After more than ten years of leading Square Peg Society (SPS), it is time for me to retire. However, I cannot leave without expressing my love and appreciation for all the autistic adults and their families I have met over my tenure at Square Peg Society.
Through SPS we have tried to support, encourage, and provide resources and information to autistic adults and their families. We have focused our attention on the areas of concern to adults – post-secondary education & training, employment, independent living, & social & community engagement. While awareness has grown, over recent years, about the range of skills, capability, interests and learning styles of individuals on the Spectrum, needs are great, but services and supports continue to be limited. Whatever the barriers, I continue to have confidence that autistic adults have much to contribute, given opportunities to do so!
Therefore, I am sending out an appeal to anyone who might like to take up the challenge of re-imagining what serving this population might look like, today, ten years later.
To operate a non-profit, charitable organization such as this, first and foremost, you and your partners would need to have a love and concern for the well-being of autistic adults, and a vision for, and understanding of the type of programming appropriate to the sector of the autistic population you wish to focus on.
And then – the practical elements – you would need to have or find people who have the skills to post to and refresh a website and social media platforms, and the skills and experience to raise operational funds through grant-writing and fund-raising events & activities. We have now rectified a problem that we discovered last year with our charitable status filing, and so, as a baseline, we are now, once again good standing as a registered non-profit Charitable Organization in Canada. If you have the interest and energy to volunteer for this role, please contact me as soon as possible to discuss it further. We will help you in whatever ways we can! Otherwise, we will be shutting down our organization by the end of April. joette@squarepegsociety.ca
I know the hard work that autistics put in every day as “square pegs” in a world that does not readily accommodate your different ways of learning, as you try to hold onto your confidence and self-esteem in finding your path to being your best and most authentic selves.
Wishing you success, happiness and peace in all your future endeavours!
