CASA Community Autism Support and Advice
CASA Community Autism Support and Advice
CASA is a support and information service for autistic adults living in Gloucestershire, plus their families, friends, and support networks, and is commissioned by Gloucestershire County Council.
We provide, drop-ins, information, peer support, one-to-one support, and resources (see below for a list of these).
We provide post-diagnostic support on a one-to-one basis focussed on an individual's goals. Examples of this support include communication, accessing community opportunities, reducing barriers to services, and understanding your sensory needs.
Our drop-ins are open to people who are diagnosed autistic and those exploring a diagnosis. At the drop-ins you can find activities, advice, information, guest speakers, companionship, and peer support. If you think you would need support at first to help you attend a group or drop-in, we can also provide that.
To find out exactly where and when our drop-ins take place, see the weekly reminders on our Instagram and Facebook pages, and they are also listed in our Drop-in Booklet.
We are excited to now be able to offer a post-diagnostic course for those diagnosed through Right to Choose, privately, or as a child. This is a free, online, six week course covering:
- What is Autism?
- Communication and Relationships
- Interests, Routines, and Habits
- Disclosure and Reasonable Adjustments
- Managing Wellbeing
If you'd like to sign up for the course, please fill in this form.
For individual support from CASA you can self-refer by phone on 01452 528491, or download and fill in our self-referral form (.docx file).
To refer a client to our service, please download and fill in our referral form (.docx file).
If you have any questions or would like to talk to us, please contact us via infocasa@grcc.org.uk or call 01452 528491.
If you'd like to donate to CASA to support our work, please use this link.
CASA Resources & Guides
- Useful Apps, Helplines and Web Pages for Autistic Individuals
- Autism, Employment and Reasonable Adjustments
- Autism Passport
- Employment Passport
- Grief and Feelings of Loss Passport
- CASA Drop-in Booklet
CASA News
September 2026:
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Our CASA team has created a new online Discord community for autistic adults, providing a safe, welcoming and supportive online space for people to connect with others who share similar experiences.
The online community offers a range of activities and resources, including dedicated chats for special interests, body doubling, opportunities to support motivation and everyday tasks, online events and social meet-ups, as well as discussions and practical tips around sensory management.
"We're always looking at how we can expand our offer and increase our capacity to support more people. We think that our new online community on the Discord platform will help autistic adults to find connection, understanding and friendship without feeling the need to mask or fit in, and will complement the 'in person' social opportunities provided at our drop-ins really well,” said Pippa Baker-Walsh, our Autism Support Lead.
"Our aim is to reduce isolation, encourage meaningful social connections and provide autistic adults with a space where they can communicate, participate and build friendships in a way that feels comfortable for them."
Like the in-person CASA drop-ins, the CASA Discord community is open to adults in Gloucestershire who already have an autism diagnosis and those who exploring their experience of autism.
You can join the CASA online community using this link: https://discord.gg/DXm89rEQP
July 2026: Please note that our old phone number of 01452 317460 will soon be disconnected. To contact us by phone in future, please call us using the main GRCC phone number, which is 01452 528491. Just ask for the CASA Team!
June 2026: We thought it was time for a new team photo! It's good to be able to put a face to a name, whether you're coming to one of our drop-ins, meeting us for one-to-one support, or are joining our "Autism and Me" course. So here we are, in the garden of our office at Community House, 15 College Green in Gloucester.
March 2026: New CASA Video! Pippa and Emma R have made a short video all about the different sorts of support and activities we provide for autistic adults in Gloucestershire. You can watch it if you scroll down to the bottom of this page, or if you want to share the YouTube link with someone, that's https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NRJoe_hQX8o
January 2026 : Our new six week course "Autism and Me" is starting in March. The course will consist of six two-hour-long online sessions, covering Autism and Communication, Communication and Relationships, Interests, Routines, Habits and Sensory Processing, Autism and Wellbeing, and Reasonable Adjustments, and is presented by Pippa Baker-Walsh and Summer Vergara. "This course is particularly designed to address the gap for those who have been diagnosed through alternative routes and not through local NHS Autism Diagnostic Services," said GRCC's Autism and Mental Health Project Manager Emma Royer.
During autumn 2025 we ran an inspiring, hands-on, 8 week Blacksmithing Course for Young Autistic Adults , thanks to funding from the Ironmongers Company and a link-up with the Earth Fire Iron exhibition at Stroud's Museum in the Park, where some of the students' final work was exhibited!
Also this autumn we've been busy helping other organisations to become autism and neurodiversity friendly, working with the Cheltenham Festivals (Literature, Science and Jazz), and Gloucestershire County Council's Occupational Health staff, and have worked with Gloucestershire Healthwatch and English Heritage.
We've just reached 1000 Followers on our social media! That's 400 followers on our Instagram , and 600 on our Facebook . It's great to be connecting with so many autistic adults, friends and families of autistic adults, and autism-friendly organisations in Gloucestershire!
Contact the project manager
Testimonials
Group Member
CASA Drop-in
To my relief and delight, there was ... somewhere I could be more myself, and somewhere I could relax and not worry about what others thought about me. ... The real benefit ... is being in an environment where everyone is different but with enough similarities that we can make connections. We get it, we get each other, and that is more valuable than gold.
Client
CASA
I’m so grateful for everything, and hope that you continue as a team to make the small adjustments that make a huge difference.
Client
CASA
It was good to speak with you yesterday. You have a very good tone. I like you, which is odd as I naturally dislike people the vast majority of the time. Thank you for extending your kindness towards me.
Professional
Gloucestershire
You’ve given really good advice, and helped us to know how to move forward with reasonable adjustments.
Client
CASA
They understand the things I’m experiencing and struggle with, which few other people seem to. They helped me find workable solutions to my problems.
Professional
Gloucestershire
It was wonderful to have you attend and to deliver such a fantastic presentation to our clinical team. I found the autism training session to be extremely informative and valuable to my practice as a clinician. It has encouraged me to reflect on my own approach, particularly in being more mindful of the language and tone I use. The training has also given me the confidence to engage in bolder and braver conversations, which I feel will greatly enhance the support I provide. I am very grateful for the insight and practical strategies shared.
Client
CASA
I really appreciate your help with everything. It's like I'm expected to have a degree in self-reflection and understand myself fully, which I don't. You understand autistic people from a different point of view.
CASA
Client
The support I’ve received from CASA has been life-changing and life-saving. The things that I’ve received support through, I don’t think I’d have made it through without that support. I would not have got a lot of the big life stuff organised without the help that I’ve had, and it’s opened up a new world of returning to feel useful.
Project manager
Emma Royer
Emma Royer - Autism & Mental Health Project Manager