A Neuro-affirming Self-discovery Programme for Autistic Young People

‘BEING ME’ is a 10-week online group for Autistic young people, led by specialist Autistic Mentors and co-designed with our team of Young Leaders, using the latest affirming research on Autistic experience, identity and wellbeing.

Understandably, discovering you’re Autistic brings up all kinds of thoughts and feelings – curiosity, relief, confusion, pride, uncertainty, worry, perhaps even unhappiness.  ‘BEING ME’ offers a safe, thoughtful space for your young person to begin a journey – with peers who get it and Autistic Mentors who bring deep knowledge and lived experience. Together, we’ll explore what being Autistic – and being ourselves – means, feels like and can look like in everyday life.

At the heart of the programme is a gentle but powerful process:

Getting to know ourselves.

Learning to value what makes us who we are.

And finding ways to be more fully ourselves – in ways that feel safe, feel right and feel possible.

Tailored Approach

This programme is tailored to the specific group we’re working with. That means we adapt the content and approach to suit the individuals taking part. We aim to make each session meaningful, engaging and relevant, supporting everyone to take part in ways that work for them.

Young people can participate with their camera on or off, they can contribute or observe.  

What We’ll Explore

Over the 10 weeks, with up to 6 young people and 2 Mentors, we’ll move through themes that support connection, insight and self-understanding:

• Session 1: Getting to know each other – sharing joys, glimmers and interests

• Session 2: Neurodiversity and intersecting identity

• Session 3: What is ‘autism’? What does being Autistic mean to me and others?

• Session 4: Communication, socialising and friendships

• Session 5 & 6: Sensory experiences 

• Session 7 & 8: Looking after myself 

• Session 9: Self-advocacy

• Session 10: Wrapping up and moving forward

Within these sessions we draw upon neuro-affirming research and community knowledge on areas including but not limited to: Monotropism, PDA, ADHD, co-occurring neurodivergence, sensory profiles, stimming, routines, energy accounting, spiky profiles, masking, meltdowns, shutdowns, burnout, alexithymia, the Double Empathy Problem, boundaries and consent.

Each session includes a mix of discussion, creative or practical activities and reflection – shaped to the preferences and comfort of the group.

We also include an optional Young Person’s Activity Pack, for those who would find written materials helpful beyond the sessions. We even have two versions to choose from.

As our approach is rooted in our Neuro-affirming Foundations, we take a value-neutral stance: recognising strengths, honouring challenges and supporting young people to make sense of their own experience, in their own way.

Support for Parents & Carers:

To help families feel informed and involved, we:

• Include our GROVE ‘BEING ME’ Guide – a supportive companion resource with further reading and context. 

• Offer 3 x 1 hour parent/carer Q&A sessions (see the event description for dates/times) as an optional extra*, helping you make sense of things alongside your young person. *These require seperate booking and payment.

‘BEING ME’ is about connection, understanding and making space for Autistic young people to grow into themselves – with support, with insight and with community.

Your young person deserves to begin exploring what it means to truly know, value and be themselves.

Additional Key Features of GROVE’s ‘BEING ME’ programme:

• Neuro-affirming: We fully subscribe to the neurodiversity paradigm and reject the pathology paradigm and medical model framing of Autistic experience.  We also stand strongly against neurodiversity-lite too! As such, GROVE’s ‘BEING ME’ programme enables young people to explore and understand their Autistic identity and experience in a neuro-affirming way – we won’t define that for them, or tell them what they have to believe, rather we will give them access to affirming information and allow space for them to make their own mind up.  
• Diagnosis: Young people are welcome to join ‘BEING ME’ whether they have a formal diagnosis or not, we just ask that they know they are or might be Autistic. GROVE fully supports self-identification.
• Age Groups: Please check the events listing to see the suggested age range for the groups on offer. 
• Experienced & Reflective Mentors: Our Mentors bring both lived experience and deep knowledge of Autistic experience. Our Founder is just coming to the end of an autism Masters and within the team we have Mentors who are completing PhDs in Autistic experience as well as international speakers on autism.  That said, we are also humble and reflective, always considering how we can continue to learn and improve.
• Communication: We accommodate all forms of communication and work with you and your young person to support their needs.
• Trauma-Informed, Low-Demand Approach: We use a low demand approaches, helping your young person feel safe and comfortable. We are anti-behaviourist in our practice.
• Safer Recruitment: All of GROVE’s Mentors have been through a Safer Recruitment process which includes an Enhanced DBS check including children’s barred list check.
• UK & International: We are able to welcome young people from the UK, Ireland, Canada, USA, Australia, New Zealand, Dubai and all across the EU.
  

JANUARY 2026 GROUPS OPEN FOR BOOKING!

There are spaces available in our confirmed January 2026 BEING ME groups! 

Each group will include up to 6 young people, supported by 2 Autistic Mentors. Some may run as smaller groups with 1 Mentor if spaces are not filled.

The next groups will commence late April / early May and it is likely the level of discount we currently offer to self-funding parents/carers will reduce at that stage.

BEING ME PROGRAMME COST:

Full price places if funded via an EHCPs, personal budget, school, LA or any other professional body or means: £500*

If parents/carers self-fund we currently offer a 50% discount*.

You will be invoiced after booking – please only book if you are committed to proceeding. This is not a free programme, our booking system does not allow us to ‘hide’ the cost when we don’t want people to pay online up front.

*Prices and discounts remain subject to review. This programme cost does not include optional parent/carer Q&A sessions. Payment must be made in UK £.

WHAT DOES RESEARCH TELL US?

GROVE does not support the use of pathologising language & framing of autism in some of the following academic work however this does not mean we have nothing to learn from the research itself:

Studies have shown that learning about autism has been associated with “improved self-advocacy skills (60%), enhanced self-awareness of personal strengths (69%)” and indeed that when young people sought that information from other Autistic people there were better outcomes regarding self-esteem (Keily et al., 2020).

Particularly for young people the notion of ‘identity’ and ‘being Autistic’ has important connections thus “post-diagnostic support for young people and families to include opportunities to reflect on the diagnosis with others and exploration of the best ways to talk about autism is also recommended” (Mesa & Hamilton, 2022).

Cooper et al. (2023) state: “Moreover, developing a sense of pride in their autism identity may be more challenging in youth than for adults who may be in environments where they are less likely to face daily harassment and stigmatisation. Our research indicates that having a positive sense of one’s autism identity in adolescence and young adulthood is still associated with better mental health, despite the additional challenges that autistic young people face in making sense of their identities… Promoting a balanced sense of autism identity, including positive elements as well as acknowledging challenges, will be supportive of well-being in autistic young people.” 

Cooper et al. (2021): “Our findings provide evidence that developing a balanced view of autism, with emphasis on strengths associated with autism can have a positive effect for the collective self-esteem to the extent that the individual has a sense of affiliation with other autistic people. While this may happen ‘naturally’ for individuals over time, efforts by educational settings and support services may not only speed this process up, but also reduce the length of time spent living with a solely negative view of the condition. This may be particularly pertinent for early intervention with younger people post-diagnosis and our findings are highly supportive of endeavours … developing a more comprehensive and balanced view of the autism diagnosis.” 

REFERENCES:

• Cooper, R., Cooper, K., Russell, A.J. et al (2021). “I’m Proud to be a Little Bit Different”: The Effects of Autistic Individuals’ Perceptions of Autism and Autism Social Identity on Their Collective Self-esteem. J Autism Dev Disord 51, 704–714. https://doi-org.hallam.idm.oclc.org/10.1007/s10803-020-04575-4
• Cooper, K., Russell, A. J., Lei, J., & Smith, L. G. (2023). The impact of a positive autism identity and autistic community solidarity on social anxiety and mental health in autistic young people. Autism, 27(3), 848–857. https://doi-org.hallam.idm.oclc.org/10.1177/13623613221118351

• Hartman, D., O’Donnell-Killen, T., Doyle, J. K., Kavanagh, M., & Day, A. (2025). The neurodiversity affirmative child autism assessment handbook. Jessica Kingsley Publishers.

• Kiely, Bridget; Adesman, Andrew; Rapoport, Eli; Gutman, Alyson. (2020) Patterns and Outcomes of Diagnosis Disclosure to Youth with Autism Spectrum Disorder. Journal of Developmental & Behavioral Pediatrics 41(6):p 443-451. https://doi.org/10.1097/DBP.0000000000000802
• Mesa, S., & Hamilton, L. G. (2022). “We are different, that’s a fact, but they treat us like we’re different-er”: understandings of autism and adolescent identity development. Advances in Autism, 8(3), 217-231. https://doi.org/10.1108/AIA-12-2020-0071