A poster competition has been held throughout Aberdeen City Primary Schools as part of this year’s Autism Acceptance Week.
More than 70 entries were received from city primary schools, with the posters being judged by Felicity Goodhall, Senior Autism Practitioner at Autism Understanding Scotland, and Kirsty Mumaw, a student from Gray’s School of Art, Robert Gordon University. Both Felicity and Kirsty are autistic.
Autism Acceptance Week took place in the last week of April and schools were encouraged to create posters that celebrated individual strengths and to bust common myths about autism.
The winners have been announced as:
- First place: Gilcomstoun School’s Primary 1-7 Nurture Group
- Second: Loirston School Primary 6/7
- Third: Countesswells School
The prizes for the three winners included a whole-class sensory fidget box and books to further support and educate about autism.
All participating schools received a certificate to celebrate their engagement during Autism Acceptance Week.
Councillor Martin Greig, Convener of the Education Operational Delivery Committee, said: “This poster activity in local schools has been welcome and positive. The young people who produced the messages are giving the rest of us important lessons about friendship.
“All of us can learn from the posters because they remind us that every single individual is valued. I am grateful to everyone who was involved in this project. It would be good to see more of these kinds of exercises led by pupils and for the benefit all in our city.”
Councillor Jessica Mennie, Vice Convener of the Education Operational Delivery Committee, said: “The posters that the pupils have created are excellent and they should all be incredibly proud of the work that they have created.
“It’s wonderful to have seen so many schools across the city take part in this competition and hopefully we can continue this work again next year.”
Felicity Goodhall, one of the competition judges, said: "I was thrilled to judge such a meaningful competition and see the amazing effort all the children had put into promoting autistic acceptance. As an autistic person myself, the biggest challenge was narrowing it down to the final entries!"