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Visiting the Kent Countryside – a Guide for Parents of Children with Autism

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Visiting the Kent Countryside – a Guide for Parents of Children with Autism !"#"$%&'()*' +*%(',-.%(/0#"1* !"#$%&'"()*"+!*',-." )("/0%1&*',"2%-0"!$3.4 This booklet aims to help parents and carers of children with autism to access nature and the countryside in Kent. It should also prove useful to those living and working with adults with autism. The booklet represents the first in a series of projects to be undertaken by Autism and Nature, a new Social Enterprise. It begins by introducing some of the health benefits of nature and the countryside for children with autism. This is followed by a guide to ‘natural’ places to visit in the Kent countryside, which the authors believe many children with autism might enjoy. The booklet concludes with a series of case stories, describing visits to the countryside by school children with autism and related conditions. Supported by ISBN: 978-0-9571525-0-2 Published by David Blakesley and Simon Payne with illustrations by Tharada Blakesley !"#"$%&'()*' +*%(',-.%(/0#"1* !"#$%&'"()*"+!*',-." )("/0%1&*',"2%-0"!$3.4 David Blakesley and Simon Payne with illustrations by Tharada Blakesley ! Citation For bibliographic purposes, this book should be referred to as Blakesley, D. and Payne, S. 2012. Visiting the Kent Countryside – a guide for parents of children with autism. Autism and Nature, Kent. The rights of David Blakesley and Simon Payne to be identified as the Authors of this work have been asserted by them in accordance with the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988. Copyright © rests with the authors Illustrations © Tharada Blakesley; photographs © David Blakesley, unless stated in the text All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced in any form without prior permission of the authors First published 2012 British-Library-in-Publication Data A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library Designed by Pisces Publications Published by Autism and Nature Printed by Information Press ISBN 978-0-9571525-0-2 All reasonable efforts have been made by the authors to trace the copyright owners of the material quoted in this book and any images reproduced in this book. In the event that the authors or publishers are notified of any mistakes or omissions by copyright owners after publication of this book, the authors and the publishers will endeavour to rectify the position accordingly for any subsequent printing. Dr David Blakesley CEnv, MIEEM (Autism and Nature) is a writer, naturalist and parent. www.autismandnature.org.uk Simon Payne (National Autistic Society) is a parent and Head of Education at Broomhayes School and Children’s Centre, with 18 years experience working with children and young people with autism and Asperger’s syndrome Disclaimer The information presented in this book on behalf of the authors is believed to be accurate and correct, at the time of publication, but this cannot be guaranteed. We cannot be held responsible for any changes in access, or any damage which might result from visitors trespassing on private property. We recommend visitors to obtain maps of the areas, and to seek up to date information from the websites of the various landowners. Readers must take all appropriate steps to ensure health and safety of all users, and to follow their own health and safety policy. The authors issue this book without responsibility for accidents or damage as a result of its use or the implementation of any of the recommendations within this book. !! 2-%(*%(# Acknowledgements iv Preface v Part 1 Introduction 1 Part 2 Natural places to visit in Kent 5 Bough Beech Nature Reserve 6 Sevenoaks Wildlife Reserve 8 Knole Park 10 One Tree Hill 12 Ashenbank Wood 13 Manor Country Park 14 Bedgebury Pinetum 16 Blue Bell Hill 18 Tyland Barn 19 Northward Hill RSPB Reserve 20 Queendown Warren 22 Foal Hurst Wood 23 Hucking Estate 24 Dering Wood 26 Wye Downs NNR 28 Dungeness NNR 30 Dungeness RSPB Reserve 32 Blean Woods NNR 34 Brockhill Country Park 36 Stodmarsh NNR 38 Goodnestone Park Gardens 40 Samphire Hoe 42 Pines Garden 44 Educational Access and Care Farms 46 Part 3 Case stories 47 Further reading 58 !!! 3,4%-56*1&*7*%(# This project would not have been possible without the generous sponsorship and support of the following organisations: the National Autistic Society, Kent Autistic Trust, VisitWoods (Woodland Trust), Natural England, BTCV Kent, Woodlands.co.uk, Kent Downs AONB, Kent Wildlife Trust, Royal Society for the Protection of Birds (RSPB), Tree Biotechnology Group, Sensory Trust, Eden Project and Lord Sackville. We are indebted to Mary Draffin (National Autistic Society), Gail Graham (VisitWoods (Woodland Trust)), Sarah Preston (Natural England) and Jo Blamires (Kent Autistic Trust) for providing constructive comments on the booklet throughout the writing process. Many others have helped us by providing advice and information, or by reviewing sections of text. We would especially like to thank Katy Abson, Peter d’Aguilar (Forestry Commission), Sharon Bayne, Jennifer Bartlett (Sensory Trust), Peter Buckley, Joanna Carter (Natural England), Lady Fitzwalter (Goodnestone Park), Kate Hardwick (Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew), Amie Henry (BTCV Kent), Paul Holt (White Cliffs Countryside Project), Julie Hossack, Richard Irving (Kent Wildlife Trust), Tony Kendle (Eden Project), Diane Martin (Bay Trust), Andrew Powling (Portsmouth University), Clive Steward (Woodland Trust), Jane Stoneham (Sensory Trust), Michael Walter (RSPB), Tracy Waterman, Janet Watt (Woodland Trust), Gayle Wharton (VisitWoods (Woodland Trust)), Rolf Williams (RSPB) and Fiona Wilson. The case stories featured in Part 3 would not have been possible without the support of VisitWoods (Woodland Trust), Natural England and BTCV Kent. We would particularly like to thank the leaders of the countryside visits; Janet Watt, Viv Gaylor and Sarah Underhill of the Woodland Trust, Joanna Carter of Natural England and Amie Henry of BTCV Kent. We are also indebted to the teachers of Helen Allison School and The Tydeman Centre (The Malling School) for taking part in the countryside visits, and providing helpful comments and feedback. They are: Laura Dobinson, Hazel Fothergill, Christine Johnson and Jackie Ransley of Helen Allison School; and Nicole Bryceland, Yvonne Devine, Janys Fergusson, Paula Leyland, Claire Mills, Giles Whitehead and Jane Woodruff of The Tydeman Centre. And we would especially like to thank all of the children who participated in the various trips, and the parents who allowed their children to be photographed for the booklet. The distribution of this booklet would not have been possible without the support of Jo Blamires and the volunteers of the Kent Autistic Trust, and the support of Joanne Berry and Kent County Council SEN Team, to whom, we are very grateful. Finally, thanks are due again to the National Autistic Society for allowing Simon Payne to co-author this booklet. We would especially like to thank Tharada Blakesley for her inspired illustrations and Tone Blakesley for his valuable quotes, after visiting all of the locations featured in the booklet, on many occasions. We are indebted to Peter and Barbara Creed (Pisces Publications) for the design of the booklet and we would like to thank David Kjaer, who kindly provided wildlife photographs, and Karen Perham (Broomhayes School and Children’s Centre) for photographs of a pupil, all of which are acknowledged individually in the text. !" 8/*9:,* Why read this book? This booklet represents the first of a series of projects to be undertaken by Autism and Nature, a new social enterprise based in Kent. The booklet has been written primarily to help parents and carers of children with autism in Kent to access the natural environment. It should also prove useful to those living and working with adults with autism. In Part 1 we aim to demonstrate the health benefits of nature and the countryside for these individuals. In Part 2 we present a guide to ‘natural’ places to visit in the Kent countryside, which we believe many children with autism might enjoy. There are many places which we could have included, so selecting just 23 of our favourite sites has been a challenge. In our selection, we have tried to illustrate different types of localities which families might visit, including Woodland Trust woods, National Nature Reserves (NNR), RSPB Reserves, Country Parks, more formal gardens, local nature reserves, Kent Wildlife Trust reserves and so on. With the exception of Dungeness NNR, beaches are not featured in the booklet. In Part 3 we show some of the ways school children with autism and related conditions have enjoyed the Kent countryside. Six outings were arranged for children from the Helen Allison School and The Tydeman Centre (The Malling School). The visits were hosted and led by Joanna Carter (Community Outreach Advisor for Natural England), Janet Watt (Education Officer, Woodland Trust) and Amie Henry (BTCV Kent Heritage Trees Education Officer). Whilst the booklet does not set out to provide solutions to the many difficulties associated with autism, it does seek to provide appropriate information to make your visit to the places included in the booklet as relaxed and enjoyable as possible, so that the restorative benefits can be accessed by all. For some children and adults, there may be a need to make trips more structured and meaningful, for example, looking out for things whilst walking may provide many opportunities to communicate and develop a shared interest for the natural environment. We hope that the descriptions of each location will allow parents and carers to judge its suitability for their children. The photographs and illustrations are designed to make the locality look attractive to children, as some children with autism appreciate being shown pictures of their destination to prepare for their visit. One issue which we have been particularly concerned about is dogs, as some children with autism are wary of dogs, whilst a small minority of children might be terrified by them. Consequently, for each location, we indicate whether dogs are allowed, and if so, whether they are required to be kept on leads.
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