Scottish Women's Autism Network (SWAN)

Scottish Women’s Autism Network (SWAN) was established in August 2012 in partnership with Autism Network Scotland.

We meet for peer support and networking. We help each other by sharing our experiences and knowledge, having open discussions, women having the opportunity to meet like-minded women.

SWAN is a network of women each with a unique perspective, shaped by individual experiences and circumstances; we represent a range of views on all sorts of issues from diagnosis to gender, from ASC as a difference rather than a disorder, to life in general.

Responsibility for planning, administration, communicating with the wider group, other organisations and individuals who contact us has been taken on a voluntary basis by a small number of us over the years.  We also have an ever expanding wider network of women involved through our informal meet-ups, social events, Facebook Page, and so on.

Some of us are also involved in public awareness activities and presentation services; we are committed to promoting information exchange with practitioners and service providers.

We run monthly 'live' meet-ups for autistic women aged 18+ in Glasgow, Edinburgh, Aberdeen, Dumfries and Galloway (Stirling is coming soon!). Our Young Swans group for 15-17 yrs with their mother/female carer runs every 3 months in Glasgow.

We have a 'closed' (private) online Facebook group called SWAN Conversations