Support Groups

Chicago, IL-Downtown Women's Group

GRASP Chicago-Downtown Women's Group is a peer-run support group is open to women only, 16 and older, who are on the autism spectrum, though no official diagnosis is necessary. Since most of the other Asperger's groups and activities in Chicagoland are strongly attended by males, this group is an opportunity for women to not be outnumbered. We also can talk about experiences that are mostly relevant to a female group and present questions and concerns that may be uncomfortable in a mixed group.

Your coordinator: The facilitator for this group is Jamie Specht. Jamie can be reached at jspecht@grasp.org. The co-facilitator is Katie Levin, who can be reached at kjlevin419@gmail.com.

Meeting Dates and Location: Please see the GRASP calendar for details on upcoming meetings.

We generally meet once every ohter month on Saturday, from 2:30pm-4:30pm. Our group takes place at the Harold Washington Library but it can be a confusing building to navigate, so we first gather at Panera Bread across the street and then walk together to the library.

Gather at 2:30:
Panera Bread
501 S. State Street
Chicago, IL 60605

Group at about 2:45:
Harold Washington Library
400 S. State St
Chicago, IL 60605
Room 5S

Membership information is kept through the main GRASP office, so you must subscribe before you can attend. The Chicago Inner-City Women's group also requests that you RSVP on the CASPAN: Chicago Autism Spectrum Adult (and teen) Network Meetup Site, http://www.Meetup.com/CASPAN

Public Transportation Directions
All el lines have stops at or near the Harold Washington Library. For the Brown, Orange, Pink, or Purple lines, exit at the Library station.

For the Red or Blue lines, exit at the Jackson station.

Detailed information regarding train schedules, walking directions after leaving the train, bus schedules, and metra lines is available at the CTA website: http://www.transitchicago.com

Additional information specific to public transportation to the library can be found http://www.chipublib.org/branch/details/library/harold-washington/p/PublicTrans/

Parking
If you drive, there are a number of paid parking garages around the area. However, parking tends to be costly, so public transportation is highly recommended.

Driving Directions
If you do plan to drive, here are some directions:

From the north suburbs:
Take I-94 East. Take exit 51I to merge onto Congress Pkwy toward Chicago Loop.

From the west suburbs:
Take I-88 East to I-290 East. Continue onto Congress Pkwy.

From the south/southwest suburbs:
Take I-294 North to I-55 Noth. Follow to I-90/94 West and then exit 51H for 290 West. Continue towards the Loop on Congress Pkwy.

Cost: All GRASP groups are absolutely FREE to attend. However, GRASP survives on funding from foundations, corporations, and generous individuals. If you wish to donate to GRASP, we would gratefully appreciate it (and we’re almost certain to need it). You can make a tax-deductible donation with a credit card via our DONATE page or mail your check made out to GRASP to: GRASP, 666 Broadway, Suite 830, New York, NY 10012

Important note for all Chicago residents!!! GRASP currently has three networks serving the Chicago area; Chicago-Evanston, Chicago-South Suburbs, and the Downtown Chicago Women's group. GRASP also maintains good relations with non-GRASP groups. Because Chicago is spread out over such a large area, transportation may be a factor in determining which group is right for you. If you need to resubscribe to a different group, please go back to our main page and do so through the "subscribe" button as you did to get to this group. Other non-GRASP options are

1. A group that meets in the northwest suburbs run by Brian Tozzo

2. A group that meets in the inner-city through Chicago Adults with AS and Friends

GRASP Support Network Removal Policy
(out of over 5000 people, we've luckily only had to use this 7 times.
But there'll be more— we are vulnerable by design as we do not demand that everyone bring often-expensive proof of diagnosis)