By Dongyun Kwon
People with autism in the Yarra Ranges finally have become official authors as their stories were published in a book.
Healesville-based author Sandra Thom-Jones, who has been diagnosed with autism and won two awards at a national awards Scarlet Stiletto last year, ran a series of workshops The Auti-magination: Sharing Stories of Autistic Writers in the Yarra Ranges to showcase the talent, creativity and imagination of local autistic people, sponsored by Yarra Ranges Council.
After the workshops, the participants were able to combine the stories they had written during the workshops into a book.
The book launch event was held at The Memo, Healesville on Tuesday 19 November.
Thom-Jones said the event was a great opportunity to celebrate how creative the authors were.
“We had all the authors, their families and quite a few people from the community who came to hear about the book and celebrate the authors’ success,” she said.
“The authors got an opportunity to talk to people about their stories and their creative ideas,” she said.
The workshop was originally going to be held three times but the workshop facilitator had to adjust the plan, adding one more session, as the participants had much fun and didn’t want to stop.
11 people from the ages of eight up to 78 attended at least one workshop, and eight of them attended all of the workshops.
“They all worked well together, they shared their stories with each other and provided feedback to each other,” Thom-Jones said.
“We had seven authors who put their stories in the book. Everyone contributed at least one story, some people put in more than one.
“The artwork on the front cover and the back cover was created by people who participated in the workshop as well.”
The workshop facilitator knew a lot of autistic people were discouraged from writing by school and university where they were required to use certain formats of writing.
“The consistent experience of being told that the way they wrote wasn’t the right way of writing discouraged them,” Thom-Jones said.
She wanted to emphasise the different styles of writing throughout the workshops, and the focus of the first workshop was telling the participants there isn’t a correct way of writing because writing is about being creative and expressing oneself in the way that they want to express themselves.
Thom-Jones said the whole group was supportive and positive and encouraged each other.
“At the beginning, they were nervous about sharing their writing,” she said.
“It was great throughout the workshops, watching the participants share their ideas and grow in confidence.
“By the last workshop, everyone was happy to read out their stories to each other and provide each other feedback.”
Free copies of the book have been distributed to schools and public libraries in Yarra Ranges and are on sale at Bendigo Community Bank Healesville.
At the book launch event, Thom-Jones officially announced she would run the workshops again next year in Lilydale thanks to the grant from Yarra Ranges Council.
“I found this whole journey really rewarding and enjoyable,” she said.
Eildon MP Cindy McLeish also attended the book launch event.
“Sandra had an amazing idea that she was able to pull off brilliantly,” she said.
“There was a real buzz and excitement in the room by everyone present and it was a pleasure to be a part of it.”
