Autistic-led organisations
AMASE (Autistic Mutual Aid Society Edinburgh) is an Autistic People’s Organisation based in Edinburgh. All full members are on the autistic spectrum, and their goal is to help autistic people make each other’s lives better through peer support, advocacy and education.
ARGH (Autism Rights Group Highland) is an inspiring advocacy group run by and for autistic adults in the Scottish highlands.
Aupeer offers accessible non-clinical peer support for autistic adults on the journey from self-identification through the assessment period and beyond – both free online autistic led peer support groups and 1-1 sessions for autistic adults.
Autistic Parents UK is a user-led non-profit organisation founded by a group of Autistic parents who all experienced a gap in support and understanding for Autistic people during parenthood. Still a new organisation, but an important resource.
Autscape organises an annual conference/retreat run by and for autistic adults. In 2023, the conference will be held in person The Hayes conference centre in Derbyshire, between Monday 31 July and Thursday 3 August.
Based in Ireland, Thriving Autistic offer 1-1 and group support, community webinars and training/consultation for mental health practitioners and workplaces. “We’re a community of autistic, AD(H)D, dyslexic and otherwise neurodivergent practitioners in private practice. We’re psychologists, coaches and therapists from around the world, working online to support the community. We’re all independent professionals who have agreed to abide by our core values of neuro-affirmative, anti-racist, anti-ableist, LGBTQIA+ support.”
Websites/blogs
Ann’s Autism Blog Ann Memmott is an autistic adviser on autism.
Neuroclastic is a “collective of Autistic people responsive to the evolving needs and trajectory of the Autistic community.
By publishing autistic voices, we are cataloguing the intersectional experiences, insights, knowledge, talents, and creative pursuits of Autistics. We follow a unique model of interdependence, leveraging the passions, skills, and specializations of contributors to create a living repository of information cataloging the autistic experience.
We aim for a future that is more accepting, accommodating, and empowering for autistic people.”
Autistic Doctors International Resources and information for autistic doctors.
The Autistic Advocate Kieran Rose has excellent information and training on autistic masking, and much more besides, including his training The Inside of Autism.
Jodie Clarke is an independent specialist working with autistic children, their families and their schools. Her website features training, workshops and CPD, and she is co-author (with her young autistic daughter) of The Secret Life of Rose: Inside in an autistic head.
A mosaic of Autistic lenses | Autistic Collaboration (autcollab.org) Aut Collab (the Autistic Collaboration Trust) is a community that welcomes all individuals and groups who fully appreciate the value of neurodiversity. Aut Collab acts as a global hub for mutual support, and encourages neurodivergent individuals and ventures to connect and establish long-term collaborations.
Employment support
Autism Forward provides grants for specialist mentoring for autistic adults to give them the support and advice they need to make the transition from education to work and find paid or voluntary employment. They also provide resources for employers, colleagues, friends and families of autistic adults to encourage them to listen, talk and accept their different way of seeing the world, so that autistic people are included and valued in communities and workplaces.
Enna is a specialist recruitment agency focusing on supporting talented neurodivergent individuals to find meaningful employment, and working with inclusive employers to help them attract, recruit, and integrate neurodivergent individuals.
To register: www.enna.org/Register or contact Enna at hello@enna.org with any questions.
Videos and podcasts
1800 Seconds on Autism From home and family to humour and epic geekiness, this is a funny and enlightening podcast about thinking differently. With autistic hosts Robyn Steward, Jamie Knight and guests.
St. Clement’s Practical Autism is a set of twelve short video guides written, produced and narrated by Yo Dunn on practical autism topics such as diagnosis and identity (that video includes our book ‘Being Autistic’ as a recommended resource), communication both pre-verbal and verbal, coping with change, gender identity, social skills, etc.
Videos featuring Caroline Hearst, AutAngel founder and director
Caroline Hearst interviewed by Network Autism about autistic women: https://www.facebook.com/watch/?v=797276620308909
Ticket Theory by Hilary Knutson is a really useful alternative to/variant of the popular spoon theory.
My Story
My story is a lovely presentation made for 7 year olds (and heart-warming for any age) of how Anne Moxom experienced growing up autistic. Anne has generously allowed Caroline to share this – please thank her (email address at end of presentation) if you find it useful; it will mean a lot to her.
Courses
University of Kent Understanding Autism course.
Nikki, an AutAngel director, says: “The future learn understanding autism course gives a good grounding in the current understanding of autism and is presented by autistic presenters. The course is appropriate for anyone wanting to learn more and being able to message other learners through the platform adds to the learning experience.”
Posters
NAS posters about autism for staff in GP’s surgeries, useful basic information to offer any health provider.
Constellation Model
The autism constellation model was designed by AutAngel’s founder Caroline Hearst and made by an autistic woodworker to demonstrate to participants in her autism awareness courses why autism is best described as a constellation.
Autistics are often classified along a spectrum with abilities on a linear scale. This neat continuum, however, does not match the more complex reality. Some autistics will find some tasks very easy some days and impossible to do at other times; individual profiles tend to be spiky and changeable. The constellation model offers a more comprehensive representation. The autism constellation model is a wooden model representing the human constellation (the autistic people are represented by the balls at all the different extremes of the model) and shows the diversity of autistics and their spiky profiles.
The springs and the balls can be rearranged. The picture below shows what can happen to autistic people when support or a suitable environment is removed:
Material: wood and metal for the model
Dimensions: 215mm (w) x 170mm (d) x 190mm (h)
The constellation model is not currently available for sale. If we find ways to make it available again, we’ll update this page.