National Autistic Society Scotland

Our Autistic Campaigner’s Group has sent a letter to the First Minister highlighting the need to include the Learning Disabilities, Autism, and Neurodivergence Bill (LDAN Bill) in this year’s Programme for Government!

The LDAN Bill has been in development by the Scottish Government since 2022. However, it has still not been introduced to the Scottish Parliament.

The Bill makes a number of proposals that could lead to better respect, protection, and understanding for autistic people, neurodivergent people, and people with learning disabilities across Scotland.

Learn more about the letter here 👇

https://bit.ly/3WPX8bj

Our young clients recently enjoyed a fabulous BBQ & Fun Day Out event in a local park. Participants of the Moving Forward+ programme and their families had an opportunity to come together and try their hand at some games – fan favourites were definitely frisbee and archery!

A great day was had by all to celebrate their hard work and the end of the summer school holidays.



CashBack for Communities

📣 Are you interested in mentoring? Volunteer with us!

Our mentoring service provides 1:1 mentoring to autistic adults over the age of 25. Follow the link below to apply, or drop us an email at [email protected]! 👇

https://bit.ly/3wAGOlO

Mentoring for Autistic Adults Programme Volunteer Mentor (Glasgow and Surrounding Areas) Our Mentoring service aims to provide 1-to-1 mentoring to autistic adults aged 25 and over who live in the Glasgow City Council area. We are looking for volunteers to provide mentoring support

Our Growing Up Project is open to new sign ups!

The project aims to support unpaid carers of autistic young people to look after their physical and mental wellbeing.

The project is available to people living in Scotland who are over the age of 18 and living in Glasgow, Inverclyde, Ayrshire, Falkirk, and Highland.

Carers Scotland

Learn more about the project here 👇

https://bit.ly/48GtFWh

Growing Up Growing Up is a programme of support aimed at empowering unpaid carers of autistic young people going through big life changes.

Our Moving Forward+ group celebrated their achievements over the last 7 weeks with a retro gaming session at Glasgow’s R-Cade followed by a trip to McDonald’s.

Find out how you can benefit from Moving Forward+ by visiting our website!

Join our Connections programme!

67% of autistic people in Scotland feel socially isolated, so Connections is all about tackling loneliness and isolation through peer support. The project is open to autistic adults aged 25 to 55.

Sign up here! 👇

bit.ly/47rJdMB

Connections Connections is a programme of support in Scotland aimed at tackling social isolation and loneliness and is open to autistic adults aged 25 to 55.

17-year-old Nuala MacDonald has been working towards making her Highland village more autism friendly.

"It gave me an idea I could do something like that in my own community that would make a huge difference for people."

Read more here 👇

The Highland teenager making her village more autism-friendly Nuala MacDonald takes inspiration from a trip to Canada's 'most autism-friendly town'.

Our Embrace Autism Project is open to new sign ups!

"I really appreciate speaking with people who make you feel like there are other people like you in the world" – Embrace Autism Group Member

Autistic Knowledge Development CIC

Embrace Autism is only available for people in Scotland.

Sign Up here 👇

https://bit.ly/47yVI9c

Embrace Autism Embrace Autism is a programme of support aimed towards autistic adults who are looking to explore their autistic identity and learn how to navigate life post diagnosis (formal or self-diagnosis).

Many autistic children and young people find the change of starting or moving to a new school challenging. If you’re the parent or carer of an autistic child, it can be difficult to know how to help. Check out our guide for information and strategies 👇

bit.ly/3zLJn0i

Join the team!

We're recruiting a Programmes Manager who will oversee all of our fantastic projects and programmes in Scotland, and manage the Programmes Team. This is a hybrid role (home/Glasgow office) and the closing date is 18th August.

Apply now 👉 https://bit.ly/3Wk6Ofl

Sign up to Embrace Autism!

Our Embrace Autism project is open to anyone who is autistic, with or without a formal diagnosis. Join our online groups to explore your autistic identity and discover your community 👇

Autistic Knowledge Development CIC

Embrace Autism Embrace Autism is a programme of support aimed towards autistic adults who are looking to explore their autistic identity and learn how to navigate life post diagnosis (formal or self-diagnosis).

Our website will be unavailable for the next few hours while we do some essential maintenance. We expect it to be back up and running at midday. We will post any updates underneath this post. Thank you for your patience.

The Moving Forward+ team were delighted to welcome Graeme and Lindsay from Police Scotland’s Greater Glasgow Safer Communities team to our office yesterday, who hosted an interactive and informative session all about personal safety.

After engaging in some myth-busting activities, young people learned about how to keep themselves safe, ways to report, and legislation around hate crime.

We were also grateful to be made aware of I Am Me’s Keep Safe initiative, where organisations can register as safe spaces for people to go to when they feel scared, lost or vulnerable within their communities.

Thanks again to the Safer Communities team, we are looking forward to our next session!

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Am Me Scotland

Our South Lanarkshire Branch are running a collaborative fundraising event with Clyde Cycle Park on Wednesday the 7th of August!

50% of the funds raised will be donated to the South Lanarkshire Branch.

Sign Up here 👇

Please fill out this form

Join our Connections programme!

67% of autistic people in Scotland feel socially isolated, so Connections is all about tackling loneliness and isolation through peer support. The project is open to autistic adults aged 25 to 55.

Sign up here! 👇

Connections Connections is a programme of support in Scotland aimed at tackling social isolation and loneliness and is open to autistic adults aged 25 to 55.

Many people go through life without knowing they are autistic and without the understanding, acceptance and support a diagnosis can bring. Visit our website to read stories from late diagnosed autistic people and for information about support after a diagnosis: bit.ly/3OQLlqr

Thanks to The Conservation Volunteers for hosting another fantastic session at Provan Hall. Moving Forward+ participants learned about the importance of looking after our environment and what could be possible in a career in the outdoors! 🌲

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📣 Our Embrace Autism Project has been relaunched, after securing further funding from Inspiring Scotland!

EA supports autistic adults to explore their identity and discover their community.

Read more about the relaunch here 👇



https://bit.ly/3WagCHF

Embrace Autism Embrace Autism is a programme of support aimed towards autistic adults who are looking to explore their autistic identity and learn how to navigate life post diagnosis (formal or self-diagnosis).

🎨 Our Art Reimagined Project had an exhibition launch event on Saturday! It was great to see all of the amazing artwork that was created by our group members.

The exhibition is available at Project Ability, Glasgow, from the 1st to the 6th of July

Our Autism Support Ayrshire Team have a new email address.

If you would like to get in touch with the team, please use the email address below:

[email protected]

“From as early as nursery school, it was very easy to see where standardised practice in an educational setting was not the right support for him."

Carrie and Hannah from our Highland Branch discuss their children's experiences in mainstream school 👇

Inverness mums take their children out of mainstream school due to lack of autistic support Highland mums, part of the National Autistic Society, have raised awareness about autistic support available in the mainstream education system.

Our Summer Group at Moving Forward+ got off to a good start! Participants were able to share their interests and connect with each other over things they have in common. Pictured here is our diagram connecting all of the interests 😊

Over the next few weeks, the group will get to know each other as well as learning more about autism.

Stay tuned for our next updates from the Moving Forward+ team!

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