The National Autism Society (NAS) is launching a Hackney branch in April.
The launch event will take place between 7pm and 9pm on Tuesday April 2, during National Autism Awareness week, at Evergreen Adventure playground on Beehive Close, with a view to meet monthly thereafter.
The NAS, which is the UK’s largest provider of specialist autism services, is a charity with more than 100 branches across the country, all of which are led by volunteers.
Lucy Fagbeyiro, chair of the NAS Hackney group, said that the main aims of the Hackney group are to “foster an awareness and understanding” in the local community towards people with autism, and to “change people’s perceptions” of those with autism.
A statement from the group online reads: “We would like to invite all Hackney residents who have a connection with autism to the launch of a new group.
“Whether you are an autistic adult, a relative of an autistic person, or someone who works with autistic people, we want to hear your ideas about how a local NAS group can support autistic people in Hackney.”
Fagbeyiro stressed, however, that the group was not limited to people with a close connection to autism.
“We would like to work with local groups and individuals,” she said. “We can’t do it alone.
“Everybody speaks for people with autism. We want [those with autism] to announce themselves, to change the community.”
The launch of the NAS’s Hackney branch coincides with a survey by Hackney council’s adult social care commissioning team. The survey, which can be found here, opened in February and was devised to communicate with autistic residents in Hackney.
A statement published alongside the survey reads: “The City and Hackney Autism Alliance Board will use [the information collected] to help form the Autism Strategy.”
The strategy is intended to be a “plan of action which will help all local agencies work together to make services and the community friendly to autistic residents”. The survey will close on April 2.
This year marks the 10th anniversary of the Autism Act in England, which dictates that the government must review its autism policy over time.
