It has been trending on Twitter and featured on Facebook. Discussed both online and off. In newspapers, in books and in magazines. On television – the tales told both factual and fictional. That autism is in the spotlight like never before is beyond any doubt. Yet understanding – proper understanding – remains elusive. This is...Read More

Pressure. It’s all around us. Never more so, it could be argued, than now, at Christmas time . . . Mistletoe and Wine? For some, perhaps. For others, it’s a period to dread. Mental Illness doesn’t take a break for the festive season. If anything, it intensifies. Depression. Expectation. Drugs. Debt. Drink. Bereavement. Loneliness. Painful...Read More

In the UK, over the past three decades or so, there has been a tenfold increase in the number of people diagnosed as being on the autism spectrum. This astonishing rise is a cause for concern, autism (and other associated conditions, Asperger’s syndrome included) having emerged from nowhere to trouble our children and threaten their...Read More

Let us be clear about this right from the start. Our intention is not to criticise, to denigrate or to find fault. There has been much finger pointing – in the main at police forces in England and Wales – in response to the Inspectorate of Constabulary’s report on how child abuse investigations are conducted....Read More

This week – November 17th to 21st 2014 – is Anti-Bullying Week. Bullying in all forms is something that, both as professionals and parents, we feel VERY strongly about. In this, we are far from alone. The internet, so often at the root of the problems that children and teenagers experience, is awash with resources,...Read More

Some statistics about suicide: – On an annual basis, around one million people (worldwide) kill themselves. – On average, suicide claims a life every 40 seconds. – That’s 3,000 deaths per day. – More lives are lost to suicide than homicide and war combined. These figures, incidentally, come from IASP – the International Association for...Read More

It’s going to be, according to organisers, ‘the biggest fight against bullying that Europe has ever seen’. It’s called The Big March and it’s a demonstration that will take a stand against a growing problem. M&C Saatchi have created a powerful film to promote The Big March, an online protest that BeatBullying, the international bullying...Read More

Consider the following….  Autism is a condition that’s exclusive to children.  Autism is rare.  You can tell if someone has Autism just by looking at them. People with Autism are geniuses.  If you’re Autistic, you don’t understand humour.  Autistic people can’t learn new skills. People with Autism don’t want to make friends. Everyone understands Autism,...Read More

Its the most wonderful time of the year. For some people, that is. It might be December but it’s important to remember that not everyone in our midst is feeling festive right now. This can be a notoriously difficult time of the year and for myriad reasons. We don’t all wish it could be Christmas...Read More