FAQ

Society acts like adolescents & adults on the spectrum don’t exist, that we just grow out of it or something. & for us adolescents/adults we usually feel really lonely like others our age don’t exist. Research claims that 1 out of every 59 people are autistic but where are the adults/teenagers?


www.facebook.com/Unashamedvoices It’s fairly anonymous the most we ask that are personal of any sort of identification are :

1. Age (to show that it’s not an age limit)

2. General vicinity ( you could say Texas, or be even more vague by just saying the country such as the United States) to show that we are everywhere

3. We ask for a photo representation of oneself. This doesn’t necessarily mean a selfie. It can also be a family pet, a drawing, a thing that interests them or whatever. The purpose is to show visually a representation of a person’s inner personality.

Common Questions

Can I be Anonymous? Yes
You will be anonymous unless you request not to be. I will only list your identity if you ask me too.

Where is my Story going to exactly?
This will only be here in the facebookpage: www.facebook.com/unashamedvoices . If someone would want this to be in a book or research study I will let you & other participants know so they can choose to back out or not. This is your story, you have every right to know what’s going on. I have a list of all my previous participants marked down so I can contact them again with any sort of updates. I'm a person who tries to keep my word as the best as I possibly can. I understand this can sound intimidating and putting yourself in a vulnerable position, that's why I try my best to not disappoint anyone. I am proud to say I haven't disapointed anyone as of yet when it comes to sharing their story.

Are you making any money off of this? If so, How? 
The answer is no. I just talk to others on my free time. I make $0 money off of this. If I were to ever make money off of it I would like to give sizeable portions to all that participated because I couldn’t do this without you

How do I Sign up?

send a message to www.facebook.com/unashamedvoices &Allison will get back to you as soon as she can.

What Happens if I sign up?

Step 1
Allison will introduce herself to you, and explain the process in more thorough details but a brief summary is once she explains the project in thorough detail & the process she will then ask if you are okay with this & if you have any questions or suggestions.

Step 2: if you disagree or no longer want to participate Allison will respect your wishes & will leave you alone. If you want to continue the journey Allison will give you a consent form for you to sign. The purpose of the consent form is to say you agree that you want to share your story and you were not forced to do so. It also says you were in formed of the project and agree to the terms without being coerced with 0 knowledge of the Project beforehand. This is just so I, Allison, will not be sued for sharing your story.

Step 3: Once the consent form is signed, Allison will explain how to share your story. We have a questionaire you can fill out as a road map, however you can choose not to answer those questions and go off talking about whatever you want instead. the purpose of the road map is because if someone approached me & said “you can share your life story! The world is listening. I’m going to go “well.. what does the world want to know? Anything specific? I have 29 years of life..” that’s why I created the questionaire as a road map

Step 4: Once you share your story & give a photo of some kind, Allison will write you down in her list of people's stories she needs to publish in the order she recieves them to be fair to the others who have been waiting. It usually takes 7 days or less for her to post your story. She tries to post 1-2 stories a day. She will contact you directly minutes after she publishes your story in order for you to be able to follow it.

Mission

Hello. My name's Allison. I’m 29; I was diagnosed with autism at age 3. I have 3 college degrees pertaining to helping people. I have a lot of experience working with people of all ages on the spectrum in various employment areas while earning my degrees.

Common questions I have been asked by many families with children & adolescents on the spectrum are about certain milestones such as "will my child/adolescent be able to hold a job?” The thing is, some of us do, and some of us don’t. That’s the beauty of autism; we are all so very different. When we struggle with one thing, we heavily compensate with another with our unique, special qualities.

Many families have these questions and many more. Families love hearing from adolescents & adults on the spectrum. Yet, society acts like we don’t exist, and therefore, there are not a lot of opportunities for us to be able to open up.

So, I decided to start a project! What the whole project is about is to give a voice to adolescents & adults with autism.

I want to give us the opportunity to speak up, to share our side of the story. So, I talk with adolescents & adults to  speak up & I want to reassure everyone that we exist & everything will be okay.

It’s my mission to show people that adolescents & adults not only exist, but we are fantastic! I want to give hope to families who are in fear of their children’s potential as they get older. And, I want to let other adolescents & adults who are autistic know that they are not alone. 

If you or someone you know wants to be a part of this project - let me know by commenting here.

This is for EVERYONE who is on, or suspects they are on the spectrum, as well as being on ANY LEVEL of the spectrum, whether you are NEWLY diagnosed, or have been diagnosed YEARS ago or WAITING on a diagnosis.

We have many accommodations set up if you wish to talk through email, Skype, FaceTime or Facebook. We publish each story anonymously unless requested otherwise. Stories can be written, made into a video or an audio file-whatever your choosing-we can accommodate for it!

Requirements:
1. You must be 14 years or older
2. You MUST have autism/aspergers or SUSPECT you do. (This is NOT for caregivers to speak for their children. This is FOR those with autism/Aspergers to have their own platform.)

Be strong & know that you are not alone!!

Updated 10/19/18

We also now do Q&As, so if you ever have any burning questions you want to ask-feel free to message me here or Unashamed Voices.

If you are a caregiver or someone who wants to learn more about autism through the eyes of autistics.

Our previous participants will have the opportunity to voluntarily answer your questions anonymously

All of it will be anonymous for the questioners & answers! 📣🗯