Join Sue Hutton, MSW, RSW for an engaging session combining new accessible mindfulness practices in self-care and a sharing of how to make this practical for caregivers with Lee Steel. In this session you will learn all about mindfulness as a tool for the autism community. Sue will lead us through practical mindfulness practices for caregivers, as well as for autistic adults and share information about how the tools can help us in our daily lives as caregivers. The tools that are used in the mindfulness sessions at the CAMH Azrieli Adult Neurodevelopmental Centre are developed with autistic adults and caregivers, and designed specifically to be applicable for caregivers and autistic adults. Lee Steel, caregiver advisor at the Azrieli Centre joins Sue in sharing how mindfulness has shifted her approach as a caregiver. Lee brings her own practice of Mindfulness with her warm-hearted sharing of the realities of parenting in challenging times.
Participants will come away with:
- Tools specifically for caregivers and autistic adults
- The research behind these autism-informed mindfulness tools
- A sense of being renewed and refreshed
Speakers:
Sue Hutton, MSW, RSW.
Sue is the proud mother of a 13-year-old and feels like her mindfulness journey took on a new twist once she became a parent. Sue began her practice long before becoming a parent- and has spent 34 years practicing mindfulness formally. Sue spent a year studying traditional mindfulness techniques in India, as well as many silent retreats over the years, and finally trained with Jon Kabat-Zinn in the delivery of Mindfulness-based Stress Reduction the year she was pregnant (2007). Sue has been delivering mindfulness groups in many communities – largely the neurodevelopmental disability community, but also the cancer community, with educators in the school system, the prison system.
Sue has worked with individuals and families in developmental services for over 30 years and loves bringing an accessibility lens to mindfulness. Sue leads mindfulness groups in research at the Azrieli Adult Neurodevelopmental Centre at CAMH in Toronto and has been modifying mindfulness techniques for caregivers and autistic adults with the research team there. Making mindfulness accessible for everyone is Sue’s passion.
Lee Steel
Lee Steel is the proud parent of two adult children. Her eldest was diagnosed with a developmental disability when he was a youngster. Lee is the Family Advisor at the Azrieli Adult Neurodevelopmental Centre at CAMH in Toronto. Lee is so grateful to have learned accessible mindfulness practices from Sue Hutton. “Practicing mindfulness has increased my mental and physical wellbeing, increased compassion towards myself and others, and developed a greater sense of gratitude for what is happening in the present moment versus being caught in fears of the future or regrets from the past, or not paying attention at all.”