Published on: April 16, 2025
April is Autism Acceptance Month, and Compass Changing Lives has been celebrating.
Autism Acceptance Month is an opportunity to celebrate autistic people around the world, raise awareness for the difficulties autistic people face and promote acceptance of autistic people everywhere.
Autism acceptance comes from understanding, embracing differences, and learning from lived experience. To that end, Changing Lives has 4 Autism Equalities Leads with various lived experiences of autism, who lead the conversation. These are Meg Young (Training and Consultancy Practitioner) and Mel Johnson (Engagement and Equalities Practitioner) from the Specialist Team, and Education Mental Health Practitioners Megan Johnson and Sophie Davis from the Ilkeston and Bemrose MHSTs.
This Autism Acceptance Month, the Autism Health Equalities Leads reflected on their own lived experience of autism to create a series of Fact Files. These draw from both personal experience and professional expertise, to share insights on topics such as Echolalia, Stimming, and Sensory Sensitivities, as well as tools like Now, Next, Later boards.
These Fact Files have been shared with colleagues all month, with the hope that as well as providing valuable insights into autism and informing Changing Lives staff as to ways they can support autistic people, they will also inspire colleagues to explore autism for themselves.
That hope extends to others, as a few of these Fact Files have been adapted and shared with the people of Derby and Derbyshire, via social media and the Changing Lives website. You can read them yourself, here.
Compass Changing Lives are committed to ensuring their staff have ongoing opportunities for Continual Professional Development, empowering them within their roles. The Autism Fact File is just one example of how they foster learning, using both lived experience and professional expertise to inspire deeper understanding and inclusion.
Meg Young, one of the Autism Equalities Leads, had this to say of her own experience of autism:
“As an autistic person, understanding my own autistic profile was the first step in learning how to care for my wellbeing and recognising what my mind and body truly need. Self-awareness is the foundation of self-acceptance, and in much the same way, awareness of autism is the first step towards accepting and embracing autistic people more widely.”
Happy Autism Acceptance Month!
autism , Derby , Derby and Derbyshire Mental Health Support , lived experience , neurodiversity