It has been more than a successful Autism Acceptance Week for Leeds Autism Services! We have partnered with some great companies, delivered enlightening presentations and helped raise the profile of autism acceptance and the positives of neurodiversity in our community.

This years movement towards autism acceptance over awareness, see's us draw attention to the 700,000+ autistic people living in the UK, and not only making people aware of autism but actually aiming to include, appreciate and celebrate their contributions. 

We know with the right support, all autistic people are able to achieve their life goals, whatever they may be! We just need society to be a little more understanding, accessible and inclusive.

Quiet Hour Launch - Trinity Leeds

We partnered with Trinity Leeds to help launch their very first Quiet Hour (Tuesdays 10am-11am) in the shopping centre. The music is turned off, the hustle and bustle of the morning rush has subsided, and we have worked on creating a much calmer and accessible environment for autistic shoppers to enjoy. 

We were thrilled to see so much positivity and support from the public and all major shopping outlets agreed to take part in Quiet Hour by switching off music and dimming bright lights in their shops. 

The centre has many accessible adaptions available to make the shopping experience a more enjoyable and inclusive one. There is a quiet room and accessible changing room located at Guest Services and is available to anyone who may be overwhelmed or in need of a quiet space to decompress. Find out more by downloading the AccessAble guide to Trinity Leeds here. 

Thanks to Kye and the friendly team at Trinity Leeds for inviting us to join the launch and promote the work we do as a charity during Autism Acceptance Week. 

 

Quiet Tuesday - White Rose Centre

White Rose Shopping Centre invited our team to join them for an extra special Quiet Tuesday (10am-12pm). They run quiet shopping mornings every Tuesday and have made a variety of adaptions in the shopping centre for shoppers who prefer the noise down and a calmer shopping environment without music, product demonstrations or mall activity. 

The customer service team displayed a variety of sensory toys available to customers to use during their visit to help ease anxiety and promoted the centres accessibility features which you can find out more about on the White Rose Centre website. 

Cineworld, White Rose's on-site cinema also hold popular autism friendly screenings each month. Check out their website for current showings. 

We spoke to lots of lovely people and provided information on all the local services providing support for autistic adults and children in the city. We also had a great time showing off a selection of handmade arts & crafts made by our members and enjoyed helping make shopping experience's a more positive one for autistic shoppers.   

Eastgate Job Centre Presentation

Eastgate Job Centre in Leeds have worked hard to become one of the first DWP job centres in the UK to gain an Autism Accreditation from the National Autistic Society. So we took a visit during Autism Acceptance Week to see the accessible adaptions made for autistic jobseekers.

Updates include a new waiting room better suited for sensory needs, all staff have undertaken autism training, and processes have become more accessible to meet the needs of autistic jobseekers. 

Two of our members Barbra and Michael also gave an inspiring presentation to the Eastgate staff team about their experiences of looking for work and how they can better support autistic people to access their services and opportunities.

Statistics sadly show that nearly 85% of autistic adults are not currently in full time paid employment, however 61% of autistic adults do want to work. So the goal is turn these stats around and enable more autistic people to successfully find a job or volunteer opportunity they enjoy and can thrive at.

 

TRU West Presentation

Partnership & Development officer Danielle and fundraising volunteer Michael delivered a presentation about autism and neurodiversity in the workplace to over 100 members of the team at Transpennine Route Upgrade West (TRU West) to celebrate Autism Acceptance Week.

TRU West is an alliance of companies including Network Rail, BAM and Amey, and is coordinating the new government railway infrastructure programme to improve connectivity in the North. 

Thanks to Karl, former member of the Leeds Autism Services team for inviting us to share our knowledge and promote the positives of a neurodivergent workforce with different skills, abilities and viewpoints. 

Dream Big Quiz 2022

We hosted this years Autism Acceptance Week across both VACS bases and invited people to join us virtually on Zoom. There were a whole variety of trivia questions submitted by our members plus popular coloured rounds which got some of us scratching our heads but we all had a laugh and a giggle! 

We like to say a big well done to this years winner Catherine from our New Mabgate base. Congratulations Catherine, you smashed it and win this years trophy! 

What a great way to wrap up our Autism Acceptance Week events for 2022.

Like Our Work? 

You can support Leeds Autism Services in all sorts of ways not only during Autism Acceptance Week. Visit our support us page to find out ways you can raise vital funds and help us achieve our aim of creating an autism friendly society.

You can also contact our team for our FREE awareness campaign posters aimed to promote autism understanding, awareness and acceptance in schools, colleges and workplaces.

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