7 reasons why we have World Autism Awareness Week

Autism & Asperger’s: What’s The Difference? Do you agree?

Autism & Asperger’s: What’s The Difference? Do you agree?

From the National Autistic Society

1) To spread the word far and wide about autism

World Autism Awareness Day is an internationally recognised day for bringing autism to the forefront of people’s consciousness throughout the world, taking place on 2 April.

Every year, in the week leading up to this day, we encourage people to take part in World Autism Awareness Week – a full seven days where schools, workplaces and individuals, their families and friends all over the UK are taking part in activities to raise money and awareness for The National Autistic Society.

2) To raise as much money as possible to support autistic people

We’ve come a long way in raising autism awareness, but there’s still more to be done until everyone understands autism. We need the public’s support to raise vital funds to continue running campaigns like Too Much Information, training and sharing knowledge with professionals working with autistic people, and so much more.

3) To support better education for autistic children and young people

Supporting autistic children is also about educating other pupils to better understand and help their classmates. Schools can sign up for a free fundraising guide and age-specific lesson plans to help schools teach about autism. The money our fantastic supporters has raised in previous years has even helped us campaign to ensure that every trainee teacher in England will receive training in autism from this September.

4) To walk through the night

Night Walks for Autism is the big lead up event to World Autism Awareness Week. There will be over 1,000 night walkers taking to the streets of London, Manchester, Glasgow and Bristol on 17 March 2018 to raise money in support of their daughters, sons, mums, dads, brothers, sisters, colleagues, friends… and we can’t thank them enough.

It was a sold out event last year so secure your place and sign up today.

5) An excuse to wear a Oneise!

Download our fundraising guide to find out about Onesie Wednesday’s return!

6) To bake like you’ve never baked before!

Here’s a new challenge – bake a cake for every day of World Autism Awareness Week and ask for donations from your colleagues. Sign up to find out more ideas of how to raise money at work.

We have a free autism quiz resource which is a fun way to raise money at work and means that you are teaching your colleagues about autism

7) To keep teaching, working and fundraising until everyone understands the 700,000 autistic people living in the UK

Read about our new event 7k for 700k, which is in support of the 700,000!

How is autism portrayed in the media? How should it be changed? Have your say here!

Autism in the media

Autism in the media

We have been contacted by Charlotte Andrews of Anglia Ruskin University.  She is  conducting a study which investigates how autism is represented within the media.

Ms Andrews writes “I am conducting this study to investigate different ways in which autism has been displayed in the media and make suggestions for how the condition should be displayed in the future.

There are numerous media campaigns, at any one time, about most medical conditions or learning developmental issues. However, I am keen to discover how we, the public, respond to them.

 Data recorded during this study will be analysed statistically with the aim of writing my undergraduate dissertation. If you wish to contact me for further information about the study, please do so via ca545@student.anglia.ac.uk. This research is not funded.
Your Participation in the Research Project

You have been invited to take part in this research because we all come in to contact with those who may have a diagnosis of autism in our daily lives. However, there is no obligation to take part in this study. Should you choose not to take part in this study, there will be no penalty involved. If you decide to take part in this study and wish to withdraw, you are free to do so without prejudice, within one week. If you choose to withdraw from the study, you can do so by closing the browser or contacting the researcher via email noting your withdrawal.

 If you agree to take part in the study you will be asked to fill out two questionnaires which will take no more than 20 minutes.

 There will be no risk involved in participating in this study, beyond that experienced in day-to-day life. All standard health and safety regulations will be adhered to, and a risk assessment will be completed prior to testing. There are no special precautions that you need to take before, during or after taking part in the study. Agreement to participate in this research does not compromise your legal rights should something go wrong.

 Individual participants’ results from this research will remain completely confidential, accessed only by me and my supervisor. You will be asked to enter a memorable code at the start of the study. Data collected from your participation will be stored securely for three years. After this period, all data will be securely disposed of. If, following your participation, you would like to withdraw from the study, please email me within one week with your memorable code to have your data removed from the study.”

Please go here to take part in the study.

Autism and Friendship

My Experience with Friendship

My Experience with Friendship

“My Experience with Friendship | Q&A

Not all disabilities are visible. My name is Katy and I have Asperger’s Syndrome and Fibromyalgia. I try and post regular videos about my lifestyle and experiences whilst learning to live with my diversities and disabilities. Hope you come along for the ride! *Disclaimer – I am not an expert and have no formal training. Anything that I speak about is purely from my own experience and my own research. Please seek the help of a healthcare professional if you are concerned about your health.”