Leeds group creates online toolkit to make lockdown easier for those with autism

Advocacy group Leeds Autism AIM (LAA) has created the ‘Coronavirus Toolkit: Managing during lockdown’.

The web resource offers a series of templates to help autistic adults plan their day. It contains everything from meal planners, blogposts about lockdown experiences, to changes to hospital and GP services, and supermarket opening times.

The LAA has a personal insight into autism as it is co-led by autistic adults.

Luke Aylward, Leeds Autism AIM’s information officer, has first-hand knowledge of how hard lockdown has been for autistic people whose normal patterns have been severely disrupted.

He said: “Change in routines has been one of the biggest challenges for the people we speak to. A lot of the information that came out about the lockdown, about the rules, a lot of it is quite vague. Especially, the new guidance that the Prime Minister, Boris Johnson, gave an address about just over a week ago. There has been a lack of clear information from them. It has been difficult to know what they can and can’t do, how long they can go out for, and what services are open.”

Luke said the online toolkit held a number of assets to help autistic people get to grips with lockdown.

He said: “A lot of our staff team, myself included, are autistic ourselves. We’ve had a few issues of coping under lockdown. Some of the blogposts we’ve written, including one I’ve written, is about the difficulty of processing information. The blogposts have been pretty well received by many in the autistic community.”

Another part of the toolkit, which has had got good feedback is the Autism COVID 19 Alert Card. The card, which can be printed or downloaded onto your phone, provides a link to Government guidance for helping people with autism and the importance of regular exercise to them.

Luke said the card had drawn praise from West Yorkshire Police.

The information officer has seen a lot of people get help from the LAA since he started there as a volunteer in 2015. Around 550 people are helped each year. Luke then went on to do part-time work for them, before securing a full-time job with the LAA and its parent company Advonet.

When asked how he felt the LAA had helped the autistic community in Leeds, Luke replied: “We have helped people make their voices heard like when they are trying to access services and get what they need, like accessing housing support.”

The organisation has also helped people to get to know their rights. People have come away “feeling empowered”.

Fast forward to present day and it is a similar story.

Luke said: “We have had a lot of positive feedback about the toolkit. It has been viewed about 1,500 times since it was set up in late March.”

That coincides with the beginning of lockdown when many Leeds charities and groups had to suspend their face-to-face activities.

But online communication tools and more traditional ones have proved to be great ways of reaching out to vulnerable people during lockdown.

Luke said: “We are offering support by the phone, email, WhatsApp and text for the time being. Hopefully our Facebook groups will grow in popularity.”

He added: “We are still open and available. We are just working in a slightly different way.”

FACT FILE:

Leeds Autism AIM helps around 550 adults per year.

It is a free service for autistic adults in Leeds who receive little or no funded support.

The project was founded in late 2014 by Advonet (formerly Leeds Advocacy).

It was set up with autistic adults because there was a pressing need for ongoing support to help people achieve their potential.

Leeds Autism AIM is co-led by a number of autistic adults, carers and parents of autistic adults.

The group offers three main services: advocacy, information and mentoring. In normal times it runs a weekly drop-in session at its Lovell Park base on Tuesday afternoons.

Before lockdown, it also did quieter fortnightly sessions for booked appointments and groups at the same venue on Friday afternoons. Face-to-face diagnostic support sessions for recently diagnosed autistic adults were also held there and at BID in Leeds City Centre.

But it has increasingly been using WhatsApp, phone, text, email and video conferencing facilities since the freedom or movement restrictions halted its face-to-face meetings.

It has also recently set up two Facebook groups, ‘Peer Support’ and ‘Cafe Autistique’ discussion group.

The team has also created an online tool kit to help autistic people manage during the difficult period of lockdown.

SOURCE: leedsautismaim.org.uk.