I was privileged to attend a Tony Attwood workshop in Albury (NSW) last Friday, and as usual, I’ve come away recharged with more information, a sense of validation and renewed passion to continue in partner support!

I thought I might just pass on some helpful gems I captured during the workshop while they are fresh in my mind and I’m still processing them.  I find that every time I hear Tony he has further refined or deepened the information he is able to share, so it was great to get a top-up.

The focus of the workshop was children and teens, but I noticed that Tony and event organizer Sue Larkey (ASD Educator, www.suelarkey.com) made more frequent comments in relation to adults and relationships this time than previously which means that much more clinical experience with adults is now coming through.

Of course there’s too much to share, but some of the highlights were as follows:

Tony then talked about the Emotional Toolbox that he teaches on in each presentation.  Things like physical exercise/outlet, relaxation, writing poetry or music etc, time with pets, talking to someone safe, using solitude, meditation, massage, sleep, special interest, reducing sensory overload, medication, etc that a person with AS can learn to use to repair their feelings and hopefully prevent meltdowns taking place.  (Helpful for us to use too!)  August 2014