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Any experience with starting an AS support group?

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neshamaruach
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13 Jan 2009, 5:56 pm

There are no AS support groups in my area, and I'm thinking of starting one. Does anyone have any experience with that? I'm not sure where to begin.


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Babtor24
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13 Jan 2009, 7:08 pm

I do and it has been good and it has been bad.

The great part to it all is that you get to help people out and bring people together who might not normally want to get together.

The maddening thing is the turnout is not always the best.

As for where to start, look at where you live to see what kind of turnout you expect.

Then decide what you want the group to be about. What kinds of things you want to accomplish with the group as well as what you hope each group member can get out of the experience. I hope this helps and if you need any more help please don't hesitate to pm me.



neshamaruach
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13 Jan 2009, 10:48 pm

Babtor24 wrote:
I do and it has been good and it has been bad.

The great part to it all is that you get to help people out and bring people together who might not normally want to get together.

The maddening thing is the turnout is not always the best.

As for where to start, look at where you live to see what kind of turnout you expect.

Then decide what you want the group to be about. What kinds of things you want to accomplish with the group as well as what you hope each group member can get out of the experience. I hope this helps and if you need any more help please don't hesitate to pm me.


Thanks for your suggestions. They're really good.

Just one question: How did you go about finding members? I'm thinking I would put an ad in the local paper, but perhaps there is a better way to do it, like going through the regional AS support organization.


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millie
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14 Jan 2009, 12:45 am

hey nesh. i think that is a great idea. i hope you can get people attending. where i am - there are some around, although i have not yet been ,largely because my son i son holidays and i am snowed under with that for the duration of holidays. ..being at home a lot and just hanging around. I think they offer a really good support. I am all for that kind of proactive stuff - and i like the ideals of self-help approaches. We actually now more about how it is living with AS than specialists. it is the same principle as the 12 step stuff but without the crappy parts......

i intend to go later in the year....



neshamaruach
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14 Jan 2009, 9:55 am

millie wrote:
hey nesh. i think that is a great idea. i hope you can get people attending. where i am - there are some around, although i have not yet been ,largely because my son i son holidays and i am snowed under with that for the duration of holidays. ..being at home a lot and just hanging around. I think they offer a really good support. I am all for that kind of proactive stuff - and i like the ideals of self-help approaches. We actually now more about how it is living with AS than specialists. it is the same principle as the 12 step stuff but without the crappy parts......

i intend to go later in the year....


Thanks for the support, Millie. I hope I have the energy to get something going. It might have to wait until the spring, though. We are literally snowed under here and it takes a lot more energy to get things done than when the weather is nice. ;-)


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serenity
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14 Jan 2009, 10:08 am

neshamaruach wrote:
Just one question: How did you go about finding members? I'm thinking I would put an ad in the local paper, but perhaps there is a better way to do it, like going through the regional AS support organization.


You could try advertising on this sitehttp://www.meetup.com/ , as well as other approaches. That's where I found a local group for AS in my community. Having it laid out on an internet site is beneficial to me, as I am extremely hesitant to join any group, but if I can review the group, and activities at home first I'd be more willing to go. I guess what I'm saying is I don't like situations where I'm not sure what to expect, but if I can see what it's all about beforehand I feel less anxious.



neshamaruach
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14 Jan 2009, 11:07 am

serenity wrote:
neshamaruach wrote:
Just one question: How did you go about finding members? I'm thinking I would put an ad in the local paper, but perhaps there is a better way to do it, like going through the regional AS support organization.


You could try advertising on this sitehttp://www.meetup.com/ , as well as other approaches. That's where I found a local group for AS in my community. Having it laid out on an internet site is beneficial to me, as I am extremely hesitant to join any group, but if I can review the group, and activities at home first I'd be more willing to go. I guess what I'm saying is I don't like situations where I'm not sure what to expect, but if I can see what it's all about beforehand I feel less anxious.


I am the same way, and I imagine a lot of other Aspies are as well, so this is a great suggestion. If I put out the word via the local autism association or community newspaper, I'll remember to direct people to my email rather than the phone. It might also be a good idea to add a page to my blog about it so that people can see what I have in mind. Thanks!


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