Molehill Mountain is an app to help autistic people understand and self-manage anxiety. We had an interview with Autistica about their app, and the journey of it’s creation and development.

You can use Molehill Mountain to explore the causes and symptoms of anxiety.

• Track your worries and the situations that trigger anxiety.
• Get evidence-based daily tips to understand more about anxiety.
• Feel more confident to self-manage anxiety.

The app is co-owned by both Autistica, and King’s College London, and was funded by the Maudsley Charity.

More than half of autistic people have experience of anxiety, and 42% of autistic children are affected by anxiety disorders, as compared to just 3% of non-autistic children.

By using techniques from Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (CBT), the app takes you through a course that has been designed for autistic people. The app consists of daily logins to identify and pinpoint worries, track progress and work through daily exercises. This project originally started as a printed workbook, but the material felt more suited and engaging to be within an app.

The app also implements anxieties more typically associated with autistic people, rather than neurotypical phobias, and that is reflected well within the search engine of the app. This allows users to feel that the app is designed for them.

If I was to give one bit of advice about using Molehill Mountain, it would be to “give it time”. Some people will download Molehill Mountain and do one or two check-ins before quitting. This is too early. We know that anxiety affects a lot of autistic people so they would see a benefit if they kept using the app for a little while longer.

What is Autistica?

Autistica are the UK’s leading autism research and campaigning charity. Our mission is to create breakthroughs that enable all autistic people to live happier, healthier, longer lives.