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.
Please note that hard copies of Being Autistic can only be posted to the UK mainland. However, if you would like to download a PDF copy of the book and leave us a donation, you can do so on this page.
Learn More
Our Reading groups
Please note: we are currently operating a waiting list for all our Reading groups, with the exception of the allotment group. If you live in the Reading area, and would like to be added to the waiting list, please sign up here.
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, a weekly yoga session, and we have an allotment.
All our groups except the allotment group 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 run on a drop in basis, 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 7-8pm on Tuesdays. Open to all women in the AutAngel community.
Craft group – currently runs weekly on Zoom at 11am-12.30pm on Tuesdays.
LGBTQ+ support groups – a safe space for members who are LGBTQ+, this group currently runs on Zoom on the first Tuesday of the month from 7-8pm. We also have a weekly LGBTQ+ group, on Sundays at 5pm, which is also open to people beyond our local area. Please contact us if you are interested in joining this group.
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! The allotment group is currently open to new members. Please email us at info@autangel.org.uk if you are interested in joining us.
Below you can see a slideshow of our allotment’s progress:
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 currently running our second online Exploring Being Autistic programme. 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 a future course.
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).
Exploring Being Autistic is a very popular programme, so we operate a waiting list.
If you live in or around Reading, and would like to be added to the waiting list, please sign up here, and we will be in touch when a space becomes available.
If you live outside the Reading area, please sign up here for updates about when a course might become available.