Date & Venue:
Microsoft Teams (Online Meeting)
Key Highlights:
- Leadership & Membership Updates:
- Adrian Grant and Trevor Key elected as co-chairs unopposed.
- Amanda Dunn announced her departure from the Board; members expressed gratitude for her service.
- Board to review membership gaps and encourage new members to join.
- Working Group Updates:
- Diagnosis: Supported the development of clear autism pathways, improved waiting room policies, and provided input on Demand Avoidance Profiles. Aim to recruit more autistic individuals and carers into the group.
- Engagement: Website traffic growing, with 6,737 unique visitors in 2021. Newsletter issues fixed, and an additional 62 members added. Autism Norfolk Forums (ANF) restarted, with the next session focusing on PIP, DLA, and Welfare Rights.
- Workforce Development: Updated eLearning and in-person training, with five organizations now delivering autism training internally. Future plans include adding quizzes to assess learning.
- Employment: Early-stage development focused on compiling employment resources and identifying an Autism Employment Champion.
- Annual Review & Funding Allocation:
- Overview of 2021 achievements, including new working groups, ANF relaunch, and increased membership.
- Challenges include a lack of funding from health services and social media restrictions from NCC.
- NCC allocated £90k for the next two years; volunteer group to discuss best use of funds.
- Next Steps:
- Continue recruiting new members and expanding engagement.
- Plan ANF session on welfare rights and disability benefits.
- Develop training evaluation quizzes for workforce development.
- Review National Autism Strategy at the next Board meeting.
Next Meeting: 14 April 2022, Microsoft Teams.
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