Thursday

Charity of the Month // National Autistic Society

In February, I didn't have to think for a second before choosing two cancer charities for my Charity of the Month spot. The world had lost Alan Rickman, who I was completely besotted with, and I was- and still am- absolutely devastated. In my post, I mentioned that I'd lost two family members to the disease but at the time we were completely unaware that another close relative was oblivious to the illness within her. She was diagnosed shortly after I wrote my post and sadly passed away just two weeks later, so it didn't feel right to take down the sidebar images at the end of the month. Instead, I left them there until today, when it feels like a good time to highlight a different cause. After asking on Twitter, Helen suggested an autism charity, so I've chosen to feature the National Autistic Society.


National Autistic Society Logo
WHY NATIONAL AUTISTIC SOCIETY?

As a teacher, I came into contact with a lot of children who were on the autistic spectrum. We hear a lot about autistic children in the media, especially since the BBC broadcast The A Word last month. But of course, autism doesn't only affect children. Those young people are going to grow up to become adults, and their autism will still be with them, so it's important that we have organisations like the National Autistic Society who support autistic people no matter which stage of life they may be. 

When somebody has autism, they process information in a different way from those who don't, which can become overwhelming. They can also find it difficult to understand verbal and non-verbal language, making it hard to communicate with others. Because of this, some people judge those with autism who don't conform to societal expectations. All of these factors can make the world seem confusing and frightening to autistic people. Of course, not everybody with autism has the same symptoms. As autism is a spectrum condition, there are different variants, which includes Asperger's. 

The National Austistic Society works to make life easier for autistic people. They run specialist schools for autistic children, and provide support for those in mainstream education. For adults, they provide help with finding employment and accessing community groups to develop hobbies and build social skills. Everything they do is geared towards helping autistic people navigate through the world as smoothly as possible.

HOW CAN WE HELP?

There are a huge number of ways in which you can get involved to help the National Autistic Society. Raise money with sporting events, cake sales or more extreme challenges, such as abseiling or Tough Mudder. Volunteer with children or adults at NAS-run social clubs, share the Too Much Information campaign on social media or donate to help with the costs of providing support.

The world can be an intimidating place for autistic people but we have the power to help make it a little less scary. 

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5 comments :

  1. I'm Autistic and I really appreciate you acknowledging Autistic adults so thank you! So often dialogue is entirely based on Autistic children and their parents that a lot of people don't even realise it's not just a childhood thing and we even exist. I admit I was a little nervous seeing this post on my feed as so much information about Autism is stigmatised and fear mongering so I really appreciate you spreading accurate knowledge in this area! However Autistic people prefer being called Autistic to "living with Autism" which infers it's some kind of disease or something we've developed :)

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    1. Thank you SO much for this comment! To be completely honest, I made a conscious decision to say "with autism" instead of "autistic" as I'd seen a comment on this before. I must have got the two mixed up so huge apologies- I'm editing the post now. I really appreciate you letting me know so thank you!

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  2. Great spotlight for a charitable cause don't of think of. You're right that those children with autism will still grow into adults who need support still.

    So sorry to hear the loss of those close to you so suddenly ♥

    Mel ♥ everyword.meljwills.com

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  3. This is such a great highlight for autism as many really do not realise that there are autistic adults as well. Very sorry to hear about your loss xx

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  4. I'm so happy that you've chosen this charity! Also I really appreciate you mentioning not every autistic person is the same as it's quite a common misconception that we all have the same characteristics when that's not always the case. I guess it's an easy mistake to make but I'm glad more people are spreading the word, especially with me having Aspergers myself.

    Sorry to hear about the loss of your two family members - it's never nice losing a loved one.

    Ali | Ali Caitrin

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