Autism fact sheet

Autistic people often have higher levels of anxiety than other people, and can find change and uncertainty particularly hard to cope with. It’s therefore important that volunteers are there to listen to people who may be feeling very worried.

Autism is very wide-ranging, meaning there is no one ‘right’ way to support an autistic person. Most autistic people will be able to tell you themselves about how to support them, and these pages provide guidance on strategies that can be helpful.

Page last reviewed: 03 November 2023

Some autistic people may need a bit more time to understand new information – but as volunteers you are most likely to just be chatting and providing some human contact.

There are no specialist skills that you need – your compassion and your kind donation of time is enough to make a huge difference to someone’s day. If you are sharing information, make sure you are not providing too much information in one go, as this can be overwhelming and difficult for autistic people to process. Say what you mean in clear, everyday language.

Page last reviewed: 19 October 2023

Remember that some autistic people find it harder to identify, and put into words, what emotions they are feeling straight away, so it’s important to be patient and give people time to express how they are feeling.

Do not put words into people’s mouths or make assumptions. Not all autistic people use words to communicate, especially if they are feeling very stressed or overwhelmed, but they might show some of their emotions with their bodies. For example, some autistic people ‘stim’ – this is a way of regulating emotions or sensations, and might be a repeated body movement or noise. You should never stop an autistic person from stimming unless it is putting them (or someone else) in danger.

Page last reviewed: 20 December 2023

One way to help reduce anxiety is to feel like you have some control. If you are supporting an autistic person and they feel like want to have some more control, chatting about things they can control, like their daily routine, could be helpful. This might be working out times to eat, work and do some exercise. Remember everyone is different and not everyone will want or need help with this.

Lots of autistic people have one or several special interests, which it can be useful to talk about. If you’re chatting to an autistic person, make sure you are giving them the space to talk about things that they find interesting or relaxing. It can be helpful to encourage people to spend time doing the things that they find absorbing, as a way of escaping the overwhelming situation. Other things that might help could be objects or pets – and talking about these things can help too.

As with anyone you are supporting as a volunteer, if you have any concerns about their wellbeing, please contact the Support Team by calling 0808 196 3382^[1]

Page last reviewed: 03 November 2023