In January 2019, I established the first-ever Autistic Peer Group (APG) at UCL. Since then, I have handed over leadership to the next generation of students, and it continues to flourish as a part of the UCL Autism Society.
The primary goal of the APG was to create a supportive environment where autistic students could connect and support each other throughout their time at university. Establishing the APG was a way for me to provide the kind of support that I found lacking during my own journey through higher education. Navigating university life can be overwhelming, often marked by discomfort, anxiety, and self-doubt. A community like the APG, where shared experiences and mutual understanding are valued, would have greatly benefited me.
The formation of the APG was preceded by months of consultations on the group's necessity and strategies with the university's disability service. Initially, with support from my colleagues at the Centre for Research in Autism and Education (CRAE), we promoted the group by distributing flyers across campus. The APG started small, holding weekly meetings in a conference room in the CRAE building. Each week, I would anxiously wait to see who would show up and whether people would come at all. Alongside this, I also grappled with my usual anxieties about social interactions, such as wondering if I would know the right things to say.
Seeing the leadership role successfully passed from one generation to the next has been particularly rewarding. Belonging and connection are central values that I emphasized in both the APG and my PhD research on loneliness in autistic adults. I am pleased to see that the group continues to offer a sense of belonging and connection for autistic students, even after I passed on the leadership.
When I led the group, I prepared topic cards that we would place at the center of the table. These cards served as conversation starters; we would pick one to decide the discussion topic, unless someone was eager to discuss a specific subject. This method provided a safe way to initiate dialogue, with each person having the option to share their thoughts or simply listen. Recently, I discovered that the UCL Autism Society still uses the topic cards. It brought a smile to my face, seeing this tradition continue from our group’s earliest days.
This photo is a screenshot of the first advertisement for the APG from back in 2019!
