Winner of Inaugural Eva Duggan Award Announced
Congratulations to Aideen Ruttledge
Aideen receiving her award
from Colman Duggan
Title of project: ‘A pilot study evaluating the impact of Attention Autism training on the confidence and practice of OTs supporting children with autism in developing functional living skills.’
Speech Delivered By Aideen Ruttledge at AOTI Conference
Good evening everyone, my name is Aideen Ruttledge and I have just shown you a very brief example of the beginning of an Attention Autism session.
We have just shared a moment of fun. We are all invested in this booty shaking lama! We’ve connected and we have an experience in common. We have planted a memory. It’s in these moments of connection that shared attention, engagement and learning can flourish.
As Occupational Therapists, having that meaningful connection is our essential starting point before we can support autistic children and young people in areas of occupational performance.
I’m an OT with Middletown Centre for Autism. Middletown was founded as a result of the Good Friday Agreement. We are an all-Ireland service and I myself am based in County Monaghan.
We are a transdisciplinary service and we have used Attention Autism successfully for years. Attention Autism was created by a fabulous lady called Gina Davies who I have been privileged to train with and be mentored and guided by.
Our transdisciplinary service also consists of Specialist Teachers, Speech and Language Therapists and Classroom Assistants. We are very creative with the ideas and themes of our session content. Being a member of AOTI and spending time with likeminded fellow OTs on the Paediatric Advisory Group inspired me to consider what I can bring to Attention Autism as an OT? I have different skills - not better… but different.
We OTs have these valuable skills which are now sought after by so many families and professionals of children and young people with autism. So……let’s celebrate our core values and day to day work.
Which is why I’m here. I want to share Attention Autism as a framework and tool with my paediatric OT peers. It has made a huge difference in my day-to-day work in empowering autistic children and young people to reach their potential.
We have all heard about the work of Eva and are motivated by how she made communication through typing accessible for those who may otherwise not have reached their potential. She was the ultimate OT!
Thank you Colman, Victor and Patrick for ensuring we will continue to be inspired by her and be proud OT ambassadors and celebrate our love for our profession through this award.
I look forward to crossing paths with some of you over the coming months when I deliver this training to a group of 10 OTs over 2 days. The dates of 21st and 22nd of February are scheduled. Thanks to the Eva Duggan award this training will be free and you will leave on the second day with your very own AA kit ready to begin your Attention Autism OT journey and see how this amazing programme can make a difference to your practice.
You will see how you can make really meaningful connections with the children you work with through laughter, joy and play but also target OT goals in a way that celebrates the strengths and diversity of our autistic children and young people.
Aideen Ruttledge
7th October 2022
The AOTI Eva Duggan Award was established following receipt of a kind donation from the Duggan family.
