Spoken

At David's and my last review meeting with the Disabilities Trust re our autistic daughter Naomi's care, I took the opportunity to interview Hollyrood manager Sue Stopa about adults with autism, and the autism specific care that the Disabilites Trust give to all it's residents that come into this catagory.

Sue and her fantastic staff have been a tremendous support to our family and we've seen how much Naomi has changed and the incredible quality of life she now has.

I first met Dick O'Donovan in March 2000 when David (my husband) and I were looking for an autsim specific residential home for our oldest daughter Naomi, who was in the process at that time of being diagnosed with being on the autistic spectrum. At that time he was manager of Hollyrood the Disabilities Trust's flagship autism specific residential home.

Dick has a tremdendous sense of humour which is quite wicked and is very much needed when you're dealing with the day to day problems with trouble shooting how to run an autism specific residential home successfully, especially for the Disabilities Trust.

He talks here about autism and how to care for the adult with autism.

Way back in 1999 I read Tony Attwood's first book on Aperger's Syndrome - then a very small slim line book. Fast forward ten years and we have a very new version in the form of The Complete Guide to Asperger's Syndrome - a much larger and much thicker book.

On Tuesday June 2ndand with great trepidation I called Tony at his parents house to do my first ever telephone interview. I needn't have worried at all because he was absolutely brilliant - answering my stuttering questions to perfection. What he had to say was truly fascinating and illuminating - enjoy.