Know Your Normal
What is the Know Your Normal toolkit?
The Know Your Normal toolkit helps autistic young people to understand and describe what ‘normal’ looks like for you.
The toolkit helps you reflect on everyday things such as sleep, routines, interests, relationships, and how these feel when things are going well for you. By describing what is typical for you, it can be easier to notice when something feels different and to explain this to the people who support you.
The Know Your Normal toolkit is not an assessment tool. It is a practical resource designed to support self-understanding, communication, and conversations about wellbeing.
Who is it for?
The toolkit is designed for autistic young people to complete themselves. A parent, carer, teacher, professional, or other trusted person can support the young person to complete it if helpful.
A completed toolkit can also be shared with the people who support the young person, such as family members, teachers, counsellors, or healthcare professionals, to help them better understand what is typical for that individual.
Updated with autistic young people
This edition of the toolkit was updated in 2026 using feedback from people who had used the toolkit and through co-production with an advisory group of Ambitious about Autism Youth Advisors and professionals involved in developing the original toolkit.
Download the Know Your Normal toolkit
Background
Know Your Normal was first developed in 2017 as part of a wider Ambitious about Autism project led by autistic young people.
The project explored mental health and wellbeing, challenged stigma, and created resources to help autistic young people recognise and communicate their own experiences. Young people worked with researchers from University College London’s Centre for Research in Autism and Education (CRAE) to contribute to research about autistic young people’s experiences of mental health and support.
The 2026 edition of the toolkit builds on the work of the young people who created the original resource.
Research from the original project
You can read the research and reports developed as part of the original Know Your Normal project:
- Youth Patrons’ report of their experiences and research
- Full research report published in the Autism journal (2018)
Thank you to schuh
The 2026 refresh of the Know Your Normal toolkit was made possible through the generous support of schuh.
One of the key objectives of schuh’s partnership with Ambitious about Autism is to increase understanding of autism for our customers, employees and the wider community.
"Our team had a great time collaborating with young people from Ambitious about Autism and the charity's design team on this project. By sponsoring the updated Know Your Normal Toolkit we’ve invested in a resource which will help autistic young people and their communities to communicate, understand and support each other."
Greg Traill, Head of Brand Purpose and Partnerships
