Get Involved!
Get updates about our work, our talks and our trainings. From game afternoons and support groups to from community gardening, this is where we share our Reading community projects.
Our Book: Nine adults share their journeys from discovery to acceptance
“For many adults on the autism spectrum, diagnosis is a profound and liberating moment of self-recognition. But it’s also just the first step on a journey that lasts a lifetime. This encouraging book, enriched by a diverse range of personal perspectives, can help readers orient in this new world and find other members of their tribe.”
Available now, our book Being Autistic – Nine adults share their journeys from discovery to acceptance contains the stories of very diverse autistic adults who share their responses to discovering and accepting their autism. It offers an insider view of the autism constellation to people becoming aware they inhabit it.
If you are an autism diagnostician or autism lead and might be interested in purchasing copies, get in touch so we can send you a sample to help you decide whether to purchase a bulk order to give to patients.
Learn More
Our Reading groups
Our groups are welcoming spaces where you can meet other autistic adults in a supportive, autism-positive setting. We run a variety of groups depending on the resources we have available and the interests of our members. We currently run weekly mixed and women’s peer support groups, a craft group, an LGBTQ+ group, and we have an allotment. We have also recently launched two closed women’s groups, where fixed membership means that people have the chance to get to know each other better and offer greater support and safety than our drop in groups.
All our groups currently meet online on Zoom. Please note that because of the way we are funded, we are currently only able to offer these groups to people who live in and around Reading.
After initially joining AutAngel you can decide which groups you’d like to attend. Currently most of the groups are drop in groups, so you can come as often or as infrequently as you like. Most of our members participate in our “Exploring Being Autistic” programme, which does require the commitment to come to 10 sessions, and also means that participants get to know others in the programme, and in AutAngel, quite well.
Mixed peer support group – this currently runs weekly on Zoom at 7 – 8 pm on Thursdays. Open to all members of AutAngel.
Women’s peer support group – currently runs weekly on Zoom at 7 – 8 pm on Tuesdays. Open to all women in the AutAngel community.
Craft group – currently runs weekly on Zoom at 11 am – 12.30 pm on Tuesdays.
LGBTQ+ support group – a safe space for members who are LGBTQ+
Allotment group – a weekly group, currently running with social distancing in place. Individual members of the group are also welcome to visit the allotment and do a spot of gardening, harvesting and watering!
We’re holding a socially distanced open day at the allotment on 6th September from 10am to 12. If you’d like to come along please contact us.
Below you can see a slideshow of our allotment’s progress:
If you live in the Reading area, and would like to join any of our groups, please sign up here, and we will be in touch.
Upcoming Event Dates
Our Programme: Exploring Being Autistic
This ten week programme offers autistic adults the opportunity to explore how autism affects them, together with a group of peers. An important element of the programme is the chance for participants to share their responses to knowing or discovering they are autistic with peers, and have the space and support offered to process these responses.
You can see a detailed outline of the programme, read some FAQs and/or listen to and read feedback from some previous participants.
We are busy planning our first online Exploring Being Autistic programme. It will be facilitated by Caroline Hearst. This programme is funded by the Lottery Community Fund, so free to join, however we do accept donations from participants so we can expand our work. You can sign up to be on the list to join.
We are delighted that the research paper about our Exploring Being Autistic programme has been published; it can be found online here. It was led by Dr Laura Crane, Associate Professor at UCL Institute of Education and Deputy Director of the Centre for Research in Autism and Education (CRAE).
Upcoming Event Dates
Sorry, we don't have any upcoming events. Check out our calendar for more info.