World Autism Awareness Day

World Autism Awareness Day is an internationally recognized day annually on April 2, encouraging Member States of the United Nations to take measures to raise awareness about autistic individuals throughout the world. It is one of only seven official health-specific UN days.

Autism is a lifelong condition that can affect how a person communicates with and relates to other people. It can also affect how a person makes sense of the world around them.

There are a number of names and terms that are used to describe autism, such as Asperger's Syndrome, autism spectrum disorder (ASD) or autism spectrum condition (ASC). The word "spectrum" is often used because individuals can be affected in such different ways. While all people with autism share certain difficulties, their condition will affect them differently. Some autistic people are able to live relatively independent lives, but others may have accompanying learning disabilities and need a lifetime of specialist support. Autistic people may also experience over or under-sensitivity to sounds, touch, tastes, smells, light or colours.

Autism is also much more common than most people think. There are over half a million autistic people in the UK - that's around 1 in 100 people.

Autistic people have said that the world, to them, is a mass of people, places and events, which they struggle to make sense of, and which can cause them considerable anxiety. In particular, understanding and relating to other people, and taking part in everyday family and social life may be harder for them. Other people appear to know, intuitively, how to communicate and interact with each other, and some autistic people may wonder why they are 'different'.

You can find out more at www.autism.org.uk.