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Should there be such a thing as an autistic union?

Peter
over 1 year ago

I’ll make a poll for this later when I’m on my laptop. However the question I put to you is this. Should there exist local organisations in the major cities patterned like student unions but with the specific aim of serving autistic adults.

such organisations would:

  • operate a permanent venue which it would make available to members to run events for free or at a highly subsidised rate.
  • provide advice and advocacy services to autistic people Who feel they are being discriminated against or otherwise marginalised.
  • provide PR and networking for individuals wishing to start-up groups and events under the umbrella of the union.
  • provide careers guidance aimed at Autistic people of all levels of ability high and low who experience difficulties with the communication issues involved in jobhunting and application.

notes:

  • when I say venue I don’t necessarily mean some massive sprawling complex of buildings. Even something as small as a porter cabin would be better than nothing.
  • I am suggesting that this would constitute a bona fide autism charity under UK charity law.
  • I am not suggesting that every city would immediately be able to get such a facility, i’m saying in principle would you like there to be such a thing and should somebody start one somewhere in the hopes that it would spread to other locations?
  • I am not suggesting that an organisation of this kind could be funded purely by the membership fees of its autistic members. any more than a student union could be funded purely by the fees of its students. student unions get grants from the universities. an organisation like this would have to be in receipt of charitable grants from other bodies.

Parents
  • over 1 year ago

    I would think it needs to be set up as a proof of concept first before going for the big overheads of a lease etc.

    Yes it is a good idea providing we get people to come along. I would consider inviting other groups / sites that are advocating for autists to attend, have a stand there and possibly give a talk if you want to go down that sort of route.

    Venue wise I think hiring a venue for the day is the best way to prove it works and work out what the attendance will be like.

    Best starting point - London obviouly due to communication links and then Brimingham / Manchester and other cities from there.

    It will be a significant investment in the hiring fees plus staffing for each of there - have you costed these yet? Insurance should be a part of that.

    What sort of things will be on the go? I'm guessing you can persuade some people to come along and setup a dungeons and dragons game, model rail exhibition etc - autistic friendly persuits.

    Noise is likely to be an issue as are crowds. Some thought on how to minimise these should be taken.

    Overall a great idea and one worth investigating further. I would recommend partnering with an autist friendly organisation to split the admin and increase advertising reach.

    Just dumping some ideas as I'm heading out now.

  • over 1 year ago in reply to Iain

    What you seem to have in mind is more like an autistic convention with one/2 hour taster sessions. It’s not a bad idea as such. Maybe you book out one or two function rooms in a hotel for a day fill up one and two hour slots the volunteers wanting to run sessions around their special interests. And then you encourage people who met interesting people in one of the sessions to go and continue socialising in the hotel bar.

    I don’t know if there is a clear path for progression from a convention to something like a union. But the idea might have some merit. Maybe in Manchester where there seems to be a number of interested parties at the polls anything to go by.

  • over 1 year ago in reply to Peter
    Peter said:
    What you seem to have in mind is more like an autistic convention with one/2 hour taster sessions.

    That was where my mind was going as trying to get socialisation averse people to socialise is going to be like herding cats.

    Give them the opportunity to have a quick talk on something that interests them or is relevant would get them together and give an ice breaker topic.

    Later when there is more general mingling then there are more people talking who probably met others in a different lecture who introduce the first person and so on - hopefully a bit of a fission reaction of autistic introductions.

    Later on if this proves sustainable then you have the basis for modelling it using a permanent venue to see if it can be self sustaining.

    I like this sort of mind mapping exercise - maybe I should give a talk on it LoL.

Reply
  • over 1 year ago in reply to Peter
    Peter said:
    What you seem to have in mind is more like an autistic convention with one/2 hour taster sessions.

    That was where my mind was going as trying to get socialisation averse people to socialise is going to be like herding cats.

    Give them the opportunity to have a quick talk on something that interests them or is relevant would get them together and give an ice breaker topic.

    Later when there is more general mingling then there are more people talking who probably met others in a different lecture who introduce the first person and so on - hopefully a bit of a fission reaction of autistic introductions.

    Later on if this proves sustainable then you have the basis for modelling it using a permanent venue to see if it can be self sustaining.

    I like this sort of mind mapping exercise - maybe I should give a talk on it LoL.

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