IPA2 project partner Autism-Europe has gathered useful resources and tips from across the world to help autistic people and their families navigate the COVID-19 pandemic.
This time of crisis has been and continues to be particularly challenging for autistic people who see a disruption in their routine, and have difficulty facing uncertainty and change, all while their support services are also being impacted. It is essential that autistic people and their families are supported and provided with resources and accessible tools to understand and communicate about the situation and constant changes linked to the COVID-19.
Many people in the autism community are sharing resources and advice to support autistic people at this time. Below are a few resources that may be helpful to those of you in the IPA2 community.
Resources to help cope with stress and uncertainty:
- Webinar about maintaining calmness by Autism Spectrum Information Advice & Meeting Point (AsIam)
- Guide for people having difficulty to cope with uncertainty by Autistica, UK
- Guide to Anxiety in Autism by Sebastian B Gaigg, Autism Research Group, City University of London
Social stories and visual guides:
- Social story to explain the situation to children on the spectrum by AsIam
- Covid19 testing visual guide by AsIam
- Social story in Portuguese also available in English from Inovar Autismo (in Portuguese)
- Bank of communication tools for you to download and print, created in response to the COVID crisis by Patient Provider Communications
Other support initiatives, resources and tips from the autism community:
- Information page on COVID-19 by National Autistic Society (UK)
- Page regularly updated with resources by AsIam
- Visual resources in Portuguese by APPDA Coimbra
- Autism & Covid-19: How to Support Autistic People During the Coronavirus Pandemic by James Sinclair, autistic author
- Practical tips to support autistic children by INOVAND, Robert Debré Hospital (France). Also available in Spanish.
- Factsheets on behavioural issues, isolation of adults, the creation of planning of the Groupement national des Centres de Ressources Autisme (GNCRA) and many resources to help during the period of confinement for children and adults with autism (in French).
- Booklet in French to accompany autistic people out of lockdown by the Autism Resource Centre Val de Loire (France)
- Guidelines for managing COVID emergency for autism by the Italian Higher Institute of Health (in Italian)
- COVID-19 resources for autistic people by The Centre for Research in Autism and Education (UK)
- Online support help desk for Italian families of people on the autism spectrum launched by Fondazione Oltre Il Labirinto Onlus (in Italian)
Resources in easy-to-read accessible in various languages:
Inclusion-Europe has listed easy-to-read information available across the EU.
To access all resources put together by Autism-Europe, you can visit their website here.
