Autistic Radio and Autistic Association Charity Open Meeting 2025 December 08

Autistic Radio and the Charity formed by Autistic People Autistic Association have open meetings every week.

Radio Days 2025 27 28 29 30 December

Grant from Scottish Autism organised after confusion.

Jane Kennedy Scottish Autism meeting on a Sunday as a volunteer.

Next steps to build a relationship independently with SA

Short 9 Minutes

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Episode Transcript

Jules-AutisticRadioCom (00:02):
The autistic radio open meeting and autistic association open
meeting is sponsored by autistic jewelsbecause this is a project worth investing
in and coming back to investment.
The first part of the agenda todayis a meeting with a representative of
Scottish Autism, the big conventionalcharity locally to us here.

(00:27):
Those of us listening to our meetings,who will realize that last week we
were a little bit disappointed in thecommunication and we were questioning
ourselves on how to go forwardwhen we weren't getting immediate
responses from the person at Scottish.
Autism is helping us with a grant,and I'm happy to say that that person

(00:52):
stepped up having listened to that.
And they met with us on a Sundaywhen they're not normally being
paid as a volunteer in the sameway that we volunteer our services.
So there was equity in that communicationand that half an hour was very helpful.
, We do have a small grant thatwe've already spent on improving

(01:14):
the equipment that we all have.
And furthermore, Scottish Autism.
Through this representative, we'llbe promoting autistic radio days
between Christmas and New Year.
I can't say how much they will promoteus, but the way I left that conversation

(01:36):
And you were, they Ray too, was that theywould be doing something helpful to let
their quite large database know about us.
Is that how you left it Ray?

Ray-AutisticRadioCom (01:48):
Yeah, , it, it poses questions as well.
Obviously we need a bigger conversation,but, , about, , awareness of Scottish
autism and their presence and howmuch anyone in the autistic or
neurodivergent community and elsewhereare aware of what they may be promoting,
um, and also how we angle thatagainst a greater British presence.

Jules-AutisticRadioCom (02:12):
Yeah, we are in Scotland here, , and
we're speaking worldwide.
So there, there is a kind of localelement to this, but you know, there,
there's nothing wrong in that, is there,it's all an extension of the community.
I think one of the things that impressedme about that conversation, , the
biggest thing that impressed meabout that conversation was that I

(02:36):
had expected that they would want.
, A big payoff that they would want tobe able to say, we are sponsoring you,
or, you know, we, we put the moneyin, this is why this has happened.
We are a charity, blah, blah, blah.
And the person saidsomething really rather wise.

(02:56):
They recognize that we are a quite an oddgroup of ragle, tagle punks and renegades
and revolutionaries and anarchists,um, of all kinds of different hues.
, A real circus of neurodiversityand that that is our.

(03:18):
Unique selling proposition.
Our strength, that independence ofthought that isn't under the the
of big charity is something thatthey recognize that we should try
and keep and hold onto as unique.
That impressed me.

Lucy-Autie-Unmasked (03:33):
Yeah, I'd be glad if they got that impression of us
because, um, deep down we are all tryingto, you know, affect some change and
shake things up a bit and, you know,have tricky conversations and all these
things and work with people as well.
You know, you know, like we, we havethese meetings with these behavioral.
Therapist type people, but it's, I, Ithink it's, it's important for them to

(03:55):
see us as, um, not going along with thingsnecessarily, but taking some thought and,
uh, doing it from our way and our angle.

Jules-AutisticRadioCom (04:06):
Yeah.
We've heard this kind of stuffbefore, but I don't know.
Do you think it's genuine this time, Ray?

Ray-AutisticRadioCom (04:13):
Have to say I'm, I'm thinking more like if we are, if
we are some kind of fringe, you know,a fringe can sometimes be a niche.
So it's all about empowerment anduh, very often the tradition is
that groups like ourselves willget kinda used to certain extent.
You know, it's like a mutualarrangement, you know, scratch
my back, I'll scratch your.

(04:35):
And then you become part of thesystem like the Edinburgh fringes
from its original activities.
So, um, I'm just thinking more aboutwhat is the niche aspect of being
who we are and how that plays here.
And I think she was responding to that.
Yeah.

Jules-AutisticRadioCom (04:54):
I dunno if I overplayed it, but I think
the niche we have is that weare of a certain age generally.
I think the youngest ofus is in the thirties.
Um, and we go up into our sixties.
We are this boomer generation,X generation who don't

(05:15):
realize that they're autistic.
They haven't been very well, um,discovered by the big charities.
We are a niche of a kind of lost autisticgeneration, that they have difficulty.
Providing services for, andmaybe what they're trying to do

(05:35):
is, is use that aspect of us.
I hope that's the case, but we'll see over

Ray-AutisticRadioCom (05:40):
time.
And that's only a fairly recentcultural wave, the awareness of
this age group, this generation.

Jules-AutisticRadioCom (05:48):
Yeah.
I think also the way you reach ourgenerations, or the generation, either
side of us is, is not the same asyou would reach millennials or Gen Z.
They would be all social media.
Our generation needs something a littlebit more traditional, much more leaflets,

(06:09):
radio, audio, things they can listento over a period of time without the
interruption of advertisements and things.
I think it might be that we have the,the medium that suits that group.

Ray-AutisticRadioCom (06:22):
Uh, I think they call that soft focus.

Jules-AutisticRadioCom (06:26):
Does anybody want to comment more on this?
I see we've got quitea few of us here today.
Um, there's nothingenormous there in the text.

Ray-AutisticRadioCom (06:35):
I wonder if people agree that we are a more tolerant group.
I hate to use that.
Um, compared to the identity issues of theyounger generations before, uh, after us.
Um.
We are maybe a wee bit more flexible.
I'm not sure about that.
We can be just as stuck inthe mud as anybody else.

(06:57):
But, um, and of course there's arebellious aspect to us, but, um, I
think it sometimes crops up that we don'twant to take sides in the identity wars.
Um.
We're a wee bit more open, so I justwonder if few people think about that.

Lucy-Autie-Unmasked (07:14):
Yeah.
Perhaps we're a bit more, I guess youcould say analog, , the identity thing.
I've really got my, my, mysort of toe in that anyway.
, , it's too political for me.
Um, although it's very personal, , becauseI have people who are affected by that.
. Yeah, maybe we're pre-internet age,, and also we've all grown up , with
our condition, being Neurodiverseand not really known about it.

(07:36):
We've been thinking inthe wild all these years.

. Jules-AutisticRadioCom (07:39):
Members just come on camera to put a big thumbs up here.
I think we're getting a general feelingthat we're on the same page , . Creating
a safe space for , the big charities,the organizations that are of concern
to autistic people where we candiscuss it with them is our niche.
We are not really a, we arenot a protest group in any way.

(08:01):
We want to put thoughts forward, butwe're trying to do it in a. Slightly old
fashioned way, long form conversations.
So a safe space for them too.
. Is there anybody who wantsto bring anything up?

Ray-AutisticRadioCom (08:16):
I'll just mention that jr's currently running
an advent calendar on Facebook.

Jules-AutisticRadioCom (08:21):
Oh, good.
We should follow that.
Get, um, Harry involved withthat on the autistic radio page.

Ray-AutisticRadioCom (08:29):
It's a good feedback medium and it's not data
harvesting, which is traditionally whatFacebook was all about with these things.
It's like, I'll post 11 things and thenyou post 11 things and then hey, they win.

Jules-AutisticRadioCom (08:43):
Okay, so next week we'll have to talk a little bit
more about what we're doing in radiodays between Christmas and New Year, and
there'll be some emails going around,I think, to, to organize ourselves
with this opportunity that this year itwill be advertised by Scottish Autism.

Spectrum Voices (09:02):
We speak our words, we listen, we speak our words, we listen.
We speak our words.
We listen.
We speak our words.
We listen.