Leeds Autism AIM Monthly Update: August 2021
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Hello and welcome to our latest monthly newsletter! In this update from Leeds Autism AIM, part of The Advonet Group, we have news on:
- Our monthly timetable of online groups
- A new set of resources for staying safe after restrictions have been eased
- A change of date for our Coproduction Group
- Joining our Women-Aligned Group's Discord
- An autistic-friendly waterfront festival in Leeds
- Sharing your experience of getting diagnosed as autistic
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Online Groups timetable: August 2021
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We're holding Peer Support sessions on the 3rd and 17th, both from 6pm-7pm. Our Women-Aligned Group is on the 10th from 5:30pm-6:30pm.
Our Gaming Group on Discord will meet on the 24th, while our Coproduction Group is on the 26th from 5:30pm-7pm
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Online Groups mailing list
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If you are interested in joining any of our groups, we have a mailing list with information on how to join. If you would like to sign up, please click on the link below.
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New resources to help you stay safe after restrictions eased
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In response to most lockdown restrictions being moved, the Leeds Autism AIM team have put together some resources around staying safe. If you are anxious about getting Coronavirus, our guides have useful tips on reducing risk at work, on public transport, when out and about and at home.
We also have information on the sunflower lanyard scheme and how to get one. To download the resources and find out more, please click on the link below.
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Coproduction Group: Change of date
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Starting this month, our monthly Coproduction Group will meet on the fourth Thursday of every month. The next meeting is on Thursday 26th August, with the time of 5:30pm-7pm being unchanged.
At this meeting, we hope to look at what you want from an updated Leeds Autism AIM website, with a few examples of how it could look to get your feedback on. Please click below for more info on what our Coproduction Group does.
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Women-Aligned Group's Discord server
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We have been working on our Women-Aligned Group's Discord server. In there, we have added some new channels for different topics and plan to use it regularly to supplement the Group's monthly meetings. The server is open to autistic women and femme-aligned non-binary adults in the Leeds area.
If you would like to join the server, please email us at leedsautismaim@advonet.org.uk and we will send you an invite.
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Speaking of Discord, our Gaming Group's server will be manned by Chris Hattrell, our Coordinator. He will help oversee our monthly Gaming Group sessions, using games on the Board Game Arena app. It is connected to our Discord account and each session is live streamed.
To take part in the games, you need to set up a Board Game Arena account, which is free. Then, we will send you an invite to play in each game.
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Leeds Waterfront Festival: A free
autistic-friendly event
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Our friends at Leeds Autism Services are running a free event as part of the Leeds Waterfront Festival 2021. Their event is designed to be accessible for autistic people and those with other neurodivergent conditions.
There will be stalls and accessible activities including canoeing, arts and crafts and a photography competition. It takes place on Friday 13th August from 11am-4pm and is free to attend.
If you want to come, you will need to register; click on this link to find out more about the event and to book your place: Leeds Waterfront Festival.
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Adult Autism Services: Share your story
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The Yorkshire and the Humber NHS Learning Disability and Autism Operational Delivery Network (ODN) are doing a piece of work which looks at Adult Autism Services in Yorkshire and the Humber. They would like to hear experiences from people who are going through or have been through an autism diagnosis pathway.
They are holding two sessions on Monday 23rd August on Microsoft Teams. For further details about the sessions please email Chloe at chloe.dexter@nhs.net.
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Autistic photographer seeks participants for new project
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Alex Heron, an autistic photographer, has started a new project called Breadth: Spanning the Spectrum. In it, Alex takes photos and tells the stories of autistic people in Leeds and beyond and she is looking for more autistic adults to take part.
If you would like to be involved in the project, please go to this link to find out more: Breadth project
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AIM's quarterly feedback survey
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Starting this month, we will be running feedback surveys every three months for anyone who has received support from Leeds Autism AIM. They are short, asking just a few questions on what service(s) you have accessed, what worked well and what can be improved.
If you would like to give feedback between now and the end of September, please click on the button below.
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National Autism Strategy:
2021-2026
A new national strategy for autistic adults, children and young people for 2021-2026 has been announced by the government. It covers areas such as diagnosis, employment , health inequalities and transitions into adulthood. for the first time, a national strategy for autistic people will cover children.
If you would like to read the strategy in full, please click below to see it on a webpage or as a PDF file.
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Imagine an excellent local bus service
Leeds Civic Trust are looking for your ideas on how to improve bus services in the local area.
They would like feedback and for people to submit ideas for how they can be better in their Competition of Ideas, with a £2,000 prize up for grabs.
The Trust also has an online survey and discussion group, as well as an interactive map of comments. If you want to be involved, please click on the link below for all the information you need.
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Share your safeguarding story
The Advonet Group and Leeds Safeguarding Adults Board are looking for anyone who has accessed adult safeguarding services in Leeds to share their experience in a survey. All feedback given will be anonymised wand used to help improve the way safeguarding works in the city. If you have accessed safeguarding yourself or helped someone to do so and want to share feedback, please click on the link below to go to the online survey.
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