Autistic Girls Network has one mission and it’s to empower, support and provide community to autistic girls and autistic non-binary young people; for many years now autistic girls receive a diagnosis six years later than boys which can be detrimental to self esteem, mental health and the ability to do everyday tasks like go to school.
The average age of a girl with autism to be diagnosed is 11 to 13 years old but with NHS waiting lists and the decreasing self esteem of our young people, we all know this isn’t good enough and isn’t what autistic girls deserve; what they deserve is the resources and environment to thrive, self advocate and be celebrated for their differences.
Our group, held at Abergavenny Community Centre, is a safe space with low noise, capped numbers and absolutely no pressure to chat or join in (but our already attending young people do love a good gossip about documentaries!) As a collective we try to keep the routine as predictable as possible, we usually do craft based activities for example we have undertaken scrapbooking and pom pom making.
I joined the group and attending has made me feel validated in how I think and feel. For a long time I felt that my feelings were irrational and out of proportion but being a part of the group has made me realise that they are valid.
The group is run by our lovely volunteers who either have experience of autism or are neurodivergent themselves, the group also has support from the Abergavenny Community Centre who have gone over and above to accommodate the needs of the group while providing the perfect community location for us.
Our community group started when our Group Facilitator, Anna, who also happens to be the parent of an autistic young person, was searching the world wide web for a group that supports autistic girls which is when she found our charity; after many conversations and a lot of fundraising we started the first AGN face to face group for 13 to 17 year olds in Wales in November 2025.
Now for the informative piece, all of our volunteers are DBS checked and have undertaken appropriate safeguarding training, to attend the group you must be able to attend without needing a 1 to 1, have a diagnosis or be on the pathway to a diagnosis (self diagnosis is valid as well).
The group runs fortnightly on a wednesday 4:30pm to 6pm: TO JOIN OR FOR MORE INFORMATION EMAIL: anna.konieczny@autisticgirlsnetwork.org WEBSITE: https://www.autisticgirlsnetwork.org for resources, getting involved or to make a donation.
I would like to thank the Abergavenny Focus magazine for this opportunity, our amazing volunteers – Sharon, Hannah and Samiya – for supporting the group, the Abergavenny Community Centre for their kindness but the person I would like to thank most is our group facilitator for being so understanding; thank you mum.
Written by Lily, aged 15
