The Big Social… AUTISM LUDO



Here in the West Midlands our focus for Autism Awareness Week is the social isolation faced by people with autistic spectrum disorders ( ASD ), their families and carers.

We know that people with ASD struggle everyday when interacting with other people; that they can often be misunderstood which leads to negativity and situations breaking down. We know that families and carers can feel unsupported in caring for their person with ASD . These issues leave members of the autism community feeling lonely, low and cut off.

Here at autism.west midlands we understand about these issues and we work hard to support where we can. But we also know that it’s a problem that generally our society doesn’t know about or understand the nature of ASD . It doesn’t recognise an autistic response to a stressful situation. What it does see is social awkwardness and antisocial behaviour. It doesn’t see the fear and anxiety that people with autism experience every day in life in just doing simple things like going to a shop or speaking to someone in a one to one situation. The fear and anxiety that can be so disabling that people with autism stop doing these activities, they withdraw and become isolated. It’s the families and carers who support them and protect them but as a result they too become detached from others.

For Autism Awareness Week this year we want to raise awareness of these social issues and we would like to call on you all to help.

Our aim is to connect people during the week through social activities. We want to bring people with ASD and their families and carers together so they know they are not alone with the difficulties they face, to encourage a greater sense of our autism community, all across our local communities within the West Midlands.

We know this will be a challenge for people with ASD by its very nature but by challenging ourselves we can help challenge others.

So the focus for our Big Social is going to be playing a game together. LUDO (from Latin ludus meaning ‘game’) is a simple game which has been enjoyed by families for hundreds of years. We have developed our own version of the board which is included for you in this edition of autism matters.




We want you to get together a group of any size for a social event and to play a game of AUTISM LUDO. This can be as little as two people or a lot more if you want. You may already belong to a group which you could dedicate part of your regular meeting time to for a game, for example: a parent support group, Cub Scout group or sports team.

You may decide to invite people to an event…some ideas for events include: • Tea party
• Coffee and cake morning
• Balti and Beer evening
• Sausage sizzle evening
• A sangria soirée

At your Big Social event and game of AUTISM LUDO you may like to take time to think of all the other people across the West Midlands doing the same as you.

We would love to hear about your Big Social and any good news stories… please take photos of your group and send them to us with details of who you are and what you did to:

The Big Social
autism.west midlands 18 Highfield Road Edgbaston Birmingham B15 3DU Or email husneb@autismwestmidlands.org.uk

Please look out for pictures and stories in the next edition of autism matters and on our website www.autismwestmidlands.org.uk

You can print off your own AUTISM LUDO Board
by clicking on the following link:

>>> AUTISM LUDO <<<