We love to teach!
Evaleen Whelton
Founder of Konfident Kidz
Hi I’m Evaleen. I found out I was Autistic when I was 37 and since then I’ve been working to make the world a better place for Autistic children, teens and adults.
As I am a speech and drama teacher it seemed an obvious choice for me to design a course that teaches social communication through drama and activities. When I was first identified as Autistic I thought that I had deficits in social skills. I believed that all of the difficulties I had around communication were my fault.
But then I thought some more. I met other Autistic people and listened to what they had to say. I read current research and current ideas and realised that actually communication is not a one-sided task. It seems so obvious now but yet back then I was surrounded by the narrative that Autistic people have all of these difficulties socially.
Now I realise that communication is of course a two-way thing and all of the responsibility cannot lie on one side of the equation. My Konnect program has grown along with my own understanding and self acceptance into a program which I am very proud of.
Autistic children and teens have perfectly good social skills. In fact we are highly effective communicators. The problem is that other people don’t realise we have different social skills or that they misinterpret us. My Konnect Program works to decrease that gap in understanding and to help others to understand us better while also teaching Autistic children and teens to interpret non-autistic people’s way of communicating.
My hope is that together we can work to making the world more accepting and less confusing for Autistic kids and teens. Once we start seeing Autistic children and teens for who they are rather than a list of inaccurately perceived deficits then wonderful things can happen.
Communication begins with how we think about each other so let’s work together to change this misconceptions and build a better world.
Communication begins with how we think about each other so let’s work together to change this misconceptions and build a better world.
Orla Barry
Teacher at Konfident Kidz
Hi I’m Orla and I have been a drama and communication facilitator with Konfident Kidz since 2016. I completed 8 speech and drama grades and my teaching exam with the west London university of music. I have a Bsc in international development from UCC where I specialized in creative arts education and wrote my thesis on theatre as a tool for community development. I believe that drama is a fantastic medium for expression and an effective tool to alleviate oppression.
My teaching journey began in the Rainbow Club, Cork where I taught Autistic students from three years to nineteen years old and have since practiced and developed our Konnect communication program across cork city.
I’ve spent the last year adapting our program to an online platform. Having classes on zoom has meant that my students are in a familiar environment which maximized their comfort and in turn lead to more open communication. The class empowers autistic kids and teens with tools to understand their communication needs and how to advocate for them.
Furthermore it allows them to meet other autistic kids who might have similar or very different needs from their own. Learning about our differences in class helps us understand the variety of communication styles that exist and that their is no “correct” way to behave.
My communication classes are drama based and use elements of music, dance, art and more to facilitate discussion and exploration of our topic. Most importantly my classes are designed for my students to enjoy learning about themselves and be as proud of their neuro diversity as I am!
The class empowers Autistic kids and teens with tools to understand their communication needs and how to advocate for them.
Most importantly my classes are designed for my students to enjoy learning about themselves and be as proud of their neuro diversity as I am!