Neurodiverse Self Advocacy Partnership CIC is a non-profit social enterprise dedicating to helping autistic people to realise their potential and achieve their goals. We are running a self-help information site and forum and innovative mentoring into employment programme that we call Tool Up. We won Innovate UK Women in Innovation award for one of our mentoring programmes and are now funded by the UK Community Renewal Fund. To help us manage the Tool Up programme we are looking for a Project Manager. This would be great for those looking to enhance their CV with a really solid professional exp ..read more

By Lucinda Herbert An 18 year old autistic man has set up a 3D printing press to make PPE for healthcare workers. Desperate to help out in some way, Jack Lowater used his own money to buy his first 3D printer, and in a few weeks has amassed 10 printers. “[The thing that] pushed me to start the project was the clear lack of protective equipment which medical workers were and still are crying out for.” With help from local bathbomb business Fizzy Fun, Jack was able to raise the funds to move forward. Having struggled to find work due to his inexperience, Jack was determined to find a way to help ..read more

“Spectrum 10K”, an autism study billed as the largest of its kind in the UK, has been launched. The very community at the heart of it are petitioning for it to be halted, but the wider implications should be a concern to society as a whole. Under the new study gene samples from 10,000 autistic people are being collected, and combined with samples already gathered from 90,000 autistics around the world, including questionnaires, medical and educational records. The autistic community fears that the study opens the door to “eugenics” without proper accountability and safeguards. Being autistic m ..read more

Volunteer opportunity The Treasurer is a director of NeuroDiverse Self Advocacy Partnership CIC (NDSA) and shares responsibility with the rest of the board for the governance of the organisation. Directors are required to attend board meetings, all of which are virtual. Some knowledge of, and interest in the field of autism would be helpful and applications from the autistic community are encouraged.  About you We are looking for someone who has a professional accountancy qualification, but this is not essential if they can demonstrate they have other significant practical and appropriate ..read more

Voluntary role If building a secure digital infrastructure for an exciting peer to peer support project which could make a huge difference to thousands of people excites you, talk to us. You could be located anywhere in UK as this is a remote opportunity. What will you be doing? You would need to be able to lead our digital infrastructure from the front on strategic and on hands on level (occasional coding), integrating a number of building blocks taking ownership of the progress.  – Responsible for developing the IT strategy for the organisation. – Responsible for developing and implemen ..read more

My name is Meredith and I am an 18 year old student. I have autism, dyspraxia, functional neurological disorder, chronic migraines, various still being diagnosed neurological symptoms, idiopathic intercranial hypertension, hypermobile Ehlers-Danlos syndrome (hEDS), postural orthostatic tachycardia syndrome (POTS), scoliosis, an essential tremor, a bowing of the mitral valve, and chronic pain syndrome. Most of my diagnoses can be traced back to hEDS. Ehlers Danlos syndrome is a collection of genetic conditions that cause various malformations of collagen, which is a crucial structural protein t ..read more

An artist’s reflection on co-devising a participatory project which seeks to highlight the importance of relationships to autistic people, while investigating the questions of co-authorship and representation inherent to the process. I’ve never met Georgia Pavlopoulou, but our first phone call was a heartfelt exchange about neurodiversity, participatory and creative methodologies, and what we each aim to contribute to society. When we finally said goodbye, buzzing with ideas, we knew we could create something valuable and perhaps even unique together. That was 3 months ago, and since then we h ..read more

I went round to give my boyfriend a hand with some DIY this morning and he invited me in for a natter, as he wasn’t ready to start yet. So 10 minutes in, I begin getting twitchy. Why? I’m looking out of the window at a gorgeous blue sky. I can feel the heat through the window. It’s not that I don’t want to be doing DIY on a Sunday…but I just want to get it over with so I can get out in the sun! It’s a common thing with me, bordering on an obsession. The sun is out, so I must be too. I can’t bear to miss a drop of it, whether I’m sat on the beach, walking in the wilds or pottering in the garden ..read more

“It would have been so easy,” Mum says, “just to say ‘oh, she’s Autie’, on so many occasions.” We’re talking about how Mum and Dad have pushed me through the years, not to be normal, but so I would do better on my own. We shared the same attitude towards parents who prefer to shelter their children, making allowances when there is a solution and understanding that can be resolved. Those times Mum was referring to, when I would have meltdowns in public, when I was unintentionally rude; they push me through, make me stop and think about what I had just said or done. For them it was never about t ..read more

“Have a cup of tea.” Says a helpful voice, carefully placing a cardboard mug next to me on the grass floor. It’s the third festival I’ve been to with my Dad, by this time we have worked up a routine of starting our day in the comedy tent, theatre in the afternoon, then finding some music to dance to by late afternoon. That day hadn’t been much of an exception, although he’d left me at the stands to watch Two Door Cinema Club, preferring to find something slightly more unique to listen to. I’d sat and watched the far off figures on the stage, sitting completely still – only shuffling to pull on ..read more