About Yvonne Newbold
Mother; Author of The Special Parent’s Handbook; Speaker; Trainer; WHIS Ambassador, Autism, Learning Disabilities & Families; Advisor, NHS England Learning Disabilities & Autism; School for Change Agents Graduate 2017; PENNA Outstanding Contribution to Patient Experience Award 2016; LDT Learning Disability Champion Award 2015; HSJ Top 50 Inspirational Women in Healthcare Award 2014
Yvonne is the mother of three children, including Toby, a severely autistic, medically fragile and profoundly disabled young man who was never expected to reach adulthood, but who is now in his early 20s. A few days after his 18th birthday, however, Yvonne was diagnosed with bi-lateral breast cancer, and despite several months of gruelling treatment, it metastasized to her spine, and she was told that she had around two years to live. Yvonne immediately knew what her bucket list was going to be – she wanted to spend whatever time she had left in doing whatever she could to improve the lives of the next generation of children like Toby, and she has been doing so ever since. She is still on long term cancer treatment which seems to be working very well, she has already outlived her prognosis, and it’s now over five years since her diagnosis. Meanwhile she speaks at conferences, delivers workshops to parents and professionals, writes extensively about disability and supports countless parents on Facebook and Twitter.
Behaviour
Yvonne’s talk will look at Violent and Challenging Behaviour, what it is and why it happens. She will explain the common underlying causes, including diagnostic overshadowing, and how all behaviour is a form of communication. She will also cover the causes of anxiety in autistic children and what it can look like, as well as why it can cause behavioural issues. She will share how her family own family story of Toby’s behaviour and how he turned it around completely, as well as talking about some of strategies her family used, which focused on putting Toby at the heart of every approach, and learning how to think very differently.
Puberty
Puberty can be both a confusing and traumatic time for autistic children, and they are likely to need a lot more help to understand all the changes their bodies are undergoing than a mainstream school sex education programme can provide. Yvonne will talk us through lots of different aspects of puberty and why each one is particularly hard for our children. She will also talk about how our children can be very vulnerable and at risk if they haven’t understood all the rules regarding social behaviour and sexuality. Most importantly, she will explain how it’s never to early to start preparing for puberty, and give parents the confidence to start having some essential conversations with their children.