AMASE (Autistic Mutual Aid Society Edinburgh) is a Disabled People’s Organisation with several hundred Autistic members in Edinburgh and nearby areas, as well as Associate Members around the world.
The member elect the Comittee every year at the organisation’s AGM.
Taking on the role of Chair from Fergus in July 2025, Fiona (she/her) had been on the Committee serving as Treasurer since 2019. Fiona found out she was autistic around 18 years ago, shortly after her youngest daughter was diagnosed. Since then, she became increasingly involved in autistic communities, as well as disability advocacy and human rights work. Outside of her working life, Fiona enjoys making music and exploring new places. With a background in finance, she is also a qualified Chartered Accountant.
Olly (they/them) joined the AMASE Committee in summer of 2025, and is often involved in setting up online and in-person gatherings for members. Their passion for organising with AMASE comes from knowing how valuable a community it was in the early days of discovering their autistic identity. They have far too many interests to list, but some current favourites include embroidery, bouldering and music.
Fergus (they/them) is an Autistic community organiser, writer and science tutor. They co-founded AMASE (Autistic Mutual Aid Society Edinburgh) in 2017, and remain part of its committee. They have an essay in Someone Like Me, an anthology of Autistic non-fiction and also chapters in three recent books about neurodiversity and education. They have written widely on these topics, as well as on science, philosophy and politics. They started Weird Pride Day (which is the 4th of March) in 2021, and run monotropism.org as a central resource for learning about the theory of Monotropism, and as an archive for their mother’s writing on this and other topics.
Jemaine (they/them) is new to the AMASE (Autistic Mutual Aid Society Edinburgh) Committee as of August 2026, though has been involved on and off in various ways for a while now. They’re originally from Australia, live in Edinburgh, and have lived in Scotland for over 10 years. They are a Psychology graduate and have been studying counselling, and have had lots of jobs in administration and with third sector organisations, though most of their experience in the UK in recent years has been in a voluntary capacity. They also volunteer with CAPS Independent Advocacy in the Oor Mad History project and the new Autism & ADHD group. Having moved internationally and discovering their neurodivergence (AuDHD) very late in life, they know first-hand how valuable communities like AMASE are. Lots of interests including games, puzzles, experimenting with being more creative, travelling / exploring new places (though annoyingly chronic pain / fatigue interferes with many of them, and chronic un / underemployment makes travel difficult!)
Luis (he/him) is a neurodivergent researcher, writer and advocate based in Edinburgh, working across neurodiversity, mental health and public policy. His advocacy is grounded in both academic training and lived experience: he is autistic, lives with Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder (OCD), and has Bulimia Nervosa, all of which shape his understanding of how distress and difference are interpreted—and often misinterpreted—within systems. He is especially focused on challenging reductive, uniform approaches in policy and practice, and on strengthening the role of lived experience in forming more embracing, realistic and humane responses. Through his writing and broader advocacy, he engages with questions of identity, stigma, and structural barriers, seeking to contribute to more subtle public conversations and better-informed policy development.