Staff and people we support from Autism Together at the CANDDID conference in Chester

Last Friday, our Admissions Team and our Intervention & Assurance Team headed along to the Crowne Plaza Chester, accompanied by a group of people we support, to take part in a unique conference event.

The event was organised and run by CANDDID – the Centre for Autism, Neuro-Developmental Disorders, and Intellectual Disability – which brings together education, training, and research into these conditions.

The CANDDID Stakeholder Conference was open to Experts by Experience, families, and carers, and aimed to help develop research projects in areas that people with lived experience said were important to them. The focus of this year’s event was on growing older with intellectual disabilities.

Our staff were supporting members of our Meeting Together Forum and some of our Oliver McGowan experts. The group thoroughly enjoyed the day, attending three workshops, taking part in some group dancing, and enjoying a delicious lunch too!

Michael, one of the people we support who attended, said this about the event: “It was a good conference today, it went well, it gave a good understanding of work being done for autism and learning disabilities. Special services should recognise the needs of autism and all disabilities more. It was a nice lunch we all had.”

Admissions Manager Colette Griffiths added: “This is the third year that the Admissions Team has attended, and we continue to support CANDDID, their research, and development, as well as welcoming the research to help us continue in the development of our assessments.”

Plus, check out video interviews from the day with Clare and Jake!

You can find out more about CANDDID by visiting their website: https://www.canddid.nhs.uk/.