At this difficult time, it can be hard to know where to go to interact with other people, be it online or face-to-face. If you are autistic, there are some online forums, many led by autistic people, where you can chat with others in the autistic community. Gill Loomes, our Peer Development Worker, lists a few in this blog post.

Auticomm (https://auticomm.mn.co/) describes itself as “an emergent peer-to-peer network for autistic folks”, using the Mighty Networks app.

The National Autistic Society hosts “The Community” –  for autistic people, family, friends, and professionals working with autistic people: www.autism.org.uk/get-involved/join-our-community.aspx.

There’s also www.autismforums.com – this has a couple of interesting features – private Member-only forums for more serious discussions and a space to write your own blog.

Research Autism has also compiled a list of autism forums. They are a mix of spaces for autistic people, and those for autistic people, and family, professionals, allies etc. The link is here: www.researchautism.net/autism/autism-resources/autism-forums

Neurodiverse Self-Advocacy (NDSA) have a forum for autistic adults, as well as adults with other neurodivergent conditions such as dyslexia, dyspraxia and ADHD. Here is a link: https://ndsa.uk/forum/

Leeds Autism AIM have a Discord server, mainly for their Gaming Group. It also has a few other chat channels where you can speak to other autistic adults in Leeds. If you would like to join, please email us at [email protected] and we’ll send you an invite to join our server.

Social media

There are also a number of Facebook groups led by and run for autistic people. Many of these are private to make sure they are safe to post in. If you’re in Leeds, Leeds Autism and Asperger’s Group is one that you might want to explore: https://www.facebook.com/groups/leedsasd/.

Twitter doesn’t have forums, but it is a useful tool for engaging with other autistic people. To join in conversations, look for these hashtags:

  • #ActuallyAutistic
  • #AutisticsInAcademia – one for students and academic staff
  • #AskingAutistics
  • #Autistic
  • #AutismAcceptance – this one is particularly relevant for April, which is Autism Acceptance Month

Disclaimer

The AIM team is signposting people to autism forums that might interest them. We are not recommending any of these sites or forums. We don’t run, participate in, or otherwise promote any of the forums and don’t accept responsibility for any of the content people may find if they sign up to join any of the forums – as this is totally beyond our control.

We are simply providing links to online spaces where you can meet up with other members of the autistic and autism-related communities, during the COVID-19 Lockdown.