Our Facebook Community

36,000 families who already understand

It is eleven at night. You have read the same three sentences of an EHCP draft four times. Your daughter is awake upstairs and you do not know what to say to her in the morning.

There are 36,000 people in our Facebook group and a great many of them have had exactly that night.

This is not a signposting service or a page of leaflets. It is a large, actively moderated community of parents, carers, autistic adults and professionals, run by a neurodivergent-led charity, where you can ask the question you are embarrassed to ask and get answers from people who have already been through it.

What it is actually like

  • Moderated properly, by people who know the territory. It is not a free-for-all
  • No judgement about diagnosis status. Self-identified is welcome
  • Autistic parents and non-autistic parents both belong here, and many members work out they are autistic themselves while reading
  • Practical, specific help: EHCPs, school meetings, assessment routes, what to say to a GP
  • Free, and always will be

What families tell us

Reading AGN’s white paper and the posts in their Facebook group are what made me realise that I too am autistic as well as my daughter, and I can see from the group that I am very much not alone in that.

Sarah

AGN group is an online lifeline on a human scale for my two autistic teens and our whole family. Don’t know what we would have done without it.

Sheralee

I have learned nearly everything I know about autism in girls from Autistic Girls Network over the past two years. It has been a lifeline for us and helped us make some of the best decisions we’ve ever made for our newly diagnosed teen daughter such as online schooling. I don’t know what I’d have done without it.

Caroline

What a wonderfully supportive group this is. It’s saving my sanity.

Claire

I just want to thank you for such a great group. I’ve found everyone to be so kind and helpful, a place I can ask for help without judgement and with complete understanding.

Beth

As an autistic woman, I find the group good at being balanced and supportive for autistic parents. That’s not something you can say about many groups.

Jess

Sarah’s story

When my daughter really started to struggle, I searched everywhere online for help. I can’t remember where I first came across the AGN Facebook group – possibly recommended in another group, but it very quickly became my go-to place for questions, and more importantly for answers. I really liked that the content in there remains very respectful towards autistic people, because that’s not always the case in groups, and I soon realised why I felt that way – because I’m autistic too. I found this a really common thread in the group, which is mainly made up of women who have joined because of their child and now understand themselves better because of it.

Even now, I’ve been a member for years but I still find things I didn’t know, and many posts in there, as well as articles by AGN, have enabled me either to look at something in a completely different way or explain it better to those around our family. It has definitely helped us parent our daughter better – we understand what’s going on more which means it’s easier to co-regulate which means there are less meltdowns and life is just generally more chill. We pick our battles and we’ve changed our lifestyle to a way that just fits us better. I’m so glad I found AGN and very grateful for all the support we’ve had.

Before you join

The group is a support community, not a crisis service. If you or your young person are struggling right now, please call Samaritans free on 116 123, day or night, or contact your GP. The group will still be there afterwards.

It is free, and there are three short membership questions to answer so we can keep the space safe.

Not on Facebook? There is more here: