Resilience, Transitions,
itineraries

A Guide to Supporting Autistic Anglers

Community-built guides, first-person insight, and three reasons reasons why fly fishing is great for autistic folks.

Russell James The Punk Rock Angler · iFishBelong Community Guide Author

Part One

3 Reasons Fly Fishing is
Great for Autistic Folks

It Resets the Nervous System

Autistic folks are constantly making their way through the world that's not built for them, and this makes us more stressed out and bunched up, and we need a release. So fly fishing, the calm, meditative practice resets that nervous system.

It Engages Our Special Interests

We love having little obsessions and things that we can focus on. That's called a special interest. And fly fishing has a ton of them, from bugs to techniques to gear. We can just talk about it all day long within our fly fishing communities, and nobody thinks we're weird.

It Builds Resilience

Ever had a tough day on the water? Well, the more you overcome, the stronger you get. And that goes double for autistic folks.

We can just talk about it all day long within our fly fishing communities, and nobody thinks we're weird.

Russell James, The Punk Rock Angler

Part Two

3 Ways to Support
Autistic Anglers on the Water

Provide time for transitions

Autistic folks need time to get themselves ready for the next step in action. So when you get to the river, give time for the autistic person to get used to the environment to get used to the idea of what's coming next. This is really important.

Give Clear Itineraries and Guidelines

Us autistic folks need things to be spelled out, crystal clear every step of the way. It's really, really, really important to do this so that we can know what's coming and prepare ourselves.

Give Us Space to Stem and Cope with Secondary Overload

This is especially important after catching a fish. When I catch a big fish, I kind of, ah, you know, and give us time to do the stemming that we need to get ready for the next step in the day.

Autism Resources

For more Autism and other Ally Education, explore the resources at ifishibelong.org/resources.

— Russell James, The Punk Rock Angler