AWN Welcome Packets – Plain Language
Plain language translation by Erin Waters.
Adult Packet
Are you newly recognized as autistic, or have you just been diagnosed? We know this can be an exciting time in your life, you might also have many questions and things that you aren't sure about.
Our Welcome Packet is a great place to start. In this packet, people who are a part of AWN's community will share the things that they know about themselves as autistic people as well as how they've faced the issues in their lives in order to help guide you on your own unique journey to understand yourself. Each of us has had to come to terms with a society that makes it hard to be autistic.
It has been hard for many of us and those in our lives to accept who we are as autistic people. A big reason for this is because, very often, people writing and talking about autism are only used to seeing what autism looks like in boys and men, but not what it looks like in women or in people that don't think of themselves as one or the other.
We hope that our experiences can provide you with reassurance that you are not alone, and you are perfect just as you are. Welcome to our community.
Parent Packet
As the parent of a newly diagnosed autistic child, you may have many questions and concerns. When you try to look things up about autism it can be hard to tell what's true and what isn't true. You look things up in one place and it says something, but then you look the same thing up in another place and it says something else. This can make it hard to tell when you are really looking in the right places.
Very often, people writing and talking about autism are only used to seeing what autism looks like in boys, but not what it looks like in girls or in people that don't think of themselves as one or the other. This means that when autism shows itself in ways that aren't normally seen in boys, it can be easy for people to assume that it just isn't autism. This bias is another thing that can make it hard to find out what is true about autism.
This welcome packet is here to help you find the best support to help the autistic child in your life. In this packet, parents from AWN's community share the things that they have learned first hand from giving their autistic children the help and support they need. As Tara and Morénike both share, remember, your child is a gift, and they are the same child you had before you knew they were autistic.