12 days of Christmas Silent Auction

Wow your loved one with a really special gift this Christmas in our latest fundraising initiative. 

We have  teamed up with Crowdcomms, a leading global provider of silent auction technology, to offer 12 great items just in time for Christmas. The Crowdcomms silent auction platform, Galabid, offers a revolutionary way to bid by using your mobile phone, smartphone or tablet.

You have 12 days to bid and the auction ends at midnight Sunday 16 December.  Profits from the auction will help us to reach everyone living with autism in Scotland.

Silent auctions are a great way of helping us and getting an amazing present for a friend or loved one..so plese help us to help those living with autism in Scotland by going to our website, browsing the twelve auction items and making your bid..

Good luck and a very happy Christmas :-)

Here's a photo of just one of the auction items. A beautiful oil painting ' Enter the Storm', a dramatic seascape framed and mounted print (3' by 4') painted by Scott who we support in Dundee.(reserve price £50)

Reindeer Raffle in Langside

“Pinkwafer”, the home interiors and gift shop based in Langside, Glasgow has launched itself into the festive spirit and organised a “Reindeer Raffle” with proceeds going to Scottish Autism, Scotland’s autism charity.

The prizes are two stunning 55" wicker reindeers (to be won by two lucky people). The tickets cost £1.00 each and can be purchased at Pinkwafer, 36 Battlefield Road, Langside, G42 9QH, open from 9.30am to 5.30pm Mon-Fri, Sat 10am to 5pm, Sun 12 till 4

Tricia Dow, who opened Pinkwafer three years ago, says, “Scottish Autism is close to our hearts as my nephew has Asperger’s (an autism spectrum disorder). Langside is a close knit community and through chatting to and getting to know our customers we know there are many children with varying levels of autism in the area. I thought it would be a great way to raise the profile of autism and Scottish Autism in Langside.”

She continues, “This is the first time Pinkwafer has held a raffle since we opened our doors three years ago. Tickets are only £1 each, and it would be great if everyone could even buy just one to help us help people with autism in our area.”

Tricia – whose nephew is called Andrew - has decided to hold the draw on St Andrews Day (30th November 2012) at midday.

For further details please call 01259 720044 or go to www.scottishautism.org/news.



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Right Click to a great new service from Scottish Autism

Sometimes being a member does bring extra benefits worth having! Especially when its valuable help and advice you're looking for. Thats why now is a great time to be a Scottish Autism member. We've just launched our new on line advice and help service, only available to our members. Right Click is a web-based programme which draws on the experience of our Autism Support Team and other professionals. It features over 50 videos and additional support materials, giving advice on a range of ASD related issues.

At the click of a mouse, all of this becomes available to parents and carers seeking help and advice. It's a truly innovative service fit for the 21st century digital age in which we live. Charlene Tait, Development Director of Scottish Autism, said of the new service: “We are very excited about this new, innovative means of delivering support to parents. Right Click captures our knowledge and experience in managing some of the challenging issues presented to families of young people with autism and makes it accessible to parents to absorb in their own time, at their own pace and at a modest cost. Thanks must go to Azzurri Communications Ltd who provided a generous donation which allowed us to develop this new programme.”

The service has been piloted with some service users already. Mechele from Renfrewshire, who has a son with autism, participated in the Right Click pilot programme. She said: “Autism is such a huge concept for any mum, dad or sibling to comprehend so having access to this type of support and guidance felt reassuring and comforting.”
“The specific areas which this programme addresses can be very difficult for parents of children with ASD to manage - it’s therefore great to get a professional and experienced perspective which will certainly benefit families like mine in future.”

The service works over a five week programme. Delivered over this five week period, Right Click will cover the key topics which are most frequently raised via our advice line. There is a dedicated programme for young children and another for teenagers. Topics covered include eating issues, toileting, sleep problems, developing skills for independent living and handling relationships. New content is released each week for four weeks allowing for revision of the materials in the fifth week.  Parents are also assigned their own autism advisor who can be contacted to answer questions, provide clarification and give more individually-tailored advice.

So, if you think this will help your family, why not join up now.. details on how to do this can be found here

Let's get pampered !!

Here is the press release for one of our upcoming events. It promises to be a wonderfully relaxing and enjoyable evening. Tickets will fly out so get yours whilst you can...details below.

Scottish Autism is inviting you to an evening of pampering pleasures!

The charity is hosting the evening of pampering delights at Gean House Hotel, Alloa on Thursday, November 1st

Relax with the girls in the opulent surroundings of Gean House, Alloa, indulge in the many beauty treatments on offer and enjoy splurging on a variety of gifts from local craft makers and suppliers.

Tickets cost £10 per person and include a glass of sparkling wine, a scrumptious cupcake and entry to the raffle.

Treatments on the night are £5 each and include manicures, pedicures, head, neck and shoulder massages, hair styling and much more, as well as a special photo booth provided on the night to capture memories to remember!

The evening starts at 6pm until 9pm with extra refreshments and nibbles available from Gean House’s Lounge Bar.

Tickets are available by contacting 01259 720044 or fundraising@scottishautism.org


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BAAGS awarded funding from the Scottish Autism Development Fund..

Borders Autism and Asperger's Group Support ( BAAGS)  are delighted and honoured to have been awarded £14,500 from the Scottish Autism Development Fund.  This money will be used to set up and run an Employment Transition Project which will bring highlight the positive attributes a person with Autism can bring to the Employment section of their lives.  We will be inviting all employers and potential employers to attend a series of events to highlight the positivities of Autistic people and how they can become valuable employees and colleagues. Here is some more information from their press release....

Employment and Transitions Project

The aim of BAAGS is to bring together employers, employment agencies, volunteer agencies, supporting agencies and potential employers to show them the skills and abilities which persons with an Autistic Condition can bring to the working environment that can be positive, helpful and insightful.

We would like to encourage all business people – regardless of size of work force, type of business or location of business – to consider employing a person who has Autism to join them. 

Employment includes voluntary employment, full-time hours, part-time hours, night shift, day shift, twilight shift, in-doors, out-doors, light labour, heavy labour, computing, retailing, designing, planning, administrating, supporting, advising,…… the list is endless, the opportunities are endless.

We shall be inviting employers and potential employers to seminars which will offer a short presentation highlighting the statistics of unemployment currently held by adults with Autism, and the skills and expertise which those adults could be offering to the wide range of business opportunities there are across the Scottish Borders.
The Seminars will be an ideal opportunity for managers, staff, directors, owners and executives to network their own businesses and to meet with people who can offer support, guidance and suggestions on how valuable an Autistic person can be to their company for continued success.

We are encouraging all adults with Autism who have an interest/wish to enter employment to contact us so we can learn their skills, their interests and their ideas which we can share with those employers.

We will also be encouraging the existing employment supporting agencies and organisations to come to the Seminars so they can highlight their expertise and share how they would be able to offer on-going support to an Autistic person in the workplace if support were required.

So...if you live in the borders, why not get in touch with BAAGS? they can be contacted on 01896 668961 or by email at baagsmail@yahoo.co.uk

And check out their website at www.baags.co.uk

Stephen Innes to Perform at Masquerade Party Night

Rising singing sensation Stephen Innes is to perform at the Masquerade Party Night on Friday 9 November, 7pm-12pm at the Hilton Hotel, Dundee. There will also be live music, disco provided by Wave 102 and great auction and raffle prizes.

Stephen, 17 from Inverurie, has supported girl band The Saturdays and Sandi Thom. He has also played at Fyvie Live where he proved to be a huge hit.

The Masquerade Party Night is a joint fundraising event for Dundee charity, Help for Kids and Scotland’s autism charity, Scottish Autism, to raise much-needed funds to help local families.

The ticket price (£25) includes a welcome drink, hot buffet, half bottle of wine per person and the chance to win a mystery prize. Book 10 tickets for a discount: £225. Utopia Costumes in Dundee are offering a 10% discount for all party goers (please quote “Masquerade Party Night”). Tickets are on sale at the Overgate Customer Service Desk or from 01259 720044.


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Tune In...the Headphones!

Here we have Raff, front man with the OK Social Club, one of the bands appearing at next month's Tune In to Autism gig at the Voodoo Rooms in Edinburgh. As you can see, he's sporting the rather natty Tune In to Autism headphones. You can read the interview he gave to Tune In to Autism, ahead of next month's gig here

You can follow the fortunes of the OK Social club over on Facebook by following this link