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Hope Project - La Pilar Learning Centre - Kathy Sinnott
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Hope Project, the organisation of which I am secretary, is working to build La Pilar Learning Research and Training Centre. La Pilar will be a national one-stop shop for children experiencing developmental delay or difficulty. By bringing together the best in therapy, teaching, medical treatment and family support, we will be able to bring children through their developmental milestones and where possible normalise development so that the child can fly through their milestones unaided.

With an integrated facility and approach, we know we can make a difference for children. We hope to cater for any condition that is hindering a child. The challenge in dealing with children is that we must make the physical environment not just accessible but pleasant, fun and welcoming.

I am not qualified to help you understand the struggles and needs of every condition. I am a student of disability myself. I am learning but have so much more to learn. However, I do know a bit about Autism and Autistic Spectrum Disorders. I think it would be useful to share knowledge of some of the issues in the Spectrum. With a raging autism epidemic, it is certainly a condition that will affect your work in time.

ASDs are increasing at a terrifying rate. It is mathematical fact that if the increase in autism in the USA continues at the rate it has increased since 1985, and there is no reason to believe it won't, 1 in 7 American babies born in 2010 will develop full-blown autism. As a rule of thumb, for every 1 child who develops autism, 4 develop Aspergers Syndrome and 10 develop an Attention Deficit.

Design is always long term, so in the long term, we are all going to have to be ready to accommodate persons with ASDs. Autism is a design and accessibility challenge.

Autism is an autoimmune condition in which chronic infection or past infection affects brain function. The effect on brain function is to create a myriad of sensory, communication, social/relational, medical and behavioural difficulties. The symptoms are so varied from one person to another that diagnosis must be made by a cumulative score from several categories of behaviours. The symptoms also range on a continuum of severity: profound to mild autism. Beyond autism, we find a spectrum of disorders ranging from Aspergers Syndrome through ADD, ADHD to a myriad of specific learning, communication and behaviour difficulties. ASDs are related in biology but differ in degree of severity.

Kathy Sinnott is the secretary of the Hope Project and mother of Jamie who has autism.