About Us

My name is Angela Wilson and I have been a Special Education Teacher during the 2000 & 2010 decades. Central West Autism & Special Needs Awareness Group (CWASNAG) was established by myself and a good friend of mine Mrs Deb Collier, along with a small group of mums who have children with special needs. We had realised that there was a desperate need to create awareness in our community for Autism and other disabilities, all while providing support and a directory of local services to families.

As a group, we meet once a month to provide a platform for welcoming new families to town, offer advice and direction for families when they are searching for much needed services for their children, and plan our next big event together, all while enjoying a coffee and chat.

Our vision is to bring much needed services to the Parkes community that our families are currently only able to access in places like Orange, Dubbo and Sydney. We dream of one day being able to develop a therapy/play space like a Sensory Gym for these families to come together in an accepting and inclusive environment, where therapist can work with their children while they have fun and play. At the moment this is still very much a dream but something we are constantly working towards.

We are always wanting new members to join. You don’t even have to have a child with special needs to be a part of our group. We welcome anyone who just wants to help make a difference.

Through awareness comes understanding, which ultimately brings acceptance.

Our History

In early 2016, CWASNAG was established. What started out as a coffee and chat meeting once a month, has now grown into a strong community group entailing not only parents of children with special needs, but also other community members who want to be a part of and support this great initiative to see a change in the way people in society view individuals with special needs.

In late 2016, we officially moved our group under the umbrella of Currajong Disability Services becoming a sub-committee of the organisation. This meant that our name also changed to Currajong Autism & Special Needs Group. Their support and guidance was greatly appreciated during this time of growth.

In 2017, Deb Collier unfortunately had to resign as co-facilitator of the group for personal reasons which left a huge hole.

During 2018, our group had reached a point where we were able to move out from under Currajong to become our own registered not-for-profit group. This move has provided us with the platform now to be able to start working towards achieving some of our bigger dreams for our community, which we are very excited about.

During 2016-2019, we have organised numerous community events, educational workshops and an array of different fundraisers, all with a common goal of increasing awareness and supporting local families.

Our Proud Achievements

In 2016, we partnered with the John Holland Group while they were working here in Parkes on the Water Treatment Facility. With their help we managed to raise a significant amount of money during this time. We have put this money back into local schools with numerous projects including our Buddy Bench initiative where we had 10 garden benches built by a local business (Whitney’s Welding & Bobcat Hire). As a group we then painted them all and attached signs to them (donated by TTT Signs), which said ‘Buddy Bench- Everybody Belongs’. All 10 Buddy Benches were then delivered to the 10 primary schools in Forbes, Parkes and Peak Hill, complete with a plaque engraved with what business had donated each of them.

We were able to contribute to the cost of Parkes Public’s Support Unit’s excursion to Sydney for the Variety Club’s Christmas Party, which enabled some of their students to attend that typically couldn’t afford to go.

We have been able to contribute in small ways to support local families who are doing it tough.

A portion of our raised funds have gone towards holding educational workshops for our community where we have invited world-renowned speakers to attend that are typically only seen in major cities eg Chris Ulmer (Special Books by Special Kids, USA), Tim and Judy Sharp (Laser Beak Man, Brisbane), Sue Larkey (Special Education Consultant, Artarmon, NSW) and we have Nelle Frances (Autism Educational Consultant 'Asperger Child', Qld) coming to Parkes in July 2019- event link is on our facebook page if you or someone you know would like to attend. We highly recommend it.

We host our popular 'Dinner Under the Blue Dish - family picnic night'. During 2017-2019 we have been working with the Parkes Radio Telescope team to light up our beautiful Dish 'Blue for Autism Awareness Month (April)'. In 2019 we saw our first 'Dinner Under the Blue Dish - Cocktail Evening Fundraiser' event which was a huge success, with those who attended learning about Autism from a panel of four individuals (19 year old with Autism, mother of child with Autism, Paediatric Physiotherapist and Special Educator from ASPECT) who were interviewed on the night. Feedback from the event was that ‘everyone walked away inspired and with plenty to think about’. One of the main reasons our group was established in the beginning was to create awareness in our community of children with special needs and the adversity that they individually face each day. By lighting our Dish up blue during the month of April, we are creating an awareness of Autism and in turn, prompting conversations about it.