About the Conference
When the idea to have a conference on autism research first occurred it was a curious one....would it work?, were there enough people working in the field who would want to attend.. nay present..for no fee, and would have to pay their own way to boot..??? It was novel concept, come and speak about research work still being undertaken...let peers comment and contribute, and engage in the possibility of international collaboration in new ideas in the subject.
It was certainly different but something that we believed should happen to advance the work in the field - it was about making the future a more positive open one for the people with autism not the intellectual property and the ego of researchers.
So in 1988 there was a 'call for papers' for presenters to take part in a fledgling conference taking place April 1989. We, the organisers, were stunned by the interest shown and the numbers of people wishing to participate, the eminence of those offering to speak and the fact that so many disciplines were represented. There was so much information to share that the presentations continued until 9.30pm on that first evening!
We worked hard and played even harder. Scientific debates continued on the evenings and occurred between beers, wines and enthusiastic dancing prowess! So the format was established and each subsequent year up to 100 delegates (more on occasion) came from all over the world to share knowledge, experiences, ideas and friendships. New and controversial initiatives were introduced to the world.
Yes this really was a quarter of a century ago and we now have the opportunity to meet once again to see what has been achieved, where we are heading and all the other important news from our lives.
For our conference in 2014 we are located at Collingwood College, University of Durham. Proceedings will start at 10am on Tuesday 15th April and conclude at 2.30pm on Wednesday 16th April and will see a total of 16 presentations from eminent autism professionals working around the world. There will be a special conference dinner dance too to ensure the very social and friendly tradition of the conference remains as strong as always! Please join us.....
Next : Programme
It was certainly different but something that we believed should happen to advance the work in the field - it was about making the future a more positive open one for the people with autism not the intellectual property and the ego of researchers.
So in 1988 there was a 'call for papers' for presenters to take part in a fledgling conference taking place April 1989. We, the organisers, were stunned by the interest shown and the numbers of people wishing to participate, the eminence of those offering to speak and the fact that so many disciplines were represented. There was so much information to share that the presentations continued until 9.30pm on that first evening!
We worked hard and played even harder. Scientific debates continued on the evenings and occurred between beers, wines and enthusiastic dancing prowess! So the format was established and each subsequent year up to 100 delegates (more on occasion) came from all over the world to share knowledge, experiences, ideas and friendships. New and controversial initiatives were introduced to the world.
Yes this really was a quarter of a century ago and we now have the opportunity to meet once again to see what has been achieved, where we are heading and all the other important news from our lives.
For our conference in 2014 we are located at Collingwood College, University of Durham. Proceedings will start at 10am on Tuesday 15th April and conclude at 2.30pm on Wednesday 16th April and will see a total of 16 presentations from eminent autism professionals working around the world. There will be a special conference dinner dance too to ensure the very social and friendly tradition of the conference remains as strong as always! Please join us.....
Next : Programme