What if I told you that one of my three sons was diagnosed as the most profoundly autistic child several specialists had ever seen; that he had no spoken language ’til he was almost five and regularly mutilated himself, smeared poo round the house and physically attacked me every day for many years: bruising, scratching …
Announcing our Volunteers of the Year 2018 This year we’ve taken the unusual step of awarding the title of Volunteer of the Year to not one, but two of our longest-serving supporters. Bex Hemington and Mika Nightingale are an amazing team and have worked tirelessly with us right from the start of our journey, way …
MEET OUR AMAZING SPIDER-MAN AND HIS FRIENDS! We’ll be marking the release of Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse with the help of our own amazing Spider-Man and his friends including Mary-Jane and Spider-Gwen at Cineworld in Crawley on Saturday 15th November. Come and join us from 10am ’til 4pm for selfies in exchange for a small donation …
The latest in my ‘spotlight’ series focuses on fourteen year old Ollie Venning, better known as street dancer Ollie V. The struggles he’s faced will be all too familiar to autistic people, their friends and families, but with love, patience and no small amount of bravery on his part, he’s transformed himself into a genuine …
MEET OUR MAGICAL CHARACTERSAT THE BELFRY THIS DECEMBER! Our lovely Snow Princesses will be waiting to pose for selfies with you at the Belfry, Redhill on Saturday 1st December along with the wonderful fairy Godmother. They’ll be just outside the free Santa’s Grotto on the first floor (in the old Pep & Co unit) so …
***SPOILER FREE*** When Netflix announced their new series, Atypical, about an everyday family living with an eighteen year old son on the autism spectrum, I was intrigued to see how they’d handle the subject. Having watched the trailer though, I wasn’t sure whether they were laughing at autism or about it, and after reading some …
I was recently introduced to the incredible work of a young autistic man called Chris Baker – a self-taught artist from Cardiff, South Wales. I found his art so inspiring that I decided to find out more, and discovered the story of an ordinary family whose love, acceptance and determination to turn challenges into opportunities …
When you have a child, there’s something nobody tells you: suddenly your first priority becomes another person’s needs instead of your own, and this can take a lot of getting used to. Then comes the twist: as soon as you’ve adjusted to them being totally dependent on you, you have to start the impossibly difficult …
MEET OUR INCREDIBLE SUPERHEROESAT CINEWORLD, CRAWLEY We’ll be celebrating the release of Incredibles 2 with the help of our very own superheroes at Cineworld in Crawley on Saturday 14th July. Come and join us from 10am for selfies in exchange for a small donation in our buckets. We’ll also have our stall in the foyer, …
One of the most common myths about autistic people is that they don’t feel empathy towards others, and today’s post is designed to help people understand where this mistaken belief comes from. So, what is empathy? Put simply, empathy is the ability to understand what another person is thinking or feeling; but in reality, empathy …
