Welcome to Autism in Mind (AIM)
AIM is a campaign and support group. We provide support and information for parents, carers, young people and families living with Autistic Spectrum Conditions. We also AIM to make a positive difference to the lives of families living with autism.
Autism is a lifelong developmental disability which can impact greatly on the lives of those who have the condition. Autism affects the way in which a person communicates with other people and all of their social interactions. It can also affect their ability to make and maintain friendships. How we communicate with other people affects every area of our lives but there is a huge difference between being non verbal and having nothing to say. Effective communication is a key need for all human beings but being able to speak is only one way to communicate there are many other ways.
Social interaction and engaging in everyday life are things that most of us take for granted but can be difficult for anyone who is autistic; they often struggle to make sense of the world in which they live.
Autism is at the moment diagnosed using a triad of impairments, the triad being communication, socalisation and imagination. It is now widely recognised that imagination might be better defined as fixed and rigid thinking. It is also accepted by many professionals that as well as the Triad people with autism are also affected by sensory issues. For many sensory issues can have as big an impact on their lives as the triad.
Many autistic adults and parents would like to see sensory issues and also bio-medical issues included in the diagnostic criteria for autism. There is also a growing group of professionals and parents who believe that autism is not a single condition and that it is a group of conditions with a shared symptom-complex that we call 'autism'. This would make sense given that autism is perhaps the most complex of all disabilities. It is important research continues to enable us to find the best way to help and support children and adults with autism.
There are now reported to be over 600,000 people with an Autistic Spectrum Condition in the UK. It is now estimated that 1 in 100 people have autism, although recent research carried out by Simon Baron Cohen has suggested that the prevalence rate for autism could be as high as I in 64, making it almost certain that most of us will at some point during our lives know someone with autism.
This makes it vitally important that we all have an understanding and awareness of what autism is and what it can mean to the person and the family living with the condition. A diagnosis of autism can be difficult to come to terms with but living with autism does not mean that we can no longer enjoy life. Most parents agree that it is not living with autism that is a nightmare, it is constant battle to access the correct service provision and resources for their children and adults that wears them down, often to the point of despair, making life very difficult. If it is difficult to fight for the correct support and provision and support for their children it can be doubly difficult for autistic adults to fight for the support and provision that they require for themselves.
There is now a great deal of evidence that appropriate and timely services and understanding of people with autism impact positively on their lives, and will in the long term save a great deal of money. AIM fully supports the need to develop these services as a matter of urgency. It is our AIM to raise awareness of and an understanding of Autistic Spectrum Conditions.
Valuing 'EVERY' Autistic Person
Valuing ‘EVERY’ Autistic Person – join AIM and help us to ensure that the needs of ‘EVERY’ Autistic Person are met through the Autism Act and the National Autism Adults Strategy.
http://www.facebook.com/home.php#/group.php?gid=65397091414
Contact AIM to support the campaign
aim1voice@btinternet.com
