1. Autism Awareness Week

2. So…what is autism?
Having autism means that I / we sometimes see the world in a different way than you might do.
People with autism feel, think and act a little bit differently from other people.
Sometimes people with autism think a lot about the things they really like, or get frustrated, sad and angry more easily than people without autism might.
Some people with autism like sounds or the way things feel that other people may not even notice or they may NOT like certain sounds or the feel of things!
Often, people with autism find change difficult and upsetting.
Things that might make sense to you, may not make sense to me / us!
Autism means that It can be hard for me to understand other people’s facial expressions or body language.
This can mean friendships are difficult, because a person with autism may not always act the way you would in a certain situation, or may not understand something the same way as you do.

3. How do you get autism?
You cannot ‘catch’ autism like you might catch a cold!
You are born with autism, just like some people are born with brown hair or freckles. It is something you have all of your life.
Scientists are still trying to understand how autism happens.
People with autism are sometimes described as being on the ‘Autistic Spectrum’ or having Autistic Spectrum Disorder (ASD).
This is because autism can be very different for different people – like the different colours of a rainbow are called a spectrum, but altogether they make the rainbow.

4. The good and the bad!
People with autism can find things certain things difficult that other people don’t– sometimes I don’t understand jokes or what people mean when they say things.
I can get ‘fizzy’ – all worked up like I need to explode! Sometimes I find it hard to know when to stop being excited or silly. Or sometimes I get really sad or cross and don’t know how to stop feeling that way.
Because you can’t SEE autism, sometimes people do not realise that it is because of having autism that someone might say or do certain things differently.
BUT seeing the world differently also helps me to be creative and experience the world in special ways – I love to write stories and to sing.
It means I can be really focused on the things I find interesting and notice things you may not.

5. Lots of people have autism!
About 1 in 100 people have autism
Many famous people have autism:
Bill Gates (founder of Microsoft)
Steve Jobs (founder of Apple)
Albert Einstein
Mozart
Michelangelo
Sir Isaac Newton…
Satoshi Tajiri, the person who created Pokemon, has autism!

6. Raising awareness and why it’s important to talk about autism!
Autism is a hidden disability – meaning that you cannot tell if a person is autistic by looking at them.
This can make it hard for people to understand why someone may be behaving or thinking differently to them.
Talking about autism helps people to understand. It reminds us that we are all different.
We need to be kind and help one another, because we might not always know what is going on for another person.

7. The Autistic Spectrum
This is a video I watched when I first learned I had autism – it helped me to understand what autism and the autistic spectrum is…
I felt happy to know I wasn’t alone with autism and felt inspired to share my experience too.
I have started my own website, writing a blog with my family, about living with autism.
I am really proud to be helping to raise awareness!

8. World Autism Awareness Week (26th March-2nd April)