Autism and university: self-help groups
Please note: Service offered in Italian. English-speaking autistic students can email the contact person in the "How can I get more information?" section below and express their interest in a potential English-language group.
Student self-help groups (Auto Mutuo Aiuto, AMA in Italian) for autism are a protected environment for confronting and opening up to new considerations on the issues one is experiencing, for accessing new solutions and in general for feeling less alone and alienated.
Thanks to the collaboration with Neuropeculiar Aps at Sapienza, there are two in-person groups that meet on campus and an online group.
The groups are initially led by trained autistic facilitators and then continue independently.
Ama groups can be attended by people enrolled at university (even at universities other than Sapienza) of any age and degree programmes who have a diagnosis within the autistic spectrum.
To register, simply fill in the online form, available here (in Italian)
What is a self-help AMA group?
A self-help group (AMA) is a protected environment in which people with the same condition (in this case, autism and university students) can share their experiences. The exchange of experiences, struggles, fears, attempts and solutions allows each participant to open up to new ways of thinking about the problems they experience, to access solutions they would not have thought of and, in general, to feel less alone and alienated.
Who can participate?
University students from any university and faculty who have a diagnosis within the autistic spectrum can participate.
AMA groups are open to 9 participants per group. If there are more requests to participate, we will try to form more groups.
When do the meetings take place?
- The in-person group will meet every second Friday of the month starting on Friday, April 12, 2024 from 4:30 PM to 6:30 PM. The day and time has been chosen so that this group will be at the same time as the other AMA group of autistic university students that is already active.
- The online group will meet once a month, with the day and time to be defined according to the availability of participants and the facilitator.
Who facilitates the groups?
The first 6 meetings will be led by a trained facilitator who will start a stable AMA group that will be able to continue the experience independently.
- The facilitator of the in-person group will be Enrica Lenci, educator, learning tutor, autistic person;
- The online group will be facilitated by Cosmo Godi, graduate student in psychology, facilitator of discord groups for autistic adults, autistic person and with ADHD.
Who are the organisers?
The AMA groups for autistic students are organised by the Outreach projects of the Faculty of Medicine and Psychology and the Department of Psychology of Sapienza University of Rome, in collaboration with Neuropeculiar Aps and are supported by the Office for Students with Disabilities and Specific learning difficulties of Sapienza.
Are the groups fee-paying?
Participation in the group is free of charge and facilitators do not receive remuneration.
How can I register?
To register, please fill in this form (in Italian)
You will be contacted by email to confirm the possibility of joining the AMA group and provide you with all the details.
How can I get more information?
Please email ilaria.miniopaluello@uniroma1.it by entering "AMA autism groups and university" in the subejct line.
Please click on the Italian version of this page for more information.