Membership FAQs
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Anyone aged 18 or above is welcome to become a member. We have members who are on the autism spectrum, parents, family members, carers, professionals, support groups, hospitals and others who are interested in receiving the latest autism information. We have nearly 20,000 members from all over the world. Members need to be 18 or above, as there are voting rights. If you have any questions about this, please contact us on 0808 800 1050.
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If you pay by Direct Debit, your membership will be renewed automatically. Otherwise, the month before your membership is due to expire, we will send you a renewal notice in the post. You will then need to complete the form and return it to us with a payment for your next year of membership. You can pay by cheque, postal order, credit/debit card or Direct Debit. We can also take renewal payments by credit/debit card or Direct Debit over the telephone (unfortunately we cannot accept Visa Electron, Solo or American Express over the phone). Alternatively, you can renew online.
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If you would like to cancel your membership, please contact us on 0808 800 1050, and let us know your full name, membership number and reason for cancelling.
Alternatively, you can email our team on membership@nas.org.uk or write to National Autistic Society, 391-393 City Road, London, EC1V 1NG
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You can change your contact details at any time. Please contact us on 0808 800 1050 to let us know if your contact details have changed.
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Many people find it easier to manage their membership by setting up a Direct Debit. This means that your annual payment is made automatically and you don't have to worry about renewing every year. Paying by Direct Debit works out a little cheaper because we save on administration costs by only having to process the payment once. This means we can pass the saving onto you. If you would like to set up an annual Direct Debit, please contact us on 0808 800 1050. If you want individual or joint membership, you can also join online.
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Concessionary membership rate is available to those whose only household income is from state benefits. This may include pensioners. If you are on a low income and the cost of full rate membership is a barrier to joining us, you may also qualify. If you are unsure whether you qualify, please contact us on 0808 800 1050. Concession rate membership is subsidised by the charity, so please consider whether you can afford the full rate membership before applying.
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The outbreak of coronavirus has caused a lot of uncertainty in the world and has meant we’ve had to change the way we work. As such, we wanted to advise you of some of the effects that this will have on our membership scheme:
- If you have recently joined as a member, please be advised that we are currently unable to send welcome packs to new members via post. We will continue to send welcome communications via email, where we have permission to contact you in this way.
- If you pay for your membership via Direct Debit and amend or cancel your instruction, we strongly advise that you do so by contacting your bank or building society as our service might be slower than usual. We would also like to advise you that we are currently unable to confirm cancellation or amendment of a Direct Debit instruction via post. We will be able to notify you of any amendments by email, where we have a contactable email address for you.
- If you choose to start paying for your membership by Direct Debit and set up a new Direct Debit instruction, please be advised that we are currently unable to send confirmation of this via post. We will be able to notify you of this by email, where we have a contactable email address.
We sincerely apologise for the inconvenience that this may cause you and we will do our best to keep you updated of any changes. If you have any queries related to any of the information above or your membership in general, please email us at membership@nas.org.uk. However, as you might expect, our service is slower than usual due to the impact of the coronavirus. Thank you in advance for your patience.We’d like to take this opportunity to wish you well during these difficult times and thank you for your continued support.
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Membership is open to everyone. We have many members who are on the autism spectrum, as well as parents and carers. Our members' magazine has a range of articles to interest all kinds of members.
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Joint membership allows two adults living in the same household to take advantage of publications discounts and to vote in elections for our Council of Members. It also gives family members a chance to be involved and to show their support. Parents often take out joint membership with an autistic child who is over 18.
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Organisations receive most of the same benefits as all other members, and can get discounts on our conferences for their employees. However, they do not have voting rights. We suggest that an individual is nominated to be the main contact for the organisation so that they can receive communications from us. It is possible to change the organisation's primary contact.
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Unfortunately we do not currently offer a family membership option.
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Membership can be a great way of keeping up-to-date with what is happening if you are not based in the UK. The standard individual, joint and organisation memberships are available to those overseas at a slightly higher rate to cover postage costs. Unfortunately, we cannot support overseas members at a concessionary rate. In this instance, the Republic of Ireland is classed as outside the UK. If you would like more information about overseas membership, please contact us on 0808 800 1050.
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We are not sending welcome packs out at the moment.
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Your Autism magazine is an exclusive publication available only to members.