One Stop Shop Aberdeen

A couple days ago we looked at supporting children with their education at home. Following on from this, today we will have a look at managing working from home. While our main focus is working from home as an autistic person, we have often found that what is useful for autistic people is generally useful for everyone.
As a working autistic parent, this is something I feel is very important to discuss! Part of autism acceptance means accepting I may need different supports,...
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Transcript for accessibility
Hi, I’m Marion from the One Stop Shop Aberdeen. A few days ago we looked at identity first language and why it’s not a negative thing to identify as autistic. As an extension of this, today we are looking at Autistic Pride and why it’s so important to many people within the autistic community.
We here at the One Stop Shop Aberdeen have organised and hosted Autistic Pride Aberdeen along the Triple As - Autism and SWAN: Scottish Women's Autism Ne...
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As the new school term starts next week, we thought now would be a good time to look at completing school work at home.
First off – this is not home schooling. Home schooling is more often than not a choice that people make. It involves meeting up with other home-schooling families, day trips to museums, libraries, parks. While some home-schooling groups will potentially be meeting online, the rest is highly unlikely to be happening. It is also highly likely that this way...
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There are many pros and cons to being diagnosed autistic. First let’s look at the pros:
Increased self-awareness. Many late diagnosed people report feeling like they were broken before diagnosis. They couldn’t understand why they couldn’t cope with some things that other people found easy. Knowing why you struggled in some areas, and why you found some things easier, helps you to understand who you are.
Self-care. Knowing who we are means we are better able to work with...
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There is a lot of discussion around identity first – “autistic person” – versus person first – “person with autism” – so today we will look briefly at why that is and what most prefer.
Multiple large scale surveys have repeatedly shown that the majority of autistic adults far prefer the use of the term “autistic” because our autism is such an intrinsic part of ourselves we can’t separate ourselves from it. It is not the only thing we are – all of us have multiple different ...things that may be core to who we are; our nationality, our religion, parenthood, marriage, jobs, our friendships, hobbies etc. - but it is core to who we are. Parents don’t describe themselves as a person with parenthood, they are a parent. I would say “I’m a woman” rather than “person with womanhood”. Given that autism is a neurodevelopmental difference, most autistic people see it as not something we have, but something we are. It may not be the only thing, but it is something that is central to how we experience the world, it informs how we process all our experiences.
Also, when we say “person with...” it’s often (but not always) used to describe something pretty awful - person with arthritis, a person with cancer. We use this to remind ourselves that the person we are describing is still a person. They exist separately from whatever else is going on with them. That is not the case with autism – it is not something added onto our brains, it is the way our brains are connected. While autism brings challenges, and for some people many challenges, it also brings strengths.
Being autistic means we experience being autistic all the time - every second of our lives, our being autistic shapes how we live. Everything we experience, it’s all informed by being autistic. And this is not a bad thing. Sometimes it can be hard going, yes, but sometimes it is joyful. Sometimes our sensory differences are difficult, but sometimes they can be wonderful. Sometimes our out the box thinking can help solve problems others could not. Sometimes we find joy in places others hadn’t. Please be mindful that person first language may be upsetting to some autists, so it is always best to check which language to use, or to follow the autist’s lead.
Marion@OSSAberdeen
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How to tell a child they are autistic is a common question, and it is something that should ideally be handled well. This may be their first introduction to autism, and the way it is presented could impact on how they view themselves.
Firstly, please don’t tell them until you can do it positively. We understand that lots of people go through a huge range of emotions when a family member gets diagnosed, and it’s not always an easy thing to make peace with. Many parents wonder...
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Most Autistic people love engaging with special interests, or SpIns. Not every autist has an area they are incredibly passionate about, but when we do it can often be amazing good fun. Right now there could not be a better time to dive right into a special interest, and they might be more important than ever, so let’s have a closer look at them.
First off, there are stereotypes that are not useful here - we are not all obsessed with trains or computers. Many girls and wome...
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A few days ago, while discussing stimming, I touched on the fact that being a middle-aged woman, I am not anybody’s stereotypical idea of an autistic person. So let’s look at why that is, what autistic people are actually like and why it’s important to challenge stereotypes.
When most people hear the word autism, the first image many people see is a small white boy rocking backwards and forwards. Possibly he is a math genius or has some other savant level skill. And yes, ...
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Today we are going to explore functioning labels and their impact.
You may see or hear people talking about functioning labels – “he has high functioning autism, she is low functioning”. Within the autistic community, and by many professionals, there is a big move away from using functioning labels. Too often, people considered “high functioning” would be deemed as ineligible for the support that they may need, and those deemed “low functioning” would be denied opportunitie...
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We briefly touched on the fact that some autistic people mask their stimming yesterday, so today let’s look at what masking is, how it impacts on autistic people and how to support autistic people to mask less.
Masking is when you hide parts of who you are in order to fit in. This is something we all do to some extent – the person we project when we are at work is unlikely to be the person you project when you are out with your friends or on a date! But the amount that aut...
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We thought a video would be an interesting way to look at stimming. For accessibility here’s a transcript:
Hi I’m Marion from the One Stop Shop Aberdeen and today I’m going to talk a little bit about stimming. Now stimming is short for self stimulatory behaviours and it’s something that everybody, autistic or not does. Stimming can be tapping a pen, jiggling your leg, twirling your hair, rubbing your hands together,anything that gives you some kind of movement and/or sensory...
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We all experience the world through our various senses – sight, sound, taste, touch, smell, proprioception (knowing where we are in relation to our surroundings), vestibular (balance), and interoception (knowing when we are hungry, thirsty, hot etc.). For some autistic people these may be heightened in some areas, and much less sensitive in others. Some of us can be extremely sensitive to certain stimuli and may avoid it, while others will actively seek those out. These sens...
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Many comments and memes on social media just now tell us that autistic people are fine with isolation and because we spend our lives practicing ‘social distancing’ it doesn’t impact on us - in fact we enjoy it. We feel it is important to stress here that many autistic people are as uncomfortable and disturbed with the lack of social contact we’re experiencing just now as anyone else.
All human beings need a sense of community, a sense of belonging. That autistic people spe...
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There are lots of opinions out there about Autism and playing. If you have an autistic child, you may have read or been told that your child won’t be able to play imaginatively, or that if they do, they are likely to take longer to do so. You may have even been told that your child plays inappropriately with toys.
The fact is that many autistic people play very imaginatively! Many of us have very vivid imaginations, compose music, write poetry and novels, are amazing artis...ts. Please do not assume that if you have an autistic child that they will be unable to play imaginatively. Many adults enjoy creative board and table top gaming, and there’s no shortage of autistic adults taking part in those!
Sometimes we play in different ways from other people – this is what is often referred to as inappropriate. We would argue that there is no right or wrong way to play. Your child may like to line things up or organise them, or spin the wheels of a train rather than building a track, if they are having fun and getting something out of their toys, that’s fine. If they are spending a long time spinning the wheels on a toy rather than pretend to drive it, it might be a good idea to buy some more spinning toys!
Some Autistic children may not show too much interest in playing with you or friends. That’s ok too. Many children like to play alongside other people rather than in a game together, and playing different things side by side can be lots of fun.
Watching your child’s play and joining in gradually is one way to engage with them. Learn their style, copy their actions and let them see you as someone they can play with. If they are drawing, you can pick up a pencil and some paper and draw something they like. If they are playing with characters from a tv show, act out one of the scenes from the show. Playing in parallel with your child can sometimes lead to playing together, but sometimes it might not. Showing them that you value the way they play is important – if you are joining them, you are a guest in their game, not the other way around. It is important for us to learn the rules of some games, e.g., board games and sports, so we can play these with peers if we choose to do so, but sometimes finding new ways to play with toys is great fun. Playing is fun - so don’t worry if the autists in your life play differently to how you expected. Give it a go, you might just enjoy it too.
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Autistic people are autistic all throughout their lives, every second of every day. We know that if we want to learn more about a minority group, the best way to do that is to speak to members of that group and the autistic community is no different. Those of us employed here at the OSSAberdeen have several lifetimes worth of experience of being autistic and are always happy to help others learn more about and understand autism better.
One of the most frequent pieces of fee...dback we receive when delivering training, providing 1:1 support or visiting groups is the value of hearing from the lived experiences of autistic people. Autistic people can highlight aspects of their daily lives that many others had not even considered.
Lived experiences are valid and powerful. We all know what it is like to imagine how something will be – having worked with children for a long time before becoming a parent I naively thought I had a good idea about what parenting would be, but the reality of what parenting is compared to what I expected is, of course, very different! It is one thing to imagine what something is like, it is an entirely different thing to actually walk in the shoes of someone who experiences it. So speak with autistic people, follow them on social media, watch the videos they make, read books and articles by autistic people. We are all vastly different in many ways, but there are reasons why we all have the same diagnosis – we share many of the same lived experiences. Locally in Aberdeen we have the One Stop Shop Aberdeen which is part of Aberdeen Autism Association, and also SWAN: Scottish Women's Autism Network which are all autistic led. Here is a very small selection of autistic people and autist led organisations on Facebook we suggest you check out too:
Agony Autie, Autistic Not Weird, Neurodivergent Rebel, Growing Up Aspie - A Comic By Nathan McConnell, Kristy Forbes - Autism & Neurodiversity Support Specialist, Beth Wilson - Artist, Autistic Inclusive Meets Community Group AIM, Yenn Purkis Neurodiversity page, The Autistic Cooperative, Autistic, Typing, Michael McCreary - AspieComic, AUsome Ireland, The Autistic OT, Labels Go On Soup Cans, Autism Is A Diagnosis. Leah Taylor Official., Haley Moss, Kayla Smith, Lydia X. Z. Brown - Autistic Hoya, NeuroClastic and so very many more.
Marion@OSSAberdeen
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This year many people have been using blue lights to show support for NHS workers. This is a time when the NHS is needed more than ever and we should absolutely express our gratitude for the hard work our NHS is doing, but in the last 10 years in April you will have seen people 'lighting it up blue' in various guises – on buildings, badges, or on their social media profiles - to raise awareness of autism. This is something the autistic community at large opposes, for several ...
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A slightly different poster with pop in times this month! We know this is a very difficult time for many people, and alongside our autism acceptance campaign, we are still here to support you with any autism related query you may have. Drop us a message or email to arrange an online meeting.
Marion@OSSAberdeen