Autism Association of WA 2020 Annual Report

COVID-19 has dramatically changed the lives of every Australian, but it did not change the Autism Association’s mission and our day-to-day work to support people with Autism and their families. COVID-19

Despite the challenges of the last year, COVID-19 did not stop the essential services that the Autism Association provides. It simply required us to adapt and change the way we deliver these services. The pandemic was extremely difficult for people with Autism and their families, with changes to routines and the uncertainty around how COVID-19 would affect the day-to-day lives of family members. We are delighted to report that we kept all of our services open and made the necessary service adaptations. This was undertaken with good safety planning and adhering strictly to government guidelines. Throughout this period the initiatives we undertook include: • The establishment of a Pandemic Response Team that oversees the planning and response to issues as they arise. • Implementation of new ways of working through remote processes including more agile ways of working and virtual communication. • Early Intervention services continued to run from all our centres with changes to how the program was delivered. • Our specialist groups, home and school therapy, were replaced with one-on- one therapy sessions with a therapist under strict safety protocols. • We implemented therapy services and consultancy services online through our teletherapy video conferencing platform. • All Community Living services operated fully as usual with additional measures in place for safety and support related to COVID-19. • We moved services online including our weekly parent support groups, our social skills therapy groups, and our parent training. • Our therapy team prepared a huge selection of great resources including videos and social stories that supported families with transitions during this period.

Autism Association of Western Australia - Annual Report 2020

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