Kent Artistic Spectrum newsletter 8

Advocacy for All

bigger voices – better lives Speaking Up Groups in Kent

Our News

October 2017

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issue 8

interview with Ramon This photograph was taken of Ramon inside G-BOAC last 29th August 2017 at Manchester Airport ‘s Runway Park.

The photo was taken of me by the Concorde Tour Guide I had planned to do this beforehand, after seeing a photo of Chief Test Pilot, Brian Trubshaw, sitting in the same seat , in both this aircraft, 2-04 (Jan 1975) and, beforehand, the British Assembled prototype 002 (Apr 1969) with my body turned the same way, facing the camera.

How did you become interested in Concorde?

Well, as a 4 year old I remember sitting down at our black and white rental TV and watching a special Live BBC programme on the First Flight of 002, taking off from Filton, near Bristol, to land at RAF Fairford, Gloucestershire on the 9th April 1969.

When you travel alone for something like how do you manage your journey?

I managed the journey to Manchester by air and considering all the 'flying' that I have done since Christmas 1969, I had yet to make an 'internal' flight inside my country - the UK. I intended to remedy this here! I love flying in Commercial Airplanes, especially experiencing the take-offs and landings, taking photos from the windows, but I do not like travelling, be it by car, rail or airplane to places that are 'beyond' my 'comfort zone'. I have to work and think 'overtime' to stay calm– but I do it for the end objective.

How do you cope with the stress of travelling?

There is no stress in flying for me , however, since route flying is the passion of my life .I plan it beforehand. As always, any visits that I make that are 'outside' of my comfort zone, which is beyond Tonbridge, Sevenoaks and Maidstone. These journeys are always stressful for me as a person on the Autistic Spectrum, albeit on the high end of it. I always worry of what 'might happen' beforehand.

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trip to see Concorde It’s like a sort of stage fright that I suffer from.

Did your visit to see Concorde live up to your expectations?

Yes, the day did live up to expectations - very much so! To be able to walk around, under and inside this piece of historic, technical machinery is quite something for me - very impressive to do. Just being there where human technological history was made, in this case, the first , of the seven strong BA fleet of operational Concorde aircraft that saw passenger service in January 1976 Did anything go wrong and if so how did you manage it?

The only nasty surprise was on the return, when I put the Camera SD Card into my Laptop with me and lost all of the photos and videos of the initial visit. The photograph of me in the cockpit was taken on a second Journey one month later. So I thought, how can I do some different images that I had not done before? I thus planed it before in my minds eye, then memorised it for the day to carry out . I also solved the problem that caused me to lose the SD data– a USB cable transfer and I did it right there , demonstrating that I can overcome adversity and resolve life's problems

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Folkestone Triennial The Folkestone Triennial is a contemporary art exhibition that is held every 3 years in the Kent seaside town. It was first held in 2008, so 2017 is the 4th such exhibition. This year’s Triennial features works from 20 major international artists, including Antony Gormley, David Shrigley and 2017 Turner Prize nominee Lubaina Himid. A number of the exhibits from the trio of previous Triennials became permanent exhibitions, so these can still be seen throughout the town - including works by Tracey Emin, Mark Wallinger and Yoko Ono.

A threesome from the Gravesend autism speaking up group headed to Folkestone on a beautiful, sunny, September day. We started at Folkestone Central station, where we were able to pick up a map showing where all the exhibits were located, and also spot our first couple of pieces. We then zigzagged our way into and through the town centre, taking photographs and ticking off further pieces on the way. We stopped for ice creams at the wonderful La Casa Del Bello Gelato.

We then reached the seaside and walked westbound along the Leas as far as the Martello Tower. We turned around, and retraced our steps until we could pick up one of the zigzag paths which led down to the beach, and walked alongside the beach towards the harbour. Most of the exhibits are outside, so they are able to be viewed at any time of day. We reached the harbour just after 5pm, and disappointingly found out that viewing of the Antony Gormley statue located there had closed for the day. Due to its slippery

location, it was only available for viewing between 10am and 5pm, whilst a member of staff was present.

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By this time, we had already been walking for several hours in the sun. The light was fading, so we needed to move quickly if we wanted to catch a final few exhibits before it got too dark. We walked around the harbour and on to the Coronation Parade – where we were able to see the other Antony Gormley statue. There was then time for a brisk walk up the East Cliff path to visit a couple more exhibits and the Martello tower daubed with the slogan “Folkestone is an art school”.

Overall, it had been a fantastic day trip. Wandering around a photogenic town, on a glorious day, admiring the works of the many talented artists. There was a great variety in the art. Ranging from brightly coloured, one-third size homes (Richard Woods) to small sculptures made from sea shells (Amalia Pica) to a collection of ladders (Yoko Ono). As well as a few pieces that we couldn’t work out whether they were part of the exhibition or not. We ended the day by getting fish and chips from a local restaurant, before heading home.

Photos and words by a Gravesend group member Group members from East Kent went along too on another occasion.

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applying for benefits No one finds filling in forms easy. If you are filling in forms for benefits our groups have the following helpful suggestions.

The most important thing is don’t hide away and worry on your own. Tell people and get help. Talk to Carol or Will who can direct you to specialist sources of support and advice.

some sources of support completing forms Kent Autistic Trust Part of the role of the family support officer is to help people apply for benefits.

Citizens Advice Bureau Online advice filling Employment and Support Allowance (ESA) and Personal independence.

National Autistic society Produce benefit guides

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thinking about the questions If you are answering a question for either PIP or ESA you need to have someone to help who knows you or someone who understands Asperger's’ syndrome. This person will help you give full clear answers to questions . This will give a true picture of how your condition affects you. They can look at each question in turn with you and help you by asking you about : The help you need 1.

Why you need help

2.

How someone helps you

3.

How often they help you

What happens if you don’t get help They should make it clear if you need help and don’t get it.

They should talk to you about what happens if you do not get help. You might

1.

You end up not going out and feeling isolated.

2.

You end up eating a sandwich rather than a hot meal .

3.

You misunderstand an important instruction

Time They should also ask you about time. Does it take longer for you to do things and explain if things are slower on a bad day.

Good and bad days They can explore with you good and bad days .

1.

How often do you have bad days

2.

How do your difficulties differ on good or bad days

Always assume that the person reading your form has not heard of Asperger's Syndrome so each time you answer a question use a phrase to remind them of your condition. I have Asperger's syndrome in my case this means ...

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art workshop in Canterbury The peer support project ran a successful art exhibition in April. Since then we have set up a monthly art workshop in Canterbury.

The workshop is a creative space where people can work together and share ideas and skills.

Each workshop has a theme of a famous artist but this is optional. People can work on anything they want to.

Some of the themes we have done are; street art, Kandinsky, Picasso and Matisse.

We are working together with Espression art café who support the group with studio space and art materials.

Espression arts organise a range of artistic events for people of all ages. More information can be found at—www.espression.co.uk or you can call— 01227765665 8

building design focus group Kent council are planning to build flats specifically for people on the autistic spectrum. At the moment the project is in the design stage. We organised a focus group so people on the spectrum and the designers could share their ideas towards making the flats as suitable as possible.

People said— ‘Sensory issues are really important. We (people on spectrum) do not usually have mental filters to keep out sensory info.

Your home becomes really important and is a vital retreat. It is a haven away from chaos outside.’ - Group member ‘These contributions are immensely helpful. Its great to know what people would and would not want in accommodation.—Member of design team We are doing another focus group for women to get a female perspective.

Please let Will or Carol know if you like to get involved!

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Ceramic Painting in Canterbury I have been attending the peer support group in Folkestone for nearly a year now. We meet once a month in order to share experiences of ASD and discuss various pre-planned topics, as well as having informal chats over a cup of tea.

Advocacy for All also arranges different events during the month for all group members to attend, if they wish, and recently we went to a ceramic painting session in Folkestone. We arrived at the studio and found a quiet table and the studio guide explained how it worked. We would each purchase a piece of "bisque", I believe it is called, which is plain, unvarnished pottery; it was a difficult choice - go for something which would be a) easy to paint, b) quick to paint, c) useful, d) ornamental? I decided in the end that as my birthday was coming I would splash out a bit and go for a small teapot - quite ambitious, but I liked the shape, and at least I would be able to put it to good use once it was finished.

The paints were in small bottles in the middle of each table, and you selected brushes from a nearby tray. There was a numbered colour chart next to them, and each pot was numbered in a similar way so it was easy to find the right one.

Hot drinks and cakes were available to buy, but I decided that I couldn't eat and paint at the same time, and was worried I might spill a hot drink on my pottery.

Time flew past as I decorated my teapot; I had chosen to do a blue and white Zentangle design, which would match other china I have at home. The 10

finished and left, but I was still going. Luckily the studio was open until late, so I just about had enough time to finish. We were advised that in order to achieve the colour on the chart, 3 coats were required. I didn't manage that many, and hoped it would still look nice once it had been fired.

A week or so later I received a text to say that my teapot was ready - the studio owner had fired it again to set the colours and then varnished it. I was nervous - had I applied enough paint? Had I rushed it too much at the end? Had I mixed too much black into the blue to make dark blue?

The owner brought it out and said something like "it looks terrible". I wasn't sure whether he meant it or not, so just humoured him. When he unwrapped it I couldn't believe my eyes - it looked just as I had planned, the colours were perfect and not too light! He was actually impressed after all.

It now takes pride of place in my willow pattern display cabinet. A very enjoyable afternoon, and lovely to have something to keep. I'm already planning my next one. Many thanks to Advocacy for All for organising the event, and introducing me to a nice place to hang out right in my back yard.

Alix

Advocacy for All staff news In October Yaninka left her role as groups manager.

Tracy will is the new groups manager.

Thanks to Yaninka for her hard work over the last sixteen years and welcome to Tracy.

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Poetry Wonderful

This is a poem by Matthew Dunn. He is based in Thanet and has recently published a new poetry collection with art work.

The room goes quiet; It’s lovely, deep and dark Gossip sits in silence as I sit next to my feelings

The new book is called Sculptured thoughts and is available in Amazon and other shops.

Without losing my temper I see their true colours.

Inside turns outside.

My self-confidence has quite The sense of humour.

My emotions find the thoughts at exactly the right time.

It’s truly wonderful.

contact us Will Pook, East Kent tel: 07702 252 805 email: will.pook@advocacyforall.org.uk

Carol Detnon, West Kent tel: 07715 068 948 email: carol.detnon@advocacyforall.org.uk 12