My name is Amanda Riley and I set up Autism Unseen a number of years ago to create more awareness regarding autism at school level. My son Charlie who is severely autistic, had been placed in a normal secondary school where he was bullied relentlessly, he had no friends and experienced totally different levels of understanding with regard his condition at teacher level. Many parents with autistic children will agree that often the fall-out surrounding this treatment during the school day, does not happen within the school, it is bottled up by the child and is brought home, whereby the parents then have to deal with their autistic child going into total meltdown, in our case this resulted in self harm, low esteem and violence that often went on for hours. The home became the safety valve, where the child could take out the frustration of being different and ostracised by other children.

I believed a better understanding was needed both by teachers and pupils with regard how to address this disability. Children can be scared to approach or befriend an autistic individual, it is stepping into the unknown for them and it is generally much easier to be friends with non-autistic children.

So Autism Unseen was born, originating in North Lincolnshire, with a board of trustees from around the country, we are a UK registered national charity that will create more awareness with regard what it is like to be autistic. 

The problems still persist for autistic young adults, lack of friends, social exclusion, and bullying. Many are on the treadmill of life, going nowhere, shunned by a society that just does not understand. 

Our mission objectives at Autism Unseen are ever expanding, we receive incredible support from everyone we speak to, it seems that everyone in the country knows someone with autism. We have a small number of employers asking us for advise on the employment of young adults with autism, however national statistics show that 51% of autistic adults have spent time without a job, so the situation surrounding employment needs to be tackled. Young autistic adults can be an asset to any company, they are generally hard working, often very focused and fun to be around. Employers need to be taught and made aware that autistic individuals are more than capable of working for a living and 79% of autistic individuals on Incapacity Benefit say they want to work.

If you feel that you can help expand our charity, and help to make a difference, then we would love to hear from you. We are looking for fundraisers throughout the country, we welcome ideas for raising money and we need people on the ground the length and breadth of the UK, to bang our drum and to shout out our mission statements. With your help we can make a difference and between us we can grow this into a truly national organisation.

Please feel free to get in touch, just click on our website details below.

AUTISM UNSEEN – CHARITABLE AIMS AND BENEFITS

The board of Trustees agreed that the aims of ‘Autism Unseen’ will be exclusively charitable and that these aims will be detailed in our adopted Governing Document. It was further agreed that the objects of our charity, would be:

SOCIAL INCLUSION – “To promote social inclusion for the public benefit by preventing people from becoming socially excluded, relieving the needs of those people who are socially excluded and assisting them to integrate into society”. (For the purpose of this clause ‘socially excluded’ means being excluded from society, or parts of society, as a result of Autism).

YOUNG PEOPLE – To advance in life and help young Autistic people through: (a) The provision of recreational and leisure time activities provided in the interest of social welfare, designed to improve their conditions of life; (b) Providing support and activities which develop their skills, capacities and capabilities to enable them to participate in society as mature and responsible individuals.

ADVANCEMENT OF EDUCATION – To advance the education of the public in the subject of Autism. To advance the education of the pupils at schools and colleges by providing and assisting in the provision of facilities [not required to be provided by the local education authority] for education at these schools and colleges.

1.The term ‘autism’ is used here to describe all diagnoses on the autism spectrum including classic autism, Asperger syndrome and high-functioning autism.Autism is a serious, lifelong and disabling condition. Without the right support, it can have a profound – sometimes devastating – effect on individuals and families.

2. Autism is much more common than many people think. There are around 700,000 people in the UK with autism – that’s more than 1 in 100. If you include their families, autism touches the lives of 2.7 million people every day.

3. Autism doesn’t just affect children. Children with autism grow up to be adults with autism.

4. Autism is a hidden disability – you can’t always tell if someone has it.

5. While autism is incurable, the right support at the right time can make an enormous difference to people’s lives.

6. Over 40% of children with autism have been bullied at school.

7. Over 50% of children with autism are not in the kind of school their parents believe would best support them.

8. One in five children with autism has been excluded from school, many more than once.

9. Nearly two-thirds of adults with autism in England do not have enough support to meet their needs.

10. At least one in three adults with autism are experiencing severe mental health difficulties due to a lack of support.

11. Only 15% of adults with autism in the UK are in full-time paid employment.

12.  51% of adults with autism in the UK have spent time with neither a job, nor access to benefits, 10% of those having been in this position for a decade or more.

13. 61% of those out of work say they want to work.

14. 79% of those on Incapacity Benefit say they want to work.