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09:00 - 09:15	Welcome by the chairs Tom Purser, Head of Guidance, Volunteering and Campaigns, National Autistic Society Catriona Stewart OBE, Organisational Development Lead, Scottish Women’s Autism Network (SWAN)
	Session one
09:15 - 10:00	Inside a Community Mental Health Team Sarah McCulloch, autistic Mental Health Occupational Therapist Autistic people are much more likely to access mental health services than neurotypical people, for a range of mental health conditions. The mental health system can be difficult to navigate at the best of times, and the additional challenges autistic people face, especially autistic women, is widely acknowledged within our field but solutions have yet to filter down to the professionals who work with autistic people. In this session, Sarah McCulloch, Deputy Manager of a Community Mental Health Team and an autistic person, will describe some of these challenges and indicate some paths towards better and more effective care for autistic people.
10:00-10:10	Transition
10:10 - 10:55	Self-harm and suicidal behaviour – signs and strategies Dr Khalid Karim, Associate Professor in Medical Education and Consultant in Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, University of Leicester
10:55 - 11:15	Break
	Session two
11:15 - 12:00	Masking – impact on mental health and identity Dr Hannah Belcher, Postdoctoral Research Associate, Kings College London This session will explore the mechanisms behind autistic masking, the impact it can have on mental health, and ways to reduce it and better support individual wellbeing. The session will draw on research and lived experience. In particular, the aim of the session is to better understand: what masking actually is why autistic people mask what impact it can have on mental health and identity how autistic people can reduce their need to mask and/or improve their wellbeing whilst using such strategies how parents, teachers, and therapists can best support autistic people who do mask.
12:00 - 13:00	Lunch break
	Session three
13:00 - 13:45	What do autistic people need from mental health services Emily Katy, Autistic mental health activist and NHS governor This session will look at what autistic people need from mental health services, across each stage of their contact with the system from diagnosis to treatment. It will aim to give an understanding of what autism actually is, why it’s important to consider autistic people’s needs in mental health services, an understanding of autism-related factors which could impact somebody’s engagement and assessment, and a look at what adaptations to treatment, environment and communication methods could be useful. This will be based on the author’s experience and research studies, as well as including input from other autistic people.
13:45-13:55	Transition
13:55 - 14:40	Making psychological therapies (IAPT) work for autistic people Dr Georgia Pavlopoulou, Lecturer in Developmental Psychology and Mental Health, UCL Lead Autism mental health workforce trainer at Anna Freud Centre (IAPT and Tier 4)
14:40 - 15:00	Break
	Session four
15:00 - 15:45	Autism, trauma and PTSD Dr Freya Rumball, Specialist Clinical Psychologist, Adult ASD Assessment Service, Oxleas NHS Foundation Trust and Visiting Researcher, King’s College London This talk will provide an overview of the risk and resilience factors of trauma exposure and PTSD development, summarising why ASD individuals may be particularly at risk of developing PTSD following trauma exposure. Recent work exploring broader types of life events which may be interpreted and experienced as traumatic will be discussed. Finally, post-trauma support and interventions for the treatment of PTSD will be outlined.
15:45-15:55	Transition
15:55 - 16:40	Autism and loneliness Dr Lisa Quadt, Research Fellow in Clinical Neuroscience, Brighton and Sussex Medical School Dr Gemma Williams, ESRC Postdoctoral Fellow (Social Policy), University of Brighton Rachel Fricker Content warning: session discusses loneliness, mental distress, and death by suicide In this session, we will speak about the increased rates of loneliness in autistic adults, how feeling lonely affects their mental health, and the role of sensory sensitivities in loneliness. We discuss the contribution of society and highlight the evident need for accessible and welcoming environments. We will do so from three perspectives: empirical data points, qualitative interview results, and experiential insights. Learning outcomes: Loneliness is significantly higher in autistic adults and strongly linked with mental distress This link can partially be explained by sensory sensitivities Society contributes to this by systematically abandoning autistic people, creating a need for spaces that welcome all neurotypes
16:40 - 16:55	Closing remarks
16:55	Conference ends

		Additional bonus sessions On-demand sessions available as part of the event which you can choose to view at any time.
1		Alexithymia and emotion regulation Dr Sebastian Gaigg, City, University of London It is well established that autistic children, adolescents and adults are substantially more likely than their peers to develop mental health difficulties such as anxiety and depression. This talk will outline what is currently known about the factors that contribute to this increased vulnerability to mental health difficulties, focussing in particular on the role of alexithymia and emotional self-regulation. Alexithymia is a trait characterised by difficulties in emotional self-awareness that is relatively common among autistic individuals. Research consistently links alexithymia with mental health difficulties and this talk will provide an overview of why alexithymia is relatively common in autism, how it might lead to mental health difficulties such as anxiety, and what the implications are for effective mental health support for the autism community.
2		Autism and person-centred counselling Lisa Cromar, autistic Person-Centred Counsellor The workshop will have two main parts. In the first part, Lisa will provide information about autistic functioning, looking at the differences which an autistic person brings, compared to a neurotypical person, how it to live as an autistic person, understanding the world of an autistic person and getting a sense of how it is for them. Moving on to look at how counsellors might work with an autistic client, what counsellors need to be aware of, for example, how to form psychological contact and the relationship, how to attend to the environment, thinking about sensory issues for example, what we might ‘do’ to help facilitate. What we might need to be mindful of not ‘doing’ or assuming, for example addressing personal and body language which can be quite different. How all of this can be offered in a PC way. The aim of this workshop is for counsellors to raise their awareness and confidence levels in being equipped to help autistic clients. Lisa’s overall mission is to improve the experience of counselling for the autistic client group.
3		Autistic fatigue and burnout Dora Raymaker This session reports on the findings of a qualitative study to better understand the experience of autistic burnout. At the end of this session, attendees will be able to: Define autistic burnout and its characteristics Understand how autistic people experience of autistic burnout, what they think causes it, and what they feel might prevent or relieve it Identify how community-engaged research with the autistic community can shift discourse in research and practice
4		Autistic people with learning disabilities: ensuring the right support Steve Hardy, Independent Consultant Nurse for People with Learning Disabilities Professor Eddie Chaplin, Professor of Mental Health in Neurodevelopmental Conditions, London South Bank University This session will concentrate on the practical approaches to meeting the mental health needs of adults who have learning disabilities and are also autistic. We will also cover some of the limited research in this field.
5		Intersection or race and autism – self-identity and acceptance ‘being comfortable in my own skin’ Melissa Simmonds, Adult Autism Project Coordinator, Voluntary Action Sheffield The session will help the audience to experience Autism through the lens of the Black British community. You will understand the great need for more participatory and collaborative research into Autism in the racially marginalised communities within the UK. It will help to explain Autistic Masking from a Black perspective and why the concept of removing the (triple) mask has negative mental and psychological health connotations for such communities. The audience will leave the session understanding the privileges they have, and what they can do to support/ensure more racially marginalised Autistic people have a platform to talk about their lived experiences. Find me on Twitter: https://twitter.com/Mis_TAught