Table 2.
Overview of exploring being autistic
| Week | Topic | Content |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Introduction and establishing ground rules | The structure of the group. Overview of contents. Introductions. Sharing autism histories |
| 2 | Diagnosis/Identification of Autism—what does it mean for you? | Initial feelings about autism. Is the label limiting or liberating? Disclosure in different contexts |
| 3 | Social communication and Theory of Mind | Factual vs social communication. Implicit and explicit rules. Non-verbal communication |
| 4 | Improving social communication | Locating and moderating emotions. Face theory. Empathy. Social skills vs social connection |
| 5 | Sensory issues | Stimming. Hyper and hypo sensitivities. Emotional sensitivity |
| 6 | Executive dysfunction | What gets in the way of moving from motivation to action? Strategies. Time keeping |
| 7 | Attention and disparate ability profiles | Attention shifting, mono attention, special interests. Spiky ability profiles |
| 8 | Flexibility | Dealing with change. Use of routines. Perfectionism. Boundaries |
| 9 | Anxiety, depression and mental health | The relationship between autism and mental health. Benefits and pitfalls of disclosure |
| 10 | Where to from here? | Consolidation. Autism and the law. Planning for the future. Course evaluation |