Interview with Steve Dixon from Sycamore Trust
The clocks have sprung forward, the sun is shining, and Easter is just around the corner. 29 March-4 April is also Autism Awareness Week, and to recognise this we spoke to Steve Dixon, Marketing and Communications Manager at the Sycamore Trust. The Sycamore Trust is being funded by the Mayor’s Young Londoners Fund to offer a range of specialised services to support families, empower individuals, and educate the community about neuro diversity.
Q- Steve what is the Sycamore Trust doing this year for Autism Awareness Week?
A- This year is a bit different with the pandemic, we usually do a fundraising event called Dare to be Different. This involves people wearing fancy dress to school or their workplace to stand out. This is because it is the experience that autistic people have every day, they are noticed and get looked at for being different.
This year we are continuing to put autism in the public eye with Step up for Sycamore where local people are, walking and running to fundraise for us. We’ve even had support from one of our clients who has decided to walk 90 miles in three days for us, which is incredible!
Q- Do you have any tips for those of us working with neuro-diverse young people?
A- It’s really important that we don’t treat them as different or ostracise them. Everyone learns at different speeds and young people with autism are no different. They can often feel left out, so getting to know them and not assuming one size fits all for what they need is important.
- Use role models in the public eye like Chris Packham and Talia from Hollyoaks to show how different and talented people with autism are.
- Seek awareness training, like that provided by the Sycamore Trust.
- Have Autism Ambassadors, including people who have someone with autism in their family, as that first-hand knowledge and experience can really help.
Q- How have the young people you work with responded to doing things digitally during the pandemic?
A- All the young people we work with have different needs. For some engaging digitally has been more accessible. We were thinking about the transition back to ‘normal’ life after the pandemic, which is a concern as being at home can be easier for some people living with autism. So it was paramount to continue with all our services to help young people learn and adapt. We got them to contribute to our newsletters with what they had been up to. We had some young people really taking an interest in writing short stories, which we might never have known about. We also wanted to continue building life skills and got young people to plan travel routes across the city, as well as participating in activities like spotting things in the local park and reporting their findings back.
It was wonderful to interview Steve, his insight and passion for supporting the autistic community also comes from his experience of helping a family member with autism. He spoke about their challenges trying to fit in and how we can support them.
We must not overlook people with disabilities that can’t always be seen and must offer long term support as autism is a lifelong condition.
We will be posting resources and tips for working with neurodiverse groups on the YLF community this week, and you can learn more about how to support those with Autistic Spectrum Disorders and Learning Difficulties from the Sycamore Trust as well as how you can fundraise for them with Step up for Sycamore during Autism Awareness Week 2021.