Bringing home autism awareness 

As part of ongoing efforts to bring back more information and resources from awareness campaigns and conferences, Connecting Horizons staff this week headed out to New Orleans for the Association for Behaviour Analysis International (ABAI) Autism Conference.

“It was a great time, there was lots of information to take in regarding autism, diagnoses, resources, new studies, what type of training courses there are, and funding sources,” said Connecting Horizons advocacy coordinator, Iris Phillips, who attended the conference along with Karoniénhawe Diabo.

“The information itself was very helpful, and there were so many things that we saw a difference in, as opposed to Canadian approaches to how they diagnose and do things in the world of advocating for autism.”

Phillips said it was particularly helpful to gather information and resources that will be of use to other organizations in Kahnawake, not just to Connecting Horizons.

“We learned a lot of key points about management and coaching of our behavioural techs, and what to look for,” she said. “That’s the kind of information that we took and that we’re looking to share with other entities, like Kahnawake Shakotiia'takehnhas Community Services (KSCS), and Assisted Living Services.”

The two also brought back a multitude of pamphlets and information about online courses, where advocates and workers from various community organizations can take classes at their own pace to improve their ability to help those in the community with autism.

The two-day conference was different from other conferences Connecting Horizons has attended in the past, Phillips said, because it focused heavily on the technical aspects of coordinating autism care.

“It was quite an eye-opener, it was very technical, and it was very fast-paced,” she said.

Other conferences in the past - such as the recent Indigenous Disability and Wellness Gathering in British Columbia. last November - were Indigenous-focused, or had many attendees from the same area, whereas Diabo and Phillips were networking with brand new people for this event.

“In BC, we were all Indigenous, there were people with disabilities that were there, and they were included into conversations with what they had to say, but this was very different,” she said. “It was very clinical, I think there was only one person that I saw that had a disability, so it was mostly caregivers.”

Despite the change of pace from other conferences, Phillips said that she and Diabo still learned a great deal of information to share with others in the community.

“It was a very different vibe, but it was still very informative, and we’re looking forward to picking through our pamphlets and going over our notes to see what we can bring back as a teaching tool,” Phillips said.

Phillips and Diabo also had the chance to explore New Orleans during their trip, and visited a memorial erected for the 14 people who were killed in a truck attack in the early hours of the morning on New Year’s Day.

Connecting Horizons staff are hoping to share some of the information learned at an autism seminar, which they plan to host at some point in the next year.

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