We host a Monthly Autistic Women's Group
Who are the Sessions for?
This group is for autistic women aged 18+ from the Surrey area who are interested in connecting with other local autistic women, are open to chatting about being autistic and meeting socially with a small peer group, can meet in person independently and are looking to make connections.
What is the aim of the Group?
The aim of this Group is to provide an accessible and safe space in which autistic women can meet their peers in a small group setting for mutual support, to share experiences of their challenges, information, support and explore opportunities to meet socially. The overall purpose of the group is to help autistic women in the Surrey area to connect with peers, share interests, socialise, discuss being autistic, gain connections and confidence to maintain social contact outside of the Group setting. Additionally we hope the participants will enjoy developing their life and work skills in a supportive and choice led environment.
Additionally this Group aims to support our participants to:
● Build positive social experiences in a supportive setting
● Appreciate the world around them including culture and citizenship both locally and globally
● Build trusting relationships with staff and peers and engage with those around them
● Further develop life skills in the home including managing their space, household tasks, life admin and cooking
● Understand their autism and support needs and how they can enable and advocate for themselves
● Explore their physical and sensory needs as well as well as their mental health and wellbeing
What will happen in each Group and how long will the Sessions be?
The group lasts 2 hours. This group will focus on skills and interests and is choice-led (there is no pressure to do anything, including chat, if you don’t want to). It may include:
- Arts/crafts activities
- Sensory and wellbeing activities
- Card and board games and a range of magazines and books, e.g., manga
- Skills development
- Building confidence accessing the local community
- Informal, facilitated chat
Who will be running the Group?
Our Women's Programme lead runs the Group. She is supported by other experienced and trained Appeer Facilitators.
Where will the Group be held?
The Group takes place in Woking and our venue which is very close to Woking Town Centre. It is a 5 minute walk from the shops and train/bus station.
When is the Group?
The Group takes place on Monday evenings, once per month, from 7pm till 9pm. Please see our Term Dates page for the dates of the Sessions.
What is the cost and how to do I book?
Autistic women can book a Session via their COACHA profile (tickets are available a term in advance so you can book 4 months at a time if you wish). If you are new to Appeer and would like to take part in the Women's Social Peer Group please sign up here.
Please see our fees page here for the costs. We can offer concessionary rates for those who may face financial barriers who are in receipt of Universal Credit or Tax Credits. As per our General Terms & Conditions, cancellations of at least 7 days prior to the event will be entitled to a full refund. We regret no other refunds can be given.
What if this Group is not suitable for me?
We are aware of two other women’s groups which you could consider accessing:
- The NAS Resource Centre, Godalming, run a women’s group for autistic women of all ages. To access the group, contact the NAS Assist Service for more information on 01483 521743 or
assist.surrey@nas.org.uk.
- There are London Women’s Group Zoom-based and in-person (London Bridge area) meetups for autistic women facilitated on a voluntary basis by autism support professionals. Contact
ascwomensgroup@outlook.com for more information.
The NAS Surrey Resource Centre also run two all-gender meetups for autistic adults: a Young Adults Group (focusing on socialising) and an all age group called Aspire, which runs a support group in several venues. Contact the NAS for more information:
assist.surrey@nas.org.uk.
Click below to find out more about more of our Women's Sessions:
