MISSION

Hello. I'm Nigel Rising, Esq, Founder and CEO of Autistic Women Emerging ("AWE"). That's me in the picture on my first skydive. It was my 52nd birthday - the first after receiving my Autism diagnosis. From high school on, I had regularly experienced severe depression periods, crippling isolation and loneliness and unrelenting suicidal ideation. I made several attempts as well. Two months after my diagnosis, I conquered my greatest fear - skydiving! That's the transformative power of self-discovery.

My post-diagnosis journey has become a passion to help others who are still mired in that same darkness I experienced for most of my life. Despite working with over a half dozen mental health therapists through the years, I am the one who recognized Autism in myself. I was simultaneously diagnosed with ADHD and PTSD as well. Up to that point in my life, I thought I was simply a "bad" person to whom I was nothing more than a burden to everyone else because I was "different."

Once diagnosed, I read every book on Autism I could find on Amazon. I soon came to the conclusion that the most accurate information on Autistic women without an intellectual disability is from media created by Autistic women ourselves in the form of autobiographies, podcasts, YouTube channels, Facebook pages and personal blogs. I also noticed that the messages communicated by Allistic sources, especially mental health professionals, are often inaccurate, unhelpful, demeaning and void of accurate representations of our community as a whole.

Given this environment, it is very common for women to be misdiagnosed or miss out on an accurate Autism diagnosis altogether until well into mid-life. Too many health professionals provide services to women with no or, simply put, poor specific education or training in Autism. Most of the training that is offered via conferences, seminars or certification programs, ignore and dismiss our lived experiences altogether. Further, many mental health care professionals will not even accept Autistic women for treatment of common co-morbidities, such as depression, anxiety and PTSD, precisely because they are insecure about their understanding of Autism. It is no wonder that today, Autistic women are 13 times more likely to die by suicide than Allistic women. Research on those identifying as transgender or nonbinary is lacking and likely similarly poor in outlook. 

I created Autistic Women Emerging to address two major deficiencies I see in the status quo - how Autistic women see themselves and how mental health professionals see us. To address the first, we are dedicated to organizing events that highlight societal contributions of Autistic women and encourage a sense of belonging - the lack of which is often cited as a reason many attempt suicide. Second, we commit to organize Autism-specific training for health professionals so that they can confidently recognize Autism in women when they see it and follow diagnosis with care appropriately tailored to the Autistic mind. 

From my heart, I say this: Let not one more Autistic woman take her own life under the belief that she is no more than a "bad" person who is a burden to the people around her.