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As we leave 2020 behind and look forward to a new year with new aspirations, we want to take this time to reflect on what we have achieved this year.
Here is a snapshot of our biggest achievements in 2020.
In February, Amaze launched Change Your Reactions, a new campaign that challenged people to consider their attitudes and behaviours towards autistic people. Developed in consultation with the autism community, this mass media campaign was funded by the Victorian Government and is Australia’s first public education campaign on autism. Change Your Reactions has recently been evaluated and found to be impactful on the general population and their attitudes, and highly praised by autistic people and their families who felt proud and validated.
Museums Victoria become an Amaze Inclusion Champion as part of a five year partnership. Through this partnership, Melbourne Museum, Scienceworks and the Immigration Museum worked with Amaze in becoming autism friendly museums. Social stories and sensory maps were developed for autistic visitors of all ages, including those within school groups. The Museums hosts special quiet days and quiet areas.
In March, Amaze moved into remote working with other Victorians. During this time, we regularly updated our community on COVID-19 measures through our Coronavirus Hub online. Our autism advisors and peer support team also continued supporting our community.
In April, we celebrated World Autism Acceptance Month with our #HoodieUp campaign for the second year in a row. As restrictions forced us to stay home, we did HoodieUp differently by inviting people to participate online. Amaze received videos and pictures submitted from autistic people and their communities from across Victoria.
In May, Amaze continued to meet regularly with the Department of Education, the Department of Health and Human Services and the National Disability Insurance Agency on how COVID was impacting autistic people. We also regularly checked in with our community and fed your experiences through to Government.
As students returned to school during in Term 2 in May, Amaze released six resources to help support autistic students and their parents/carers through the return.
In June, we teamed up with #ownvoices author Dr Anna Whateley to showcase her new Young Adult Book, Peta Lyre’s Rating Normal. Listen to our interview with Dr Anna as she talks about her book.
We also highlighted the debut novel of #ownvoices author Kay Kerr, called Please Don’t Hug me. Kay and fellow autistic writer Clem Bastow exchanged “letters” (emails) to celebrate the book’s release and discuss writing while autistic. Read the interview here.
In July, autistic advocate Chloe Hayden became Amaze’s first Facebook live guest. Chloe contacted Amaze and wanted to offer her support to autistic kids during lockdown. During her live session, Chloe shared advice on self-care during the coronavirus restrictions. You can watch this wonderful session here.
In August, Amaze and the Australian Autism Alliance made a submission to the Senate Select Committee on Autism and its inquiry into the services, support and life outcomes for autistic people. Our submission was informed by and amplified the voices of autistic people and their families who responded to our national survey. The submission made recommendations for significant reforms and called for the development of an Australian Autism Plan.
In September, Amaze released findings from our education survey seeking the experiences of learning from home during Term 3. Our Learning from Lockdown report received powerful feedback and revealed a high desire for families to be able to return to school. Amaze CEO Fiona Sharkie appeared before the Victorian Parliament to outline the impact that lockdown had on Victorian autistic students.
November was a big month for Amaze as we launched Autism Connect, Australia’s first national Autism Helpline. Amaze partnered with Marymead Autism Centre and Autism Tasmania to commence the national roll out. Autism Connect is now available in Victoria, the ACT and Tasmania, and will be available in all states by mid 2021.
Victorian also received news from State Government on the investment of $1.6 to make sure students with disability are supported in classrooms. Amaze shared this aspiration of Disability Inclusion: Education for all.
Amaze and the Australian Autism Alliance published a statement that opposed the Federal Government’s planned introduction of NDIA-mandated assessments.
Based on a comprehensive community survey conducted with our friends at Yellow Ladybugs, I CAN Network, Asperger’s Victoria and Different Journeys, Amaze made a submission to the Victorian Parliament’s inquiry into the experiences of students with disability at TAFE.
In December, Amaze welcomed news of the Victorian State Government announcing Australia’s first dedicated Autism Education Strategy. The strategy is one Amaze has advocated for since 2015, when we approached the Department of Education about the need to create a specific strategy for autistic students. Our aspiration is for all autistic people to be able to contribute to society in meaningful ways.
We consulted with autistic women and developed a guide support the challenges they may face understanding and communicating their mental health concerns. The Going to the GP about my mental health: A guide for autistic women resource provides a step-by-step guide on identifying any symptoms and ways to see a GP for a diagnosis.
Throughout the year, our team facilitated many events in the community:
This year, we have made eight policy submissions:
In addition to our public submissions, the policy team released two policy position papers on the experiences of autistic students as they navigated COVID lockdowns.