AWEtism We Embrace Support Group
Welcome to AWE!
AWEtism We Embrace (AWE) is an online facilitated support group meeting on third Tuesdays from 6:30pm-8:30pm. Our meetings happen via Zoom, with a different Zoom link for each month. To get each month’s link, please email the founder, Shasti McLaughlin, at shastim@autismempowerment.org and she will send the link one week prior to each meeting.
AWE is a meeting for adults, and is unique in that both neurodivergent and neurotypical individuals make up our members. Adults identifying as autistic in AWE are not required to have a diagnosis. Parents and caretakers‒either neurodivergent or neurotypical‒raising children of all ages on the spectrum, partners, siblings, friends, and loved ones are free to join as well. Again, AWE is for all adults.
AWE enables advocates to join friends or loved ones who may feel trepidation when stepping out of isolation and into a supportive environment. This is due to AWE being open to both the neurodivergent and neurotypical cultures. Often, just the thought of entering a new environment- whether it be online or in person- creates enough fear to prevent one from stepping into a supportive space, whether one is on the spectrum or not. Sometimes advocates continue to attend, with or without those they intended to support. What they find is support for themselves they had not realized they needed.
AWE welcomes those who share a vision of creating as safe a space as possible for discussing our experience(s) of autism in our lives. We each walk through life observing autism; some of us firsthand, others from an outside perspective. Each of us has our own path to a greater awareness of ourselves and our loved ones. AWE is an environment of mutual respect to gain fresh viewpoints and better tools to understand our situations and each other.
AWE is not a therapy. It is about relating to our children, family, friends, and ourselves in a healthier way. The goal is to gain fresh insights rather than imposing existing and possibly limiting beliefs on others.
AWE is an environment to consider and embrace the pieces of autism that we may not have been taught to value. When autism is approached from a relaxed and open perspective, trust and self-confidence are allowed to flourish.
If AWE seems like a group you’d like to join, please email Shasti McLaughlin at: shastim@autismempowerment.org.
You can also join our facebook group AWEtism We Embrace Friends and Family at: https://www.facebook.com/groups/awetismweembrace
Information about AWE’s Founder
Shasti McLaughlin spent years in the public school system working with deaf youth severely impacted by autism. During her time in the schools, she discovered that no matter what level of functioning a person is diagnosed as having, all people are cognizant and aware of the world around them. All individuals want and have the capacity to learn, to develop and grow. She decided to follow each person’s lead in their learning, their understanding, and their abilities. She learned where and how we as individuals all uniquely pay attention; she has used her own understanding of that to open new avenues for others to interpret the world around them.
What followed her years in public schools was serendipitous: after leaving her job as a paraeducator, she gave birth to her own daughter who was diagnosed autistic at the age of 5. The journey she has been on since that time (her daughter is now an adult) has given her not only more intimate insights, but a desire to share what there is to embrace about the autistic experience.
In AWE, Shasti encourages members to share experiences and talk about the pieces that are difficult as well as what makes sense and feels good about neurodivergence. No one knows it all; no one has the Ultimate Truth. But in AWEtism We Embrace, members are allowed to be where they are and discover courage and community in their own time and in their own way.