World Autism Awareness Day

The Month of April is World Autism Month, and on Wednesday the 2nd of April we are starting the celebrations with World Autism Awareness Day!

Through coming together on this day, we can…

• Raise awareness of what having Autism means

• Challenge stigmas surrounding the topic of Autism

• Celebrate the many triumphs and achievements of people with autism

• Discuss the challenges people with Autism face throughout their life

So first, let’s talk about what autism is and what having autism may mean for your mental health…

Autism is a neurodiverse condition that impacts the way that people may think and respond to the world around them. It is a spectrum condition, and as such it affects people in various ways. For example, for some that may mean that being in places with lots of loud noises and crowds may cause them to experience sensory overload, whilst others may not experience this.

If you are autistic, you may also…

• Have different sensory needs, which could include things such as the previously mentioned difficulty around large noisy crowds, as well as things such as bright loads, textures, and strong smells.

• Interact with people differently. For example, things such as sarcasm may be harder to understand. However, just because some aspects of interacting with people may be difficult, autistic people can have deep, meaningful relationships with friends/family.

• Like routines and consistency. You may find comfort in having

  
  
  
  

  a routine which you follow regularly, and interruptions to this can be difficult to cope with.

• Experience Hyper fixations! There may be hobbies or interests that you become very hyper fixated on. For example, maybe you have a very intense interest in a game and, as such, spend a lot of time learning everything to do with the characters and lore.

Autism and Mental Health

Autism isn’t a mental health problem. But if you’re autistic, you may be more likely to experience a mental health problem.

The National Autistic Society reports that currently, 8/10 autistic people experience mental health problems.

This could be a number of reasons such as negative attitudes from people, differences in interacting with the world, misdiagnosis and barriers to support.

So, what can we do?

As a society it is important that we do what we can to increase our understanding of autism both in terms of the strengths and limitations. This could simply be done through just listening to someone and respecting their needs, and not just assigning weaknesses to them because of a title.

People with autism can do amazing things, and we should not let the stigmas of what we think having autism means overcloud that.

If you’d like to find out more information about Autism, and the support that is available please check out this link here -> https://www.mind.org.uk/information-support/tips-for-everyday-living/autism-and-mental-health/?fbclid=IwY2xjawJaGJBleHRuA2FlbQIxMAABHUignfOHzoyz7U64JxqlFgDBQGNiveuLnwdYGZWqwMWYv1wF8zbMlKoSvw_aem_jlYzj5wPCEYdRjZEZDJNLQ

Additionally, if you’d like to be involved more in World Autism Month, you can find info on how to take part here -> https://waam.autism.org.uk/

At Burton and District Mind, we are proud to have a diverse team, who are willing to go out of their way to adapt to the needs of the people who need our help, so that we can provide the best possible support.

 We are truly here for everyone so please if you need support, come and talk to us. We will help you!

If you need support for your mental health, please reach out to us today, you can find our contact info here -> https://www.burtonmind.co.uk/contact-us