Clinician Version of Aspect Self-compassion Program for Autistic Adults (ASPAA)

Clinician Version of Aspect Self-compassion Program for Autistic Adults (ASPAA)

ASPAA is a self-guided online program for Autistic adults to learn to become more self-compassionate. The ASPAA – Clinician Version is designed for clinicians, therapists, psychologists and mental health professionals to support Autistic clients to become more self-compassionate. It consists of five modules for Autistic clients, with additional instructions for clinicians:

• Module 1: Understanding self-compassion
• Module 2: Benefits of self-compassion
• Module 3: Mindfulness
• Module 4: Finding your compassionate voice
• Module 5: Accepting our experiences

Each module features a mix of information, lived experiences of Autistic people, points of reflection and skills to practise. The additional instructions allow clinicians to tailor the modules to best support their client. The program can be run on desktop computers or mobile devices.

ASPAA was co-produced by Dr Ru Ying Cai and Dr Chris Edwards from the Aspect Research Centre for Autism Practice, with the support of Autistic advisors Aiyah Membery, Anna Gould, and Chris Day.

The pilot of ASPAA showed that after completing the program over five weeks, a group of Autistic adults became significantly more self-compassionate, had more positive emotions and higher psychological well-being, and had fewer negative emotions and fewer symptoms of anxiety and depression.

Listen to Gene, a previous participant, share how ASPAA helped him.

If you are an Autistic adult, you can register to access the free version of ASPAA.