Stop Press- Conference Feedback

• There was widespread appreciation of the quality of the speakers and the usefulness of what they said.

• There was widespread dissatisfaction with the split site, and with the confusions of organisation, particularly in location and management.

• Everyone seemed to like the food.

• Olga and Tony in particular came in for very high praise.

• 34% of delegates were parents or were on the autism spectrum

• The morning coffee break was too rushed and crowded

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Welcome to Jelibean

This website is for parents of children who may need extra help in developing social awareness, children who may be diagnosed with autistic spectrum conditions, or those conditions which cluster round the spectrum, like AD/HD for instance.

We've developed a flexible social understanding program which we call Jacobs Ladder. Any of the tips and hints we include in our articles can be used at any time, and you're welcome to pick and mix, use what works, and throw the rest away!

Jacobs Ladder works on these principles

• We respect autistic intelligence and want to work with its strengths in a gentle, calm and loving way.
• We believe that spectrum children need to strengthen SELF, by a method that incorporates SYSTEM, so that they can feel SAFE.
• We use analogy, which we call TIPs - Talking in Pictures - and develop social intelligence by making comparisons between emotions and social behaviour and familiar objects within the child's own life and understanding.
• We accept that children on the spectrum need materials and technology to experiment with, rather than be taught by rigid behavioural instruction.
• We acknowledge that parents of spectrum children may have spectrum traits themselves which should also be respected.
• Where children may have less empathy than most, it's up to those of us who love them to use our own empathy to help them prosper and flourish.

Please enjoy the website, and if you want to, you can contact us. In time, we'll be available to talk to groups of parents and professionals.

For now, please wander here at your own pace, and climb the Ladder! And if you're wondering why this site calls itself jelibean - it's the Jacobs (Evans) Ladder Initiative. JELI. We like acronyms!

Debi and Barbara