Over 40% of autistic people in the UK (280,000 individuals) suffer from crippling anxiety. This is a huge barrier to any quality of life and contributes to autistic people being nine times more likely to take their own lives than the general population. NHS anxiety treatments require participants to express their feelings to strangers, often in unfamiliar surroundings; a virtually impossible task for many autistic people.
In 2016 the Pixel Fund supported the development of a paper-based toolkit to help autistic people self-manage their anxiety. In partnership with King’s College London and with the further support of the Pixel Fund, Autistica will translate this toolkit into a mobile app, allowing us to offer personalised support for autistic people suffering from anxiety nationwide.
This app is unique because it will be designed by autistic people, for autistic people. The app will help users spot triggers and provide strategies to help them self-manage their anxiety in a range of everyday contexts. We hope that this app will support autistic people to take control of their anxiety, significantly improving their wellbeing and quality of life.
On behalf of Autistica