27 November 2018 – In our last readership survey, 85 per cent of you told us the articles you most liked to read in our Journal were personal perspectives, writes national manager Catherine Trezona.

In this Journal, Issue 3 2018, you will find many articles, by autistics, for autistics.

Those who have contributed their stories have bravely shared inspiring and at times harrowing accounts of their journeys.

Many thanks to all the writers and artists who are featured in this Journal. A big shout out to two of our youngest contributors, Jonathon Squirrell for the artwork on the front cover, and also to Sebastien Rappley for the excellent infographic explaining how he experiences meltdowns. If you or someone you know would like to see their artwork in future editions of the Journal, please send us a sample of your work.

We’re delighted to share some of the creations that were exhibited at iNDx Exhibition in Dunedin recently. Congratulations to Tanea Paterson and her team who organised this display of autistic talent.

We recently worked with Brian, Betty and Roman Pulefolau, to establish the Pasifika Autism Support Group (PASG) in the greater Wellington region. The intention is to base it on the very successful South Auckland group, founded by Brian and Betty. We’ve met with several Pasifika leaders in the Porirua region and appreciate their contributions made to advance this goal. More about this will follow.

NETWORKING: Sharyn Heathcote, Parent to Parent administrator, Wellington, Trisha Lealiifano-Mariota, community advisor, Victoria University, Siaosi Anamani, Vaka Tautua, Wellington Disability Information and Advisory Services (DIAS) team, Faye Seumanutafa, Vaka Tautua, Wellington DIAS team, Rosie Macleod, Sue Trueman, Parent to Parent regional coordinator, Wellington, Betty Kolose-Pulefolau, co-founder Pasifika Autism Support Group.

Have you explored our new website? We are very grateful to those who helped us redesign it and please give us feedback so we can continually improve.

Remember all our Journal articles are available to read and print from our website, so check them out there and share with your people.

You can now contact us for trusted information in real time by our new Live Chat. Go to any page on our website and look for the orange icon on the bottom left of each page. When you click on this orange icon and post a message, this is read by one of our live chat agents. Your chat is anonymous. You can ask us anything you like and if we can’t answer you straight away, we will find out the information and get back to you. So now if you have an information request, you can contact us by live chat, email, our website or by phone.

I am delighted to introduce you to Jane Bawden, the new chief executive at Parent to Parent, our sister organisation. Jane started in her new role in September and is a lawyer by background, with over 20 years’ experience in the disability community and the health sector, in a range of advisory and governance roles including the boards of Standards and Monitoring Service (SAMS) and Spectrum Care. Her son Hugh was diagnosed when he was three with autism and a chromosomal disorder. Hugh has recently finished five very happy years at his local high school and has embarked on a good life.

Jane and our governance team are already working closely on the future vision and strategic goals for Altogether Autism, and I greatly appreciate the experience she brings.

Although this is our last Journal for 2018, we are now sharing regular updates and news by email. If you are not on our mailing list, please go to our website and subscribe.

Me te mihi nui / In appreciation,

• Catherine Trezona is national manager of Altogether Autism