Should there be such a thing as an autistic union?

It looks like Manchester is winning. Its too far for me right now. But I’m going go for a job interview there tomorrow. If I get it I’ll be commuting in twice a week. If that happens maybe we can look at getting some volunteers together and making some funding applications.

Yes I agree. We are the experts on our own experiences.

I'm in favour of one

are then you and I are coming at this from different angles. You’re thinking multiple groups might want to self organise. I’m thinking about a site for a test case. My thinking is if you can demonstrate it works once in one place you might be able to get the buy in from bigger organisations to roll this sort of scheme out more widely.

it’s always outrageously hard to be the 1st to do anything. being the 2nd to do something is a lot easier. because when you’re asking for help you can point to the first and say ‘look in principle this can work’ and people will be more inclined to dedicate resources to your endeavour.

i’m particularly thinking about the lottery funding. you can get just under £10,000 for a year long project through the lottery. but if you’re going to do something like that you have to pick the place that has the best chance of breaking through and being really successful so as to encourage people to pour more money into it after the first year is over. and also because it’ll be a really powerful example if you want to apply to do the same thing somewhere else later.

realistically £10,000 most of it is going to go on the venue Lease. If you’re lucky you have enough leftover for one full-time worker at minimum wage. Which means a scheme like this would need a lot of volunteer help to keep it running.

The venue is the service. That’s why I specifically referred  to student unions and the model they have for doing things. Yeah student unions have things like bars and advice and counselling services. But the one service that gets used more than any other is the venue itself. The fact that a student can set up a club and their fellow students can come and enjoy it with them. There is absolutely no way most student clubs could run without being given free room space by their student union. That is the service, the clubs are a service but they are also something that would only exists when the autistic people turn up and try to run them.

so the service is being able to go to your Union and say ‘I want to run a club’ and have them help you set it up and give you a space to do it. And the service is also for the lazier people or the busier people who don’t have time to run the club to be able to come and join a pre-existing club that somebody else has made.

whatever special interest you might have, be it my little pony, or Goth fashion, of the cultivation of succulent plants, in all probability there is nowhere you can go nearby to indulge in that special interest with other people who share it. But there could be. If there is an autistic union there is nothing to stop you booking a room for a pilot session and getting the union to spam all the other members of the union about the pilot for your new club. And then if enough people interested you can have your goth fashion / my little pony / succulent Fanclub.

and if your fan Club doesn’t work out somebody else’s will. And hopefully with enough people there will be enough variety for everyone to find some sort of special interest of theirs  there is a club for that they can join in with.

Yes there are also autistics in Wales and the Highlands who will need to be able to know who is near if they want to organise themselves too.
I don't think the goal of the poll is to have a winner, it's just to check geographic frequency among members of this forum which if the nearest city actually featured in the poll to them is over 300 miles away then that's not really "near" and won't show a more accurate picture of where we are all scattered to.

Okay, now I'm very confused as to what you actually want to happen.  

There really is no point in opening a specific venue if you don't already have the services to fill it with.

Example: you want to run a support group for autistic people to socialise.  First get a few people together in a cheap venue (church halls are usually much cheaper than business or conference centres) and try it out to see how it works.  Build up a community and then you have evidence to show how it works so that you can gain sponsorship.

While it may be nice to have a venue like you suggest, I think that it's not necessarily the space that people need most at this stage, it's available services and support.  Helping autistic people get advice on employment, daily living, mental health, appropriate medical care, even something as simple as timely diagnostic services.  

My point is that we need to be the change we want to see in the world.  If something is missing, do what you can to help fill that gap. 

That's true. But tbh I just feel like that ought to be standard these days.

Sorry must have misunderstood. I thought there was a link because both of the groups I have suggested above are run by and for autistic people.

Bristol fair enough. Are Swansea / Inverness really big enough? I mean if the point is to find a place a lot of people on here can get to they're kind of out of the way and small. does Swansea / Inverness really have any chance of 'winning' the poll?

They seem like they only do collective 'advocacy' which I'd usually term political campaigning. Nothing wrong with that but not sure how it overlaps with this?

great idea

Great idea! Have you heard of Autistic UK or The Neurodiverse Self Advocacy Network? These organisations operate in a similar way to a union.

https://www.autisticuk.org/

https://ndsa.uk/content/

The that’s a somewhat chicken or the egg argument. Student unions have universities to start them off. Working men’s club start when there is a large business nearby with lots of employees. Churches tend to start by meeting inside peoples homes. I’m not adverse to the idea of opening my own home up but I don’t actually have my own home and a lot of autistic people don’t.

The only thing to bring the autistic people together is the service you say you first have to bring people together to justify

can you include the South West please eg Bristol, Exeter, Plymouth

they get to use it for a month or there abouts, you apply to the council to go on a list and pick from that, I don't know the full details but that is what I've heard. I got the impression it was set up initially to make use of empty premises and to help new start ups get a high street presence for a period of time to gauge interest and get a foot in the door so to speak. I've seen local charities (wildlife trust, transition town etc) using it too.

Sorry, I seem to have misunderstood.  I was thinking about a union as the people involved, not the building itself.  My suggestion was to set up one of the groups or support services that you want to see and try to help it grow.

It's the people that get things like this going, not the buildings.  All the groups you mention like student's union, working men's clubs, even the church started off with a few people somewhere small, and as their numbers grew they gathered more resources until they had enough to get their own facilities.  

No it isn't worth it. Other people with Big ideas would only corrupt and ruin it for us. 

I think it may still be useful because even if you can't set it up personally maybe sone one who can would find it usefult o know if there is anyone lse nearby also interested in starting one up. btw can you add more options? Bristol, Swansea, and Inverness, would be good to expand the "map" outwards a bit more.

It's a bit academic if I'm not near by I can't contribute ... that said if you think it will help ... I'll do a poll based on the 10 biggest cities in the UK.