dozens of families with autistic children who need help and have, in many cases, fled Ukraine, as she has. Through messaging apps and a Facebook group she set up called ‘Ukraine autism HELP,’ Sergiyenko — who has an autistic younger brother — responds to a litany of common pleas: Will there be autism services where I am going? How do I explain why we left, and why my child’s father stayed behind? Are there any therapists who speak Ukrainian where I am?

She is one of many autism professionals scrambling to address the needs of Ukrainian autistic people whose lives have been upended. Across Europe and elsewhere, many have opened up their schools, connected families with therapists who speak Ukrainian, and collected medications and autism-friendly toys. They are raising money to support families or, like Sergiyenko, keep the lights on somewhere. One of the mothers Sergiyenko helped left for Bulgaria, noticed a lack of autism services there and immediately started organizing providers, with Sergiyenko’s support.

“That’s what we do,” Sergiyenko says. “We don’t like to sit still.”

“The biggest concern is that our kids really have fewer resources to cope, and in some cases lesser ability to understand what’s happening,” she says. Read more