Useful Autistic Resources/Materials

KBee99

Hello,

I thought I would do a post linking to some autistic charities/organisations which can help support people and also some books/documentaries resources which I found very insightful about autism.

- National Autistic Society
https://www.autism.org.uk/what-we-do

The National Autistic Society provides support, guidance, and practical advice through their website, branches, or helpline to adults and children. They also host webinars to help autistic people to gain skills for employment. They also have an online community where autistic people can talk to like minded autistic people and discuss experiences.

- NHS

https://www.nhs.uk/conditions/autism/

The NHS have created a guide to help understand what autism is and how someone can help an autistic individual or someone who suspects they may be autistic. This includes how to get a diagnosis and where you can gain support.

- Ambitious about Autism

https://www.ambitiousaboutautism.org.uk/

Ambitious about Autism provides information on autism and how to get support in educational environments and prepare for adulthood.

- Autistic Girls Network

https://autisticgirlsnetwork.org/

This is a small charity who have provided information specifically for females who are autistic. They have linked numerous resources to help females understand their autism such as books, podcasts and a blog.

- Scottish Autism

https://www.scottishautism.org/services-support

If you are Scottish, Scottish Autism provide an advice line open Tuesday - Friday 10am - 4pm where you can use a live chat or phone line. Alternatively you can email them. This service can be used by an autistic individual, their families, and professionals. They also create personalised support plans based on the individuals strengths and motivations.

Documentaries

- Inside Our Autistic Minds (BBC IPlayer)
- Christine McGuinness: Unmasking my Autism (BBC IPlayer)

TV Show

I know this is a drama and therefore should be seen as entertainment, but I do find this tv shows to be very helpful in understanding autism and how families cope with an autism diagnosis.

- The A Word (BBC IPlayer)


Books

- Strong Female Character by Fern Brady (provides a good awareness and understanding of female autism)

- Can You See Me? by Libby Scott (Diary entry’s from a young autistic girl)

Education Support

- If you are in education (school, college or university), I highly recommend getting in touch with your guidance teacher, student wellbeing support or a personal academic tutor if you require support with your autism or if you suspect you may be autistic. They can help provide you with resources and make sure you are coping okay with your education.

I hope this was helpful! If anyone has any additional resources they wish to share feel free to comment below

Azziman

This is great, thank you @KBee99 for taking the time to put this together!

KBee99

No problem @Azziman

I am really passionate about supporting autistic people and raising awareness of autism especially in females as it often goes unnoticed.

Laura_tigger82

Please can I add the series Atypical? It can be found on Netflix

KBee99

@Laura_tigger82 that’s a good one! I’ve seen it but completely forgot to add it.

ebyrne556

Can I also add A kind of spark which is also on bbc iplayer

KBee99

@ebyrne556 of course! I’ve actually not heard of this one. I’ll check it out at one point

lunarcat522

Would also like to add https://goblin.tools/ to this, it's a website which helps those that struggle with executive functioning to help break down tasks you add to a to do list into smaller tasks, it also has a formaliser where it will help you make what you say more/less formal, and the tool I've found most useful is the tone reader which looks at text you've put in and looks at the tone of what the person has said and tells you why it's been given that indication. It can also give estimates on how long certain tasks may take and can give recipes based on ingredients you have.

It's a resource not just for autistic people but also for anyone neurodivergent or really just anyone that would find it useful. I often use it to check tones of emails as I struggle to look at things rationally if I get triggered due to trauma so it really helps give me an objective outlook on what has been said.

ebyrne556

Just incase anyone is a fan the second series of A kind of spark comes out on 26th April on bbc iplayer

Also I’m not sure if anybody has heard of the charity Ambitious about autism, but they have really great resources and activities on their website and they also have a youth network with opportunities to get involved in different research and also also peer support groups where you can just go and have fun for an hour! here’s the link just in case anybody wants to have a look I forgot to mention it before

https://ambitious-youth-network.ambitiousaboutautism.org.uk/

KBee99

hello @ebyrne556

Not heard of a kind of spark but will check it out!

Thank you for your recommendations