The event at the Narooma Golf Club was hosted by Positive Partnerships, an Australian Government initiative aimed at improving support for children with autism through the delivery of workshops and online resources for parents/carers, teachers and school leaders across Australia.

Participants came from communities from Mogo to Tura Beach.

The local World Autism Awareness Day event is part of a funding focus on community development in partnership with existing Aboriginal networks and is being supported in Narooma by Katungal Aboriginal Corporation Community and Medical Services.

The get-together coincided with another special Positive Partnerships event being hosted in Kamilaroi Country (Moree, northern NSW) to release a new animated storytelling resource that has been developed with Aboriginal people and organisations across Australia.

Called “Finding out about Kevin”, the video resource will be used at community get-togethers all over the country to support workshop style conversations, including with local schools and service providers. Participants at the Narooma get-together were the first group to use the resource.

The words “disability” and “autism” are not readily translated into traditional languages and, for many reasons, conversations about the impact of a child’s autism spectrum disorder diagnosis can be unfamiliar among many Aboriginal families and communities.

Find out more at www.positivepartnerships.com.au