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Autscape or camps, holidays, events etc for autistic adults

NAS36895
over 6 years ago

I am wondering whether there are any annual events for autistic adults in the UK that anyone else here goes to? I know about Autscape but no other events. I wondered if anyone here has found or been to any others?

When I was little I was home educated and there were annual camps for home educated children to meet each other with their families. I am really wondering if there is anything similar for autistic people and if anyone here has been to them if so.

Also, has anyone here been to Autscape? I'd be really interested to know how you found it, what it's like, if you have. I have no real conception of it despite having read up about it, I wonder if I would struggle with all the noise/business, I do not do especially well in very busy or noisy environments, or brightly lit ones for that matter.

Thanks a lot,

E

Parents
  • over 5 years ago

    I was excited to hear about this Autscape thing, but it makes me sad that it seems to be on weekdays and outside my holiday period (I work education, so I'm only free in school hols). Disappointed

  • over 5 years ago in reply to Emma

    I think it's normally a bit earlier in August for that reason. It's a family-friendly place and quite a few autistic people there work in education and/or have brought their kids (autistic or not) - or their parents. It's for and by autistic people. I think you'd like it, Emma.

    It would be great if any of the other conferences and retreats 'for' autistic people could be more autistic-led or coproduced at least. I suspect activities provided may be rewarding, but suppose I am coming to really dislike being patronised by people (typically-developing professionals) who think wrongly that they know more about the subject than we do, and that their worldview is somehow better.

    Autistic Pride is the only other thing I know like Autscape in being fully autistic-run, and it's just one day or one afternoon. The basic principle of Autscape is simply 'autistic people have a right to exist.'

    I might be interested in the future if its held somewhere reasonably close to the MIdlands, is it always held in a London venue?

    No, it aims for somewhere quieter than London! Last year it was on the outskirts of Northampton, but it's unlikely to return there. I think next year is most likely to be in Kent (Tonbridge) again, or Gigglewick (N Yorks).

    There was a £20 afternoon taster available this year to let people see how the even is run and catch at least one talk. I expect they will do something similar next year, since there was a lot of discussion about 'inclusion' in general and for the event this year. There's also a bursary fund, funded by donations from other attendees, for people who really need their place subsidised; and I met a couple of people who had the full £200 3-day fee paid by a local charity or services.

    A couple of other thoughts. Firstly, there was a worry expressed that 'autistic subculture' might actually put some autistic people off. I think this would be particularly true if they are negative about autism. (Possibly the event can accommodate a few with fundamentally opposed views, but not too many.)

    Secondly, despite the aforementioned adaptations, there are some people who find it very difficult to be heard, for example by contributing a question. The moderation of sessions can forget that, and allow verbose people (yes, there are both extremes present) to dominate the time. If I were moderating I might enforce more hand signals and reserve some time for people who hadn't yet said anything in a larger group. I expect the organisers are considering such things now.

    For those interested in the content of the talk, a lot of the slides from this year have now been uploaded at:

    http://www.autscape.org/2018/programme/presentations

    (There may also be some podcasts to come. Generally no one's been available to video talks. Live streaming is unlikely to ever happen because of confidentiality of participants.)

    Disambiguating Cynosure said:
    ...Whehey! More like this is nice to read upon this Forum!

    It was a nice sight. Does anyone know why most foxes have a white tip on their brush, but this one was generally darker with a dark brown tip? I didn't notice a lot of wildlife there even by the river, except a fair number of magpies.

  • over 5 years ago in reply to Cassandro
    Cassandro said:
    No, it aims for somewhere quieter than London! Last year it was on the outskirts of Northampton, but it's unlikely to return there. I think next year is most likely to be in Kent (Tonbridge) again, or Gigglewick (N Yorks).

    Thanks for getting back Cassandro...Northampton might have been OK but Kent and North Yorks are both too far, oh well.

Reply
  • over 5 years ago in reply to Cassandro
    Cassandro said:
    No, it aims for somewhere quieter than London! Last year it was on the outskirts of Northampton, but it's unlikely to return there. I think next year is most likely to be in Kent (Tonbridge) again, or Gigglewick (N Yorks).

    Thanks for getting back Cassandro...Northampton might have been OK but Kent and North Yorks are both too far, oh well.

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