ASK Autism North East - Professionals

12/11/2025

Than you for sharing More than Autism x

12/11/2025

1️⃣0️⃣0️⃣0️⃣

That is the number of young people My Rights, My Say has helped through advocacy. We are absolutely ecstatic to have reached this milestone. Huge shoutout to Partners in Advocacy 🤝

Children aged 12-15 have a right to be involved in decisions that affect their education. My Rights, My Say helps children use that right.

If we can help someone you know, please don't hesitate to get in touch 🙏

11/11/2025

Good afternoon,

This is a reminder that the next meeting of the Cross-Party Group on Autism will take place on Monday 24th November, 2pm-4pm.

You can now register for the event on Eventbrite, using the following link:
https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/1896156307559?aff=oddtdtcreator

This event will be hybrid and will take place both on Teams and in-person at the Scottish Parliament where food and refreshments will be available.

Continuing with the theme of intersectionality, this meeting is titled ‘Autism and Aging’ and will therefore focus on the experiences of older autistic people in Scotland.

If you are planning to attend in person, please register for the event and then email us directly at [email protected] with your full name and any access or dietary requirements. Unfortunately, we cannot guarantee access to the event in-person if we do not receive a note of your name to pass on to parliament security.

We have limited capacity for in-person attendance, so these tickets will be restricted to two per organisation unless agreed otherwise. They will also be secured on a first come first served basis.

Please note that this meeting will also be the Annual General Meeting. This means that the CPG office bearer roles (Convenor, Deputy Convenor, and the Secretariat) will be up for election/re-election. If you would like to nominate yourself, your organisation, or someone else for Secretariat, you can do so by emailing us at [email protected] no later than 5pm on Monday 17th November.

One week before the meeting, we will share a final agenda, minutes from the previous meeting, and the joining link with those who register for the event.

As always, if you have any questions, please don’t hesitate to email us at [email protected].

Kind regards,

Alexandra West
Policy and Public Affairs Officer
Pronouns: She/Her

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Continuing with the theme of intersectionality, this meeting will focus on the experiences of older autistic people in Scotland.

09/11/2025

Our next social stories workshop for parents and carers will be on Thursday 20 November at 10.30-11.30am. After just one hour you will be able to create your own personalised interactive stories for your children and young people!

Sign up now for your free place on our most popular workshop! https://bit.ly/43WYOUK

07/11/2025

A good post about teaching PDA learners

07/11/2025

Im writing a report thats making me both sad and angry. Harry is a four-year-old boy who started school in September. He is autistic, with high sensory sensitivities.

School is too noisy. Too crowded. Too unpredictable. He doesn’t understand what’s going on.

So — he bites. He hits. He kicks. He spits.
He’s not being “naughty”. He’s trying to survive.

His world at school feels overwhelming. The lights are bright. Chairs scrape. Voices echo. Children rush past him in a blur. His brain can’t filter or prioritise — everything comes in at once.

And because he experiences the world through monotropism — that intense, focused way of thinking and feeling — sudden transitions feel unbearable. When he’s deeply immersed in one activity, being told to stop and move to another is like being yanked out of a warm bath into a snowstorm.

His body reacts before his words can form. That’s not defiance — it’s distress.

Yet adults might say, “He needs to make good choices.” Or, “He has to apologise for hurting people.”

But how can he “make good choices” when his nervous system is in survival mode? When he’s overloaded, confused, and scared? Expecting logical reflection from a dysregulated child is not fair — it’s like asking someone to swim while they’re drowning. Hs behaviour is a nueral response, not under hos cognitive control.

He doesn’t need consequences.
He needs connection.
He doesn’t need a lecture.
He needs safety, understanding, and co-regulation.

When we start from compassion — when we understand why behaviour happens — we stop seeing a “problem child” and start seeing a child with problems he cannot yet express.

05/11/2025

The UN Convention on the Rights of the Child sets out the rights of all children.

In Scotland, every child has the right to additional support for learning to help them get the most out of school.

👉 https://myrightsmysay.scot/

05/11/2025