Bristol group creates safe space for autistic girls

An after school club for young autistic girls and non-binary people has been launched.

Mona and Serafina, who are both autistic, work with Neon Daisy in Bristol to create the safe spaces they say they wish they had growing up.

The organisation runs groups led by autistic people, raises awareness and has an online community for parents.

Serafina, 32, said "autistic kinship" helps to look after autistic people's wellbeing.

According to the Royal College of Psychiatrists, autistic women are 13 times more likely to die by suicide.

Serafina said this is a statistic the group wants to eradicate.

"When I was younger, there was no space to emote or express what I was going through. I also put myself into dangerous situations using drugs and in relationships," they said.

Serafina said they also struggled with suicidal thoughts before their late autism diagnosis at the age of 28.

"It would've been amazing to have access to a group like ours when I was younger,'' Serafina said.

"It was so tiring to put on a front all the time, I would cry whenever I came home from school.

"I would've been able to drop that mask to have more energy and experience less burning out."

Mona, 29, said when she was younger her mental health also suffered without a community to turn to.

"Early teens were a really difficult period for me. There's so much pressure to fit in," she said.

"I struggled a lot and was diagnosed with anorexia. It was the only way I could numb the world.''

Mona also had a late autism diagnosis at the age of 27.

"Understanding what you need when you're young gives yourself such a strong foundation for growing into an adult,'' she said.

"That's why we want to help young people, we want to prevent them from going down that pathway because when you feel that helpless it can become very self destructive."

She said if the pilot evening groups funded by the local NHS are successful they will create more in the future.

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