The National Autistic Society Garden creates a series of spaces dedicated to the different kinds of relationships in our lives - at work, with friends and family, with partners, or by ourselves.
It shows an autistic person’s experience, particularly the use of a strategy called ‘masking’. This involves mimicking socially acceptable behaviour, or hiding parts of oneself to fit in, but it can be unrelenting and harmful to their mental health.
The garden has three outer spaces, each with its own character to accommodate a type of social activity: a large, covered space to spend time as a family; a more formal space for colleagues; and an intimate corner for a quiet conversation with a partner. Each space is defined by a cork and timber screen - or ‘mask’ – which together create a fourth area, a sunken, protected sanctuary at the heart of the garden. This inner garden becomes a metaphor for the inner mind.
(Illustration by Kate Slater)
The rich text element allows you to create and format headings, paragraphs, blockquotes, images, and video all in one place instead of having to add and format them individually. Just double-click and easily create content.
A rich text element can be used with static or dynamic content. For static content, just drop it into any page and begin editing. For dynamic content, add a rich text field to any collection and then connect a rich text element to that field in the settings panel. Voila!
Headings, paragraphs, blockquotes, figures, images, and figure captions can all be styled after a class is added to the rich text element using the "When inside of" nested selector system.
The rich text element allows you to create and format headings, paragraphs, blockquotes, images, and video all in one place instead of having to add and format them individually. Just double-click and easily create content.
A rich text element can be used with static or dynamic content. For static content, just drop it into any page and begin editing. For dynamic content, add a rich text field to any collection and then connect a rich text element to that field in the settings panel. Voila!
Headings, paragraphs, blockquotes, figures, images, and figure captions can all be styled after a class is added to the rich text element using the "When inside of" nested selector system.
The garden will be relocated to the National Autistic Society supported living site at Catrine Bank, next to the river Ayr in Scotland. Catrine Bank is home to around 60 permanent or temporary residents and more than 250 staff who support them, and work in the NAS offices on site. Residents use gardens as spaces to escape when they need calm, staff need gardens for much-needed breaks in their demanding roles, and they all need spaces to socialise with visiting friends, family, and the wider local community.