What struck me though was that everyone in that room, which I'm guessing was about 200, was there because they already had an interest in Autism, or it had touched their lives in some way, whether they were a teacher, LSA or a therapist. There were also many parents there too.
The thing is, as I sat there, a lot of it information that I have heard before, it occurred to me that the people who needed to hear a lot of what was being said, were not in the room. More than likely, they have never heard of Tony Attwood or Michelle Garnett and had no idea this course was even on.
These are the teachers who are still in the schools who have no flexibility of thought that perhaps the way that they view the world may not be everyone's experience of the world, and that is so much bigger than autism! That's with so many variables, even down to whether you are female or male.
They are the parents of children who are neurotypical, who have not ever had any direct experience with the child in their kids class that's the one who's always getting into trouble, or is doing odd or weird things.
These are the family members who dispute a diagnosis instead of finding out about it, coming alongside your family member and helping them navigate a really tricky road without the presumption that they know better.
I hope that as we use growth mindset tools in our schools that this trickles out to the adults of the world who are stuck in one-dimensional thinking, that the way they experience the world is the only way.
Because, when we take a little time to peel back the layers, we find that there is always room to learn, grow, make mistakes and learn to apologise along the way,
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