Raising Awareness Of Autism

Player-supported charity Daisy Chain is encouraging as many people as possible to take the opportunity to help raise the awareness and understanding of autism during World Autism Awareness Week.

Autism Spectrum Disorder, often referred to as autism, is a lifelong neuro-developmental disorder that affects the way a person communicates with and relates to other people. It also affects how they make sense of the world around them.

Autism is a spectrum disorder, meaning each individual will be affected in different ways across all abilities, strengths, difficulties and intelligence. Although each individual is affected to varying degrees, they all share key areas of difference, including social communication, social interaction, social imagination and sensory processing differences. 

Often individuals go undiagnosed, sometimes even into adulthood, as those on the spectrum do not 'look' disabled or different to their peers. Parents have said that family members or the public often say "your child is naughty" as the difficulties are not easy to identify. Adults have also explained how they feel misunderstood. 

Support For Families

With over 700,000 people in the UK diagnosed with autism, it is much more common than people think. Taking into consideration family member and professionals involved in the care and support of people with autism, more than 2.8 million people are affected.

The more people know about autism and understand the difficulties faced by those who are affected, the better the support families can receive in their day-to-day lives. Daisy Chain

• supports over 2,400 families affected by autism in the Tees Valley and surrounding area, 
• supports 959 children and young people on a weekly basis, and
• has provided 4,409 respite sessions in the last year.

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If you're impressed by the incredible work undertaken by Daisy Chain, check out other amazing Charities our players support.