Flyer promoting a series of community information sessions on understanding and supporting autistic people, delivered by Scottish Ethnic Minority Autistics in partnership with RISE Forth Valley. Topics include what autism is, common myths, communication and sensory differences, how to support autistic people, and rights of autistic people and their carers. Sessions are held at: Tullibody Community Centre, Alloa on 21 and 28 April and 5 May, 11:00 am to 1:00 pm Polmont Community Hub, Falkirk on 22 and 29 April and 6 May, 10:00 am to 12:00 pm Mayfield Centre, Stirling on 30 April, 7 May (online), and 14 May, 11:00 am to 1:00 pm Information is available in Urdu if needed. Contact details are provided for the RISE Parent Club coordinator. Logos for SEMA, RISE Forth Valley, and the Community Fund appear at the bottom.

Scottish Ethnic Minority Autistics (SEMA) is partnering with RISE Forth Valley to deliver a series of community sessions on Understanding and Supporting Autistic People.

For questions or to book, contact the RISE Parent Club Coordinator on 07740 283292.

#AutismTraining
#CommunitySupport

SEMA and ARGH Scotland Late Autism Identification Support Group - Registration Form Please take the time to complete our survey. Your feedback is important.

we kindly ask that support people do not contribute their own views or experiences during group discussions.

Registration link: www.smartsurvey.co.uk/t/SEMAsupport/

Deadline to register is 30th April

For more information send us a DM.

#SEMA #ARGH #InspiringScotland #Autisticsupportgroup

These sessions are designed to support Autistic people themselves. You are welcome to attend with someone who supports you with communication or emotional needs. To maintain a safe space for Autistic participants, 🧵👇

The sessions will take place weekly over 8 weeks, from Sunday 17 May to Sunday 5 July, between 7:00pm and 9:00pm.

There are 10 spaces available for this course. To book your place, please complete the registration form. By signing up, you are expected to attend all 8 sessions. 🧵👇

▸ What it means to be Autistic
▸ How to make sense of your autistic experiences
▸ How to explain to others what it means to be Autistic
▸ Your rights under the Equality Act, and what support you can request in education and work 🧵👇

They are particularly useful for those who have not been able to access support or receive information to help them understand what being autistic means, and what support is available.

By the end of the course, you will have a better understanding of: 🧵👇

With SEMA, ARGH Scotland will deliver this post diagnostic/identification course exclusively to support Black, Asian and Minority Ethnic people in exploring their autistic identity. These sessions are informed by both lived experience and professional knowledge. 🧵👇

There are groups and organisations that offer support for people who identify as Autistic later in life. However, we recognise the importance of understanding what it means to be both autistic and from a Black, Asian or Minority Ethnic background. 🧵👇

Free online “Post Diagnosis/Identification Course” for late-identified autistic adults in Scotland, specifically for Black, Asian, and Minority Ethnic individuals. The flyer features a scenic green Scottish valley background and logos for Inspiring Scotland, SEMA (Scottish Ethnic Minority Autistics), and ARGH Scotland. It invites participants to explore their autistic identity in a safe, supportive space. The course runs Sundays from 17 May to 5 July, 7:00–9:00 PM, for 8 weeks. Limited places available. Delivered by SEMA and ARGH Scotland through the Improving Access Fund.

Being assessed, or realising you are Autistic later in life, can be both a positive and emotional experience. It may help you understand why your experiences have felt different from those around you, or it may leave you with more questions than answers.

@arghscotland.bsky.social 🧵👇

That includes Autistic people in Sikh and Punjabi communities, who deserve to be understood, supported, and included without having to mask or shrink who they are.

Today, we’re holding space for that.

To anyone marking Baisakhi:
we see you, in all the parts of who you are.

#Festivals

They shape each other.

Baisakhi is about belonging.
About identity.
About being seen in your full self.

• feeling pressure to “show up” in ways that don’t fit
• having identity misunderstood, or reduced, or missed altogether

At SEMA, we recognise that culture, faith, neurodivergence, and community are not separate things.

But like so many cultural and faith moments, it doesn’t always get understood in the spaces people move through every day.

For racialised Autistic people, that can mean:
• navigating celebration and sensory overwhelm at the same time

Illustrated Baisakhi greeting poster showing a golden wheat field under a warm sunrise sky. At the top is the SEMA logo with the text “Scottish Ethnic Minority Autistics.” In the center, a circular frame made of wheat surrounds the message “Happy Baisakhi” and a short greeting wishing hope, positivity, and happiness. Along the bottom, colorful illustrated figures in traditional Punjabi attire dance and play music, celebrating the harvest festival.

Today, many in our communities are marking Baisakhi.

For Sikh communities, it holds deep spiritual meaning. It marks the founding of the Khalsa.
For others, it’s a time of harvest, renewal, and coming together.

#SEMA #Baisakhi

We want to highlight the importance of allowing yourself to be different and gaining the confidence to be proud. You have every right to be Autistic AND weird!

#AutismAcceptance #CelebratingDifferences
#Autism

The difference between knowing and not knowing leads to acceptance or rejection of one’s self. It can also mean the difference between life and death in some cases.

Many people in Black, Brown and Asian communities still don’t have the privilege of accessing this self discovery or acceptance for many reasons. As a result, the blame for their difference and ‘difficulties’ these cause within relationships are placed on them.

..subsequently able to explain myself to myself, then the emotions spiralled (and yes I had lots of those painful experiences in my past life living in a toxic relationship).

However, it’s only with self acceptance, confidence and understanding that those thoughts stay brief (still intense though). When this happened, say 10 years ago, when I had no real concept of what autism is, or insight into what autistic experiences are like from Autistic people &...

Poster for Self Acceptance Month by SEMA (Scottish Ethnic Minority Autistics). Background shows yellow tulips with one red tulip in the foreground. Text reads “Autistic, Not Weird!” with an infinity symbol. A bar chart shows responses to the statement “If there were a cure for my autism, I would take it.” Most respondents selected “strongly disagree” (54.99%) and “disagree” (26.95%), with smaller percentages agreeing or neutral. Bottom text reads “#CelebrateDifferences” and “sema.scot”.

There have been brief moments recently where I wished I wasn’t autistic. This was because of other people’s treatment, not because of any intrinsic flaws within me. When those people are very close relationships, it hurts even more.

Let us know what hierarchies mean to you as an Autistic person below.

#AutismAcceptance #April #Urdu #CommunityEducation

We will post four videos explaining these words in a nutshell, in Urdu.

Please share these videos widely as we try to make the acceptance & understanding of Autistic folks commonplace. Our lives literally depend on this much needed shift in mindset.👇 🧵

We start by the most commonly asked question: What is Autism? The answer lies in understanding our experiences. So we have chosen 4 key words to explain the essence of being Autistic.

The 4 words are:
1. Nervous System اعصابی نظام
2. Hierarchyدرجہ بندی
3. Autonomy خودمختاری
4. Context تناظر
👇 🧵

So for Autism Acceptance Month we would like to take the reflections from our community training project and try to educate folks about the basic principles of supporting Autistics in our communities.

@thendeducator.bsky.social 👇 🧵

Humanise (or re-humanise) us. Speak out for what you can’t see easily by just considering the experiences of Autistics suffering in genocides, apartheids, bombings, and capitalist exploitations.

The antithesis of hate and imperialism starts by #CelebrateDifferences.

From Scottish Ethnic Minority Autistics, our message is to not only advocate for those who look or live like you, but listen to voices that are different from your own to learn from them. Use your privilege to challenge and change the systems of oppressions. 👇🧵

which have all been allowed because of the increased dehumanisation of those who are different from us (or more precisely those with more proxy to power). 👇🧵

The day can feel like saviourism on a high - and who better to call that out than us racialised folks!

This year’s theme of Celebrate Differences is particularly important given the backdrop of increased overt racism and xenophobia, and increased global distress and crimes against humanity, 👇🧵

Two hands of different skin tones form a heart shape around a gold infinity symbol, with text reading “SEMA – Scottish Ethnic Minority Autistics,” “World Autism Day?” and “#CelebrateDifferences,” plus the website sema.scot.

We purposely didn’t post about World Autism Day this year.

There are merits to mark a day where organisations (private, public & 3rd sectors) all speak about this, however, a lot of times, they initiate conversations by omitting actually autistic voices. 👇🧵

This project is supported through funding from the Ethnic Minority Development Fund (EMDF).

#AutismTraining
#CommunitySupport
#RacialisedAutistics
#CulturalSafety
#SEMA
#TheNationalLotteryCommunityFund