Autism Cook Islands hosted their second ‘Getting to Know Autism’ workshop at the Celebration Church on Monday – an event met with an outstanding response from the public and participants.

The organisation welcomed a crowd of nearly 80, topping their first workshop in which they presented to 50 people.

The event was approved by Te Marae Ora and observed all the level two requirements, including signing and tagging in, either manually or through the use of CookSafe cards.

Hand sanitizing and social distancing was also put in place.

Kat Jensen, programme manager for ACI said that if it wasn’t for Level 2 restrictions, they might have easily accommodated a crowd of 100.

The workshop was centered around the topic of ‘Managing Behaviour,’ in which a mix of presenters shared and spoke on different approaches to managing the behaviour of an autistic child.

Some of the presenters were families and parents of autistic children, so their firsthand experience proved valuable to those who gathered to become more informed of the condition.

A fantastic turnout from parents, families, teachers, and even representatives from the Pa Enua contributed to the night’s success.

“It was awesome this time to see so much representation from almost every school around the island as well as a few people from the Pa Enua so keen to learn and grow their awareness,” Jensen said.

Andre Hansen from the Ministry of Education led the presentations, speaking on managing behavior.

A video was presented featuring seven families of autistic children sharing and speaking on their experience living with an autistic child, and how other families may be helped by these experiences.

One family shared about how they were able to help their son understand his emotions, another shared on their difficulties, and balancing their full time jobs and their two autistic sons.

The video featured children of various ages and how each of their families had managed their behavior over the years.

“The fact that every age range on the spectrum was covered meant that everyone was able to have at least one takeaway by the end of the night on how to manage behavior,” Jensen said.

Gloria Rarere-Tinirau, president of ACI presented on communication passports which are small profile cards that can be used in any new environment an autistic child is introduced to.

The communication passports could help a new teacher, family member, or friend understand what kind of things a child needs, likes and dislikes, which could help to enhance the understanding of not only the child, but autism as a whole.

Katrina Matheson, parent and executive member of ACI presented on toileting, Donna Smith, occupational therapist for ACI, presented on structure and routine and Hansen presented on zones of regulation and how to keep your child in the “green positive zone”, and out of the “red negative zone”.

There was a questions and answers session held at the end of the workshop in which participants engaged in asking questions about everything they had witnessed.

Feedback sheets were also given out in which the answers will determine the topics which will be presented at the next workshop.

“We are definitely looking forward to hosting another one hopefully before the year ends,” Jensen said.