Aurum Autism Support was founded by autistic women based on the belief that autistic females can improve their lives by supporting each other.
We provide specialist support for autistic women and girls, and their families, in Worcestershire and Shropshire. The service is led by autistic women and specialist professionals.
Why is this support needed?
Society's understanding about the experiences of autistic women and girls remains limited and is generally based on stereotypes and assumptions. This often results in autistic females being misunderstood and facing barriers due to their differences. Autistic women and girls regularly go without support for long periods, resulting in isolation, increased anxiety and failure to achieve their personal, academic, and social potential. The majority of the individuals we support are not in receipt of social care support, or support from NHS mental health services. Therefore, they rely heavily on voluntary organisations such as ourselves to provide autism specific support. We have grown considerably since we started, with an ever increasing demand for our services. This shows us the importance of what we offer, and also highlights the lack of similar services for women and girls.
What do we do?
We provide a safe and supportive space for autistic women and girls to socialise with each other and build their self-confidence. We offer a variety of support options for our members. In Worcestershire we run monthly in-person social groups and craft groups for women aded 18+, and fortnightly social and activity groups for girls aged 10-18. In Shropshire, we run monthly social groups for women aged 18+. We also run monthly yoga sessions for women and girls living in Worcestershire and Shropshire, and monthly online discussion groups for women living in Worcestershire and Shropshire. Alongside this we run a monthly support group for parents of autistic women and girls.
Our overall aim is to reduce social isolation for autistic women and girls. Being among autistic peers can remove some of the pressure of feeling the need to mask and hide autistic traits. We help our members to understand their autism and their needs as autistic females, improving well-being, enhancing confidence and self-esteem, improving coping skills, and increasing engagement in the broader community.
The funds raised by this walk will help us to continue providing support to our current and future members. Please sponsor us!